EC judo: Luukas Saha to the final

Luukas Saha is again in a strong value competition condition. Picture: JUSSI HELTTUNEN

Under 66 kilos ranked first in the men’s category Lukas Saha advanced to the final match at the EC Judo in Tbilisi, Georgia on Thursday.

Finland’s golden hope defeated Russia’s 18-year-old in the semifinals Abdullakh Partšiejevin. The tight game went into overtime with a 0-0 score, at the beginning of which the Finn struggled with the Russian’s tatami mats with a performance worthy of a yuko.

The final opponent is Russia Murad Chopanov. Saha’s final is the last match of the evening session starting at 15:00 Finnish time. There are a total of 12 matches in the evening session.

Parshiev and Chopanov will be allowed to compete under the Russian flag in Tbilisi. Last November, judo allowed the Russians to make a full return as the first Olympic sport.

Saha got straight to the second round, where he defeated Serbia with an ippon performance by Marko Jorgic. The quarter-final also ended with an ippon victory, and Armenia davit abrahamyan went on a collecting spree.

The 27-year-old Finn is the World Championship bronze medalist from two years ago. He also won bronze at the EC tatami last year.

The top performances outside the prestigious competitions have also raised the Finnish weight class to the sixth place in the world ranking.

Georgian A total of seven Finns will be seen at the European Championships.

They will play on Friday Pihla Matikainen, Pihla Salonen, Luna-Lumia Seikkula and Valtteri Olin.

Eetu Ihanamäki will compete on Saturday and Emma Krapu on Sunday,.

Judo’s popularity in Finland Martti Puumalainen unable to participate due to illness.