There was one round-of-sixteen matchup that I had circled going into last night at Russian Nationals and it was at 57kg. 2019 Russian National Champion Ramis Gamzatov would take on 2020 Euro Champion Azamat Tuskaev. The match was as good and as close as expected. The two traded takedowns and with short time remaining on the clock Gamzatov drove Tuskaev towards the edge for what would have been a match winning step out. The action happened quickly, but my initial reaction was that the Gamzatov was successful in pushing Tuskaev out of bounds and that with only 1 second left on the clock he would be making a trip to the quarters, but the official signaled 1 point for Tuskaev. 

Gamzatov's corner rifles the challenge cube. 

The two camera angles that they showed on the stream did not shed much light on the subject. One angle was close to the action, but the camera op wasn’t as a fast as the two combatants, so they weren’t able to move the camera quickly enough to actually see Tuskaev’s foot touch out of bounds. The second camera angle was more a birds-eye-view from what felt like the corner of the arena. The second angle was less conclusive than the first. Not that this was a criminal trial, but with inconclusive evidence the officiating team was left with no option but to uphold the call made on the mat, and I was left with the empty feeling that Gamzatov’s hopes to make it to the Russian National quarters would fall victim to a one poorly placed camera and one sluggish camera operator. 

Then I checked Instagram. Whoever is running @MuraMotion had the best seat in the house. Check out the video HERE.

 In an unfathomable display of agility (and luck) it turns out that Tuskaev’s whole foot never touched out bounds and he bounced his way back towards the center quickly enough to make Gamzatov’s effort carry him outside of the circle. 

I don’t hand out compliments to officials much, but this one nailed a tough call in a big match. Kudos, sir.