Russian, Georgian judokas set for tense semi-final

Both judokas made short work of their quarter-final opponents, Tsirekidze using a perfectly executed ouchi-gari leg sweep to trip Azerbaijan’s Elkhan Mammadov for an ippon score and automatic victory.

Pershin’s method of advance was less elegant but no less effective, using his body as a battering ram to cannon head-first into the stomach of Belarussian Andrei Kazusenok and knock him over for ippon.

In the bottom half of the draw, the early elimination of Athens 81-kg champion Ilias Iliadis of Greece and the Netherlands’ Sydney gold medallist Mark Huizinga opened the door for lesser lights.

France’s Yves-Matthieu Dafreville and Amar Benikhlef of Algeria will vie for a place in the final after picking their way through the tumbling seeds.

“I’d like to bring the smile and the happiness to my country and all Arab countries,” said Benikhlef after beating Swiss challenger Sergei Aschwanden by a technicality in the quarter-final.

The semi-finals take place on Wednesday evening.

Edith Bosch of the Netherlands has a chance to avenge her Athens title defeat when she takes on Japan’s Masae Ueno in the semi-finals of the women’s 70-kg category.

Bosch, beaten by Ueno in 2 minutes at the Athens final, won a gruelling quarter-final bout with Ronda Rousey of the United States to advance, flipping the American on her back for a golden score in the fourth minute of extra-time.

Ueno’s path to the semi-finals was much easier, needing barely more than a minute to subdue Hungary’s Annett Meszaros in their quarter-final.

The 29-year-old threw the Hungarian for a high-scoring waza-ari then pinned her to the mat in a locking hold for long enough to win the bout automatically.

Athens bronze medallist Annett Bohm of Germany has booked a place in the other semi-final with Cuba’s Anaysi Hernandez, who needed only 5 seconds to knock out Italy’s Ylenia Scapin in the quarter-finals.