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Abu Dhabi Judo Grand Slam 2024: Home glory for UAE

All the latest developments on day one of the competition.

After a successful staging of the World Judo Championships earlier this year, The World Judo Tour is back in Abu Dhabi for the first Grand Slam since the Paris Olympic games.

It was Sabina Giliazova who claimed the lightest female weight in the Mubadala Arena at -48kg.

A clever Sumi-gaeshi from Giliazova in the dying seconds left STOJADINOV with no chance to reply.

IJF President, Mr Marius VIZER awarded her with the gold medal.

Iznaur SAAEV took on France’s Cedric REVOL at -60kg.He took home the win with a waza-ari in golden score after a tight battle.

Balazs FÜRJES, IOC Member representing Hungary, awarded the medals.

Khorloodoi BISHRELT of the United Arab Emirates brought home the gold for the home nation at -52kg, a historic moment for the UAE women’s team.

Mohammed Bin Tha’aloob Al DERIE, UAE Judo Federation President awarded the gold.

“It was really hard but I wanted this medal. These people support me and this competition is important for me,” said BISHRELT.

Murad CHOPANOV was on fine form at -66kg. In an enthralling final, he caught France’s Daiki BOUBA twice! First for waza-ari, and then for the decisive Ippon!

Icona Capital CEO, Max-Hervé GEORGE was on hand to award the medals.

“A big thank you to Abu Dhabi! I have a lot of friends here who are competing and representing the UAE team. I wish them luck and to make their team proud. Now I will celebrate my success and relax,” said CHOPANOV.

Seija BALLHAUS was the class of the field at -57kg. She controlled the final, and took the win with a powerful waza-ari score!

Medals were presented by Rene Fasel, Life President of the International Ice Hockey Federation.

Just 7 seconds into the day, Team UAE also provided the tournament’s very first ippon! Giving them a dream start.

Montenegro to Extradite Do Kwon to South Korea, Rejecting U.S. Request

Kwon has been in custody in the Balkan country since March 2023, when he was arrested for using a fake passport en route to Dubai.

Terraform Labs co-founder and fraudster Do Kwon is once again set to be extradited from Montenegro to his native South Korea, after a ruling from the Balkan nation’s court of appeals Thursday.

The Appellate Court of Montenegro issued a ruling confirming an earlier decision from a lower court, the High Court of Podgorica, to send Kwon to South Korea instead of the U.S., which is also seeking his extradition.

Both countries want to try Kwon for criminal charges tied to the $40 billion implosion of the Terra/LUNA ecosystem in May 2022. Terra was the first proverbial domino to fall in a sequence of high-profile crypto company collapses that year including FTX, the second-biggest crypto exchange in the world.

Kwon went on the lam shortly after Terra’s collapse. In September 2022, Interpol put out a red notice for Kwon. Six months later, in March 2023, he was arrested and subsequently jailed in Montenegro for attempting to use a fake Costa Rican passport to fly to Dubai. Kwon was initially given a four-month sentence for using falsified documents, but remained in prison until March of this yeart, when he was released on bail without his real passport, which was confiscated to prevent him from leaving the country.

Thursday’s decision is expected to put an end to months of back-and-forth over whether Kwon should be extradited to South Korea, which submitted its extradition request first, or the U.S. Kwon successfully fought against earlier rulings to extradite him to the U.S. but, when the High Court of Podgorica ruled to send him to South Korea, the country’s Supreme Court stepped in to postpone it after the country’s top prosecutor issued a statement arguing that the court’s decision overstepped the limits of its power. There have been numerous court rulings overturning previous decisions to send him to one or another of the two countries.

A truly final decision on where Kwon will be extradited can only be made by Montenegro’s minister of justice, according to the Office of the Supreme State Prosecutor. Montenegro’s Prime Minister, Milojko Spajic, is a personal investor in Terraform Labs, Bloomberg reported earlier this year.

No date for Kwon’s extradition has yet been set.