Moldovan judoka Ion Nacu won two victories at the Grand Slam of Tokyo that brought together athletes from 65 countries. In the 73 kg eight class, he beat Portugal’s Jorge Fernandes and Austria’s Lukas Reiter, but then lost to Tommy Macias of Sweden, IPN reports.
In the 90 kg class, Eugen Matveiciuc defeated Russia’s Said Emi Zhambekov, but was eliminated by Georgia’s Ushangi Margiani, who later won bronze. Another three Moldovan judokas were eliminated after the first fight. In the 66 kg class, Denis Vieru was beaten by Israel’s Baruch Shmailov. In the 81 kg class, Nicon Zaboroshchuk lost to the future finalist, Sungho Lee of South Korea, while Dorin Gotonoaga was beaten by Japan’s Kenya Kohara.
The national judo team of Moldova took part in the tournament after training in Japan for about three weeks.
