Yusifov wins first Grand Slam gold in Tashkent

Ahmad Yusifov won his first Grand Slam gold medal by defeating fellow Azerbaijani Balabay Aghayev in Tashkent’s men’s under-60kg final. The twenty-six-year-old scored with a seoi-otoshi in golden score after both athletes had accumulated two penalties during a close contest.

Aghayev arrived following his Paris title earlier in February and reached another final after a difficult semifinal against Taiki Nakamura. Yusifov, previously a two-time Grand Slam bronze medallist, was competing in his first final at this level and converted the opportunity into gold.

Nakamura won bronze against Mehrzod Sufiev through a reverse seoi-otoshi for ippon. Uzbekistan’s Doston Ruziev earned the other bronze by defeating Luka Gadelia with a hold-down, giving the home crowd a medal to celebrate alongside the Azerbaijani one-two in the category.