Judo: Kim strikes gold for Korea, Tasoev defends heavyweight crown on Day 7 in Budapest

Euronews

20-06-2025

Day 7 closes out the individual competition at the OTP Bank World Judo Championships and it's time for the heavyweights to take centre stage in Budapest.
Before the finals, IJF President Mr. Marius Vizer awarded diplomas recognising achievements in judo.
And the traditional flag-passing ceremony was held to commemorate the closing of the event, as Hungary passed the IJF flag to Azerbaijan — with Baku set to host the World Championships in 2026 where judo would return to the land of fire.
At +78kg, Hayun KIM had been making her mark on the international stage, and in Budapest she delivered her best performance yet. Could she take the title?
Facing her was Japan's Mao ARAI who had managed to secure her place in the final after a fantastic performance in the preliminaries. ARAI looked every bit a contender for the World title.
The final was a tight, tactical battle taken into Golden Score. It was Hayun KIM who would wear the red backpatch for the Republic of Korea's first gold medal!
OTP Bank Chairman & IJF Honorary President Dr Sandor CSANYI awarded the medals.
At +100kg, Guram TUSHISHVILI was on fire — storming his way through the preliminaries with explosive throws and unstoppable momentum. The Georgian powerhouse looked focused and fearless. He was here to reclaim the title he first won in 2018.
Facing him in the final was Inal TASOEV, the 2023 World Champion. TASOEV had delivered a solid performance and was aiming to add a second World title to his collection.
In the final, TUSHISHVILI led with a yuko, but it was TASOEV who came back with a waza-ari and managed to keep the Georgian at bay, claiming his second World title!
5 time Olympic and 12 time World Champion, Mr Teddy RINER awarded the medals.
Join us tomorrow in Budapest where the Mixed Team competition kicks off. 3 men 3 women, one team, one goal. Don't miss it!
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he'll decide within two weeks whether or not Washington will get directly involved military in the conflict between Israel and Iran. Trump says two weeks will be enough to decide whether a diplomatic solution is possible.
The conflict between Israel and Iran has entered the eighth day, with both sides trading hundreds of missile strikes. Dozens of Israelis were killed in cross-border Iranian strikes, while Tehran suffered hundreds of fatalities.
The conflict started last week in the early hours of Friday as Israel carried out a surprise attack on Tehran, targeting military and nuclear sites. Israel says its decision to attack was to guarantee its survival as it grew increasingly concerned about Iran's rapidly developing nuclear programme.
On Thursday, a missile struck the vicinity of the European Union delegation in Tel Aviv, according to several sources consulted by Euronews.
The origin of the missile was not immediately clear, but it was presumed to be a projectile fired by Iran against Israel amid the military escalation between the two countries, which is now on its seventh day.
The distance between the EU delegation and the strike is believed to be between 400 and 500 metres, two sources indicated.
The strike happened on Thursday near a district where several European embassies are located, including those from the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, North Macedonia and Ireland, as well as the Tel Aviv-Savidor Central railway station.
A spokesperson for the European Commission said the personnel were safe.
"While no EU staff were injured today, we note with grave concern that diplomatic premises have been damaged in the attacks by Iran," the spokesperson said.
"Under no circumstances, civilian areas and infrastructures as well as foreign diplomatic staff and missions should be targeted or attacked."
Earlier, Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after Tehran struck a major hospital in southern Israel and hit residential buildings near Tel Aviv, wounding at least 240 people.
Israel's military 'has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist," said Katz.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to moderate his approach to the conflict with Iran. According to a German government source, Merz underlined the importance of "diplomatic solutions" to Israel.
On Friday, Germany is expected to hold nuclear talks with its European partners and the Iranian foreign minister at its permanent representation in Geneva.
Iran also appears unwilling to back down as they vowed to continue fighting to defend their land, people and sovereignty against the threat Israel poses.
In an exclusive interview with Euronews, Iran's Ambassador to the UN Ali Bahraini stated that Iran's main priority currently is 'to stop aggression, to stop attacks'.
"I personally cannot imagine there would be a strong probability at the moment for a kind of diplomatic idea or initiative because for us it would be inappropriate if we think or talk at the moment about anything rather than stopping the aggressors," Bahraini noted.
He however noted that Israel is not an entity 'with which somebody can negotiate', adding that Tehran's response must be resolute in order to show Israel that 'it is not able to cross the red lines against Iran'.
Bahraini also slammed the EU, as he stated that the bloc carries some of the blame for the conflict breaking out.
"We believe that the minimum thing Europeans can do is to very explicitly condemn Israel and stop their support for Israel," Iran's ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva Ali Bahraini said in an interview for Euronews.
Speaking on a looming US attack amid Trump's recent threats, Bahraini asserted that Iran would respond firmly to any attack by Washington on its land, adding that attacks on US soil are not off the table.