Men's Judo Sign Wins Grand Slam by defeating Japan's Nagase, Lee Joon-hwan, an Olympic bronze medalist in Paris
May 11, 2025
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Lee Joon-hwan won the gold medal in the final of the International Judo Federation (IJF) Kazakhstan Barish Grand Slam 2025 81kg held in Astana, Kazakhstan on the 10th (local time), beating Nagase of Japan after a golden score.
Lee Joon-hwan won a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics last year and won the Asian Championship last month. At this Grand Slam, he once again took the top spot and continued his tremendous rise.
It was also important that the opponent went out. Currently, Lee Joon-hwan is sixth in the world ranking, higher than Nagase in eighth place, but he is never a pushover. Since he does not participate in international competitions often, his world ranking is not high, but he is the strongest player who has won two consecutive 81kg titles at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2024 Paris Olympics.
However, he can't use his strength in front of Lee Jun-hwan. When Lee Joon-hwan made his international debut in 2022, he reached the final by catching Nagase in the semifinals at the Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam. He also beat Nagase in the quarterfinals at the 2023 World Championships.
Lee Jun-hwan failed to make a game in regular time. However, he took two maps from Nagase and began to extend them in an advantageous situation. Lee Joon-hwan, who continued to dig through Nagase's gaps in overtime, roared by securing the gold medal with a left-handed piggyback victory.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
