Kokauri’s teammate did go all the way though; Kanan Nasibov has also been in great form lately and took his own world championship bronze in Baku. In Zagreb, Nasibov had to dig as deep as anyone could to win tactical marathon’s. He showed outstanding commitment and worked his way into the final.

In the final, Kone and Nasibov each employed a cautious strategy, not wanting to hand the other the victory. With two penalties on each side of the board, it was Nasibov who chose to break the rhythm. He drove Kone to the ground with a full contact o-uchi-gari to score a waza-ari and ensure the gold was his.

After the final, Kanan Nasibov declared, “I came here as the title holder and have become the champion once again. I feel very happy! When I came here I said that I would become the Zagreb Grand Prix champion for the second time and I stood by my word and did it.”

In the first bronze medal contest Yerassyl Kazhybayev (KAZ) faced Saba Inaneishvili (GEO). Neither wanted to leave Zagreb empty-handed and it showed in the early exchanges.

As the contest progressed, Inaneishvili began to look more dangerous and with 90 seconds to go he threw with a soto-makikomi for a waza-ari. He turned immediately on the floor and held his opponent for a second waza-ari to ensure the medal was his.

The last medal of the last day of the last grand prix of the year was due to be fought for by Yevheniy Balyevskyy (UKR) and Ushangi Kokauri but Kokauri was unable to compete.