Avtandil Tschrikishvili

Avtandil Tschrikishvili (2015)

Avtandil Tschrikishvili (born March 18, 1991 in Gardabani ) is a Georgian judoka . Until 2016 he competed in the light middleweight (up to 81 kg), since then in the middleweight (up to 90 kg). He was world champion in 2014 and three times European champion.

Career

In 2009 Avtandil Tschrikishvili finished third at the U20 European Championships. The following year he became U20 European and U20 world champions within five weeks. In 2011 he won the World Cup tournaments in Tbilisi and Budapest. At the European Championships in 2012 he was defeated by the German Alexander Wieczerzak in the quarter-finals and finished fifth in the hoping round after beating Frenchman Axel Clerget and losing to Latvian Konstantins Ovčinnikovs . With the Georgian team, he won the title in the team competition. At the Olympic Games in London in 2012 , he defeated the Croatian Tomislav Marijanović in his first fight , in the round of 16 he was eliminated by Travis Stevens from the United States and finished in tied ninth place. At the end of 2012, Tschrikishvili won his first Georgian national championship title.

At the European Championships in Budapest in 2013 , he defeated Srdjan Mrvaljević in the quarter-finals and the Belgian Joachim Bottieau in the semifinals . With his final victory over Tomislav Marijanović Tschrikishvili won his first European title in individual. Two days later, the Georgians also won the team competition. Four months later, at the 2013 World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Tschrikishvili defeated French Alain Schmitt in the quarter-finals and Russian Ivan Nifontov in the semifinals . In the final he was defeated by the French Loïc Pietri and received the silver medal. Three days later, the Georgians won the team title. At the end of 2013, Tschrikishvili won his second Georgian national championship.

At the beginning of 2014 he won the Grand Slam tournament in Paris, defeating the reigning world champion and local hero Loïc Pietri in the final. At the 2014 European Championships in Montpellier, he met Pietri again in the final and defeated him again on French soil. The next day the Georgians also won the team competition. Four months later, the 2014 World Championships took place in Chelyabinsk . Awtandil Tschrikishvili defeated the Japanese Takanori Nagase in the quarterfinals and Alain Schmitt in the semifinals. With his final victory over the Canadian Antoine Valois-Fortier , the Georgian was world champion. In the team competition the Georgians won a bronze medal. At the end of the year, Tschrikishvili lost to Takanori Nagase in the semifinals of the Grand Slam tournament in Tokyo and took third place.

The 2015 European Championships were held as part of the 2015 European Games in Baku. Tschrikishvili defeated the German Sven Maresch in the semifinals and Iwan Nifontow in the final. In the team competition, the Georgians lost to the French in the final. At the 2015 World Championships in Astana, Tschrikishvili lost to the Japanese Takanori Nagase in the semi-finals. He lost the battle for a bronze medal against the Brazilian Victor Penalber . The Georgians won bronze in the team competition. At the end of 2015, he won the Grand Slam tournament in Tokyo.

At the beginning of 2016 he won the tournament in Paris for the second time after 2014. At the 2016 European Championships in Kazan, Tschrikishvili won in the semifinals against the Swede Robin Pacek , in the final he was defeated by the Russian Khassan Chalmursajew . The Georgians won the team competition. At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, he defeated the Italian Matteo Marconcini in the quarter-finals and lost in the semifinals to Travis Stevens, against whom he had already lost four years earlier in London. Avtandil Tschrikishvili lost the battle for a bronze medal against Takanori Nakase.

After the Olympic Games, Tschrikishvili moved to the next higher weight class and won his third national championship title here. In 2017 he lost to Beka Ghwiniaschwili in the final of the state championships . In 2018 he took third place.

Web links

• Tournament results at JudoInside.com
• Avtandil Tschrikishvili in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )

Footnotes

1. ↑ fight record on judoinside.com
2. ↑ Georgian National Championships 2017 at judoinside.com