Luukas Saha secured an Olympic place by winning the World Judo bronze medal on Monday. Juha Salonen finished third in the World Championships in 1981.
Bettina Törnvall,
Riku Porvari
17:41•Updated 20:04
Luukas Saha won the 66kg bronze medal at the World Judo Championships in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Monday. With his World Cup ranking, Saha secured a place at the Paris Olympics.
– I didn’t think about the Olympics at all. A World Cup medal has always been my dream, since I was a little boy. I focused only on that and didn’t let my thoughts roll beyond that, says Saha.
– The Olympics have been another dream, but I want to enjoy the result of the World Cup. Now the most important thing would be to meet family and most important friends. I would like to thank them for all the support I have received along the way.
In the bronze match, he tied Tajikistan Nurali Emomalin. Saha picked up the tying win as he forced his opponent to surrender the match. Emomali is number nine in the latest world list, Saha is number 38 again.
After the win, Saha was a bit confused because he didn’t know how to react to the situation.
– All emotions came at the same moment and the guy hurt a bit. Had to show respect and not start venting right away. Yes, the emotions came to the surface pretty quickly when I hugged the coach and was able to walk out of the match.
Finland has previously won one World Cup bronze medal in the sport. Juha Salonen was third in the category over 95 kg in 1981 in Maastricht, the Netherlands.
– It’s an incredible thing and an honor. The whole team has been training hard, so it was only a matter of time, who will take the medal, says Saha.
What are you going to do next when you return home from the World Cup?
– I’m going to go fishing first and clear my head a bit. Then I’ll start focusing on the Olympics, and doesn’t the coach already have a plan for that?
“Many tight matches”
Saha started his World Cup job on Monday morning. In his first match, he beat Algeria Kais Moudeteren (67th in the ranking) and Bulgaria in the second by Yanislav Gerchev (49th). In the third round, Saha was from France Daikii Boubaa (23:s) stronger.
In the World Cup quarter-final, i.e. in the final of his own pool, Saha lost to Italy To Matteo Pirasi (14:s). The Italian brought the Finn head first into the tatami and thus Saha was rejected.
– Many tight matches. The first was an ippon win, so not an easy one. The second started well and I felt that anything is possible today.
– The most unfortunate was the pool final. I got hit by my own throw and lost it, Saha describes the day.
Saha advanced to the medal match, when South Korea An Baul (19’s) did not come to the collection match apparently due to injury. In the bronze medal match, Saha’s wonderful tie secured the World Cup medal.
Two Japanese competed for the 66 kg world championship. Ryoma Tanaka (18:s) won in the final match Takeshi Takeoka (40:s) with a score of 2–0. Along with Saha, the bronze was taken by Georgia Vazha Margvelashvili (8:s).
Eetu Ihanamäki will compete in the under 81-kilogram weight class tomorrow, Tuesday. Thursday, May 23 Martti Puumalainen it is the turn of those over 100 kilos.
The World Cup competitions are shown live on Areena and the results in the evenings on TV2.