Smetov's run, however, came to an end in the next round. France's Enzo Jean produced a determined performance, prevailing after a long and hard-fought golden score contest to eliminate the Kazakh star. At that point, it seemed Jean might have cleared the biggest obstacle standing between him and the final, but the day still had more surprises in store.
In the semi-final, the Frenchman encountered Charlie Ayre (GBR), an outsider ranked only 96th in the world and without major results on the World Judo Tour. Rankings, however, meant very little once the action began. Ayre produced judo of exceptional quality, combining relentless attacking intent with remarkable composure. Once again, Jean was taken into golden score but after another epic contest it was the Briton who secured the biggest result of his career by reaching his first grand prix final.
In the opposite half of the draw, Hayato Kondo (JPN) was not among the pre-tournament favourites despite being seeded. The Japanese judoka nevertheless progressed with intelligence and consistency, defeating Ahmad Yusifov (AZE) in the quarter-final before overcoming Ayub Bliev (RUS) to earn his place in the final.
The gold medal contest remained finely balanced until the closing minute. Kondo had enjoyed the upper hand in the gripping exchanges but had been unable to break through Ayre's resilient defence, the Briton managing to recover from dangerous situations repeatedly. With less than a minute remaining, the Japanese judoka finally found the opening, countering powerfully for a waza-ari. Moments later, he followed the action into ne-waza, securing an osaekomi-waza that sealed the victory and the gold medal.
After the final, Kondo said, "Winning the gold medal means a lot to me, especially seeing how happy it made my coaches. However, this is only the beginning of my Olympic qualification journey. I didn't focus on winning today; I simply approached each contest as I would a normal training session to stay steady. Although defending my title from last year gives me great confidence, there is no time to celebrate. My focus is already on the Asian Games, the world championships and, ultimately, the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. I have to build on this momentum, keep training hard and continue striving to reach the very top."
The first bronze medal contest featured Olympic champion Yeldos Smetov (KAZ) against Ayub Bliev (RUS), but it quickly became a one-sided affair. Bliev took control early with a yuko before completing the victory with a spectacular o-uchi-gari for ippon to secure the bronze medal.
In the second bronze medal contest, Ahmad Yusifov (AZE) faced Enzo Jean (FRA). It was a closely fought encounter eventually decided by an opportunistic ashi-waza from Yusifov, which scored a yuko and proved enough to earn the Azerbaijani the second bronze medal.
Final (-60 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-60 kg)
