An Baul

This is a Korean name; the family name is An.

An Baul 안바울
Born	(1994-03-25) 25 March 1994 South Korea
Native name	안바울
Nationality	South Korean
Height	168cm
Weight	66kg
Division	Half-lightweight
Style	Judo
Fighting out of	Seoul, South Korea
Team	Taeneung Korea National Team
Trainer	Choi Min-ho
Rank	2nd degree black belt in Judo
University	Yongin University
Medal record World Championships 2015 Astana –66 kg Universiade 2015 Gwangju ㅡ66 kg

An Baul (Hangul: 안바울, born 3 March 1994) is a South Korean judoka.

An is the current half-lightweight World Champion. He rose to prominence by becoming South Korea's first half-lightweight champion in more than a decade.

Before transitioning to senior level, An was a noted junior judoka, where he was also junior World Champion. He is known for his tactical style of fighting and versatile seoi nage. He is currently ranked No. 1 in the world (as of 30 May 2016).

An will be South Korea half-lightweight representative at the 2016 Olympics.

Career

Junior career: 2009-2012

2009 World Cadet Championships Budapest

An played in his first international competition at the World Cadet Championships in Budapest, competing in the under 55kg category. He was 16 years old. An lost in his first fight against Russia's Roman Buzuk.

2011 World Junior Championships Cape Town

An transitioned from cadet to junior level at the 2011 World Junior Championships in Cape Town. It was his first time competing in the extra-lightweight category. He won his first four fights to book a final against future senior World Champion Naohisa Takato. An lost and had to settle for the silver medal.

2012 World Cup Jeju

An fought in his first senior tournament as a junior at the World Cup in Jeju, which featured senior and eventual national teammate Kim Won-jin. He lost in his first fight against Taiwan's Tsai Ming Yen by ippon.

Success in junior career: 2013-2014

2013 World Junior Championships Ljubljana

An had a major breakthrough in his junior career at the World Junior Championships in Ljubljana. An won his first four fights, and met Azerbaijan's Oruj Valizade in the semi-final. It was a shido-filled match, with An gaining 3 shidos, and Valizade gaining 4, disqualifying the latter and sending An to the final.

An was against Uzbekistan's Diyorbek Urozboev in the final. It was another shido-filled fight, with each gaining 3. An sealed his win with a seoi nage for a waza-ari, becoming junior world champion.

2014 World Junior Championships Fort Lauderdale

An participated in his third junior world championships in Fort Lauderdale, where he moved up a weight class to the half-lightweight category. He was anticipated to becoming the tournament winner as the defending champion, and looked to be on form, defeating Colombia's Andres Chapparo in his first fight by ippon with kata-gatame.

An then faced rising star and eventual tournament finalist Hifumi Abe in his second fight. An gained a shido with just a minute left, therefore sealing Abe's win and ending An's vie for a medal. An competed with Korea in the teams competition, where he won bronze. This would be his last junior tournament. He was quoted saying, "I was in good condition and fought better than I did in the individual event. ...I am excited and nervous about moving up to fight in the senior circuit.”

Transition to senior level: 2014-2015

2014 Grand Prix Jeju

An had a smooth start in his first official senior tournament at the Grand Prix in Jeju, where he defeated Mongolia's Batsuuri Adiya for ippon with an unorthodox osaekomi-waza. In his second fight against Spain's Sugoi Uriarte, he won by yuko with a seoi nage to kosoto gake combination.

An met Russia's Anzaur Ardanov in the quarter-final, and scored first with a waza-ari using a kosoto gari to seoi nage combination. He scored again, this time a yuko, with a seoi nage to kouchi gari combination. Referees originally scored it waza-ari, effectively ending the fight, before it was retracted to a yuko. An finally sealed the fight with an awasete ippon by scoring waza-ari with a seoi nage.

An then went against Britain's Colin Oates in the semi-final. He scored a yuko with one of his favourite ashi waza, kouchi gari. He then scored a waza-ari with a drop seoi nage, winning the fight and sending him to the final.

In the final, An faced Japan's Sho Tateyama in a scoreless fight. Tateyama won the bout when An was awarded a shido, making the Korean settle for silver.

2014 Grand Slam Tokyo

An gained more experience in the IJF circuit in his first Grand Slam in Tokyo. He faced high-level opponents, including two world champions and a double world runners-up. An was set against Georgia's Beka Shavdatuashvili in Round 2. He scored an ippon with a drop sode tsurikomi goshi in less than fifty seconds, making the fight his shortest win.

An then faced Russia's Alim Gadanov in a tight fight, winning narrowly by yuko with uchi mata. In the quarter-final, An met reigning World Champion Masashi Ebinuma. Ebinuma threw An for waza-ari with yoko guruma, and then pinned him with tate shiho gatame for awasete ippon, ending An's chances of gold. An was set in the repechage against another world champion and multiple medalist Georgii Zantaraia. An scored a waza-ari with a drop seoi nage, and then again scored a waza-ari with the same signature technique for ippon, sending him through to the bronze medal contest.

In the bronze medal contest, he faced another tough opponent in two-time world silver medalist Mikhail Pulyaev. Pulyaev threw An for waza-ari with a drop tai otoshi, making An settle for fifth place.

2015 Grand Prix Dusseldorf

An narrowly won his first three fights at his second Grand Prix, beating his opponent in Round 1 by yuko, Round 2 by waza-ari and Round 3 by shido. In Round 2, An had a notable win against Israel's Golan Pollack, where he used uchi mata to throw Pollack for waza-ari.

An then had a difficult match up against Japan's Kengo Takaichi, where he was thrown for waza-ari in the opening minute with yoko guruma, and then was nearly pinned with tate shiho gatame, similar to Ebinuma's score against him in Tokyo. The waza-ari was later elevated to ippon by referees, sending An to a repechage against Slovenia's Adrian Gomboc. He won with a waza-ari using Korea's signature drop seoi nage with just three seconds on the clock.

In the bronze medal contest, An went against France's David Larose, and narrowly won by yuko, again with a drop seoi nage, winning An's second circuit medal.

2015 European Open Warsaw

An won his first senior tournament at the European Open in Warsaw, where he won two fights by ippon, and three fights by shido. He defeated Kazhakstan's Yeldos Zhumakanov in the final in golden score by shido.

Breakthrough: 2015 Asian Championships and World Championships

2015 Asian Championships Kuwait City

An participated in his first continental tournament at the Asian Championships in Kuwait City. He faced Tajikstan's Umed Abdurakhimov in his first fight

Competitive record

Judo Record
Total	42
Wins	34
by Ippon	13
Losses	8
by Ippon	3

(as of 19 February 2016)