TOKYO, August 27. /TASS/. Russian judoka Denis Yartsev won bronze on Tuesday at the 2019 World Judo Championship in men’s under-73 kilograms weight category.
In the bout for the bronze, the 28-year-old Russian judoka defeated Behruzi Khojazoda of Tajikistan. The other bronze went to Azerbaijan’s Hidayat Heydarov, who defeated another judoka from Tajikistan, Somon Makhmadbekov.
The gold went to Japan’s 2016 Olympic Champion Shohei Ono after he routed Azerbaijan’s Rustam Orujov, who in turn packed the silver for his team. The Japanese judoka is now the three-time world champion.
Yartsev is now the two-time silver (2013 and 2014 in mixed team competitions) and two-time bronze (in mixed team competition in 2018 and personal in 2019) medalist of the world championships.
The Russian judoka said he was happy to win the first medal of the world championships in personal competitions and it was the result of 20 years of trainings.
"I had no medal of the world championships [in personal competitions] until now and this is the result of many years of hard work, 20 years of persistent trainings and this long awaited medal is finally here," he told journalists.
"I am very happy. The bronze is on only the beginning," Yartsev continued.
"But I will forget about it tomorrow and will start preparing for the Olympic Games," he said. "We have a very strong competition in this weight category, therefore it is premature to speak that this medal will guarantee my participation in the Olympic Games in Tokyo as everything can change within a year."
The World Judo Championships is the highest-level international competition for judokas around the globe and it is organized annually except for the years, when the Summer Olympics are organized.
The Russian team of judokas is currently fifth in the overall medal standings of the 2019 World Judo Championship sharing this place with Azerbaijan (one silver and one bronze each). Hosts Japan are currently first with eight medals (three gold, two silver, three bronze) and they are followed by Canada, Georgia and Ukraine (with one gold each).
The 2019 World Judo Championship runs between August 25 and September 1 in Japan’s Tokyo. The capital of Japan is also scheduled to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games next summer.