Finnish-based Gambian judoka, Faye Njie cast aside Khikmatillokh Turaev of Uzbekistan in the finals of the 2019 Marrakech Grand Prix in Morocco to finish 7th position from a total of more than sixty.
In the first-round match, Faye threw down Amadou Fall Diop of Senegal in just 30 seconds with ten throws before holding down Igor Wandtke of Germany to progress to the quarter finals where he faced Olympic champion Lasha Shavdatuashvili of Georgia.
This fight was very even and both Faye and Lasha couldn’t score a point. Eventually the match went onto golden score where the 25-year-old Gambian Judoka had a couple of good attempts to throw at him. His dominance lasted just two minutes as the Georgian got a choke that finished the fight.
“I am quite happy to finish above 60 fighters in this competition. Currently I am qualified on continental quota place for Tokyo 2020 and this result secures my place even more,” Njie told The Chronicle.
Faye Njie in white
Faye Njie is the first Gambian to have qualified to the Olympic Games in Rio 2016 in Judo. He is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in Physical Education at the University of Wolverhampton in United Kingdom (UK).
Recently, he became the second African fighter to win Gold Medal in the British University Championship in Sheffield, after Ghana’s Emmanuel Nartie. He now looks forward to the July Summer Universiade Games in Italy and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
