Judo wrestler Lasha Bekauri named newcomer of the year
Lasha Bekauri celebrates claiming the world champion title at the Junior World Championships in Morcco in October. Photo: Di Feliciantonio Emanuele/IJF.
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The International Judo Federation has named Georgia's young athlete Lasha Bekauri as the newcomer of the year in its unofficial end of year awards.
The 19-year-old winner of the Junior World Championships in October as well as the European contest was picked as the discovery of 2019 in the IJF selection made public this week.
After taking the world title Bekauri qualified for the senior competition in Qingdao, China, where he was even more impressive in his defeat of the Netherlands' world champion Noël van 't End.
????️ 2019 Highly Unofficial End Of Year Awards
— Int. Judo Federation (@Judo) December 23, 2019
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The results were further bolstered by his wins over more high-level competition including the 2018 world champion Nikoloz Sherazadishvili, a Georgian-born judoka competing for Spain.
With these and other results Bekauri, ranked 11th across the globe, is slated by the IJF to be "one to watch in 2020".
Georgian judoka Ilia Sulamanidze has claimed silver in the world championship in Marrakesh, Morocco. Sulamanidze, 18, was defeated by Japanese Kazunari Kamigaki in the under 100kg category on Saturday.
Georgian judokas Vladimer Akhalkatsi and Lasha Bekauri have won the world championship in Marrakesh, Morocco. Akhalkatsi and Bekauri, both 19, received gold in their respective categories yesterday.
Georgia has won nine medals at the recent European Judo Junior Championship in Finland, including six gold.
Georgia has won gold, silver and bronze medals at the Cadet World Judo Championship in Chile’s capital of Santiago.
Georgian top weightlifter Lasha Talakhadze, who is an Olympic champion and a four-time world and European champion, was named as the athlete of the year for the second consecutive year.
Georgia's capital Tbilisi will not host the 2020 Judo Grand Prix between March 27-29 after the International Judo Federation cancelled the tournament due to a "heightened risk" of coronavirus.
Two Georgian judo wrestlers, 2019 Tokyo World Championships winner Lukhum Chkhvimiani and rising talent Tato Grigalashvili, are in running to collect annual International Judo Federation awards in a public poll.
Georgian judokas have won five medals at the prestigious Doha World Judo Masters: two gold, one silver and two bronze medals.
Lasha Bekauri, the first gold medal-winner for Georgia at the 2021 Summer Olympic Games, has said he intends to use the prize money from the state to bring his mother and grandmother back from work in emigration.