The last final block of the IBSA tour before the Paralympic Games qualification opens for the Los Angeles Paralympic Games was ready to go and promised high level thrilling contests.
J1W -60 kg
Larissa Silva (BRA) was the number one seed but she was beaten by relative newcomers Maysa Abouzeid (AUS) in their quarter-final. The Australian had already taken a victory in the round of 16 and so moved into the semi-final with confidence. However, there she met current IBSA world champion Uljon Amrieva (UZB) and had no solution.
In the final, Amrieva was pitted against another unseeded athlete, Karoline Duarte (BRA), following the Brazilian’s impressive run in the morning session. They began their match at quite a pace, Duarte looking for space for her seoi-otoshi, Amrieva looking for hip techniques and ashi-waza. However, it became clear that Duarte was also adept at emptying counter techniques and Amrieva bore the brunt of that, going down by two yuko scores in the first half of the contest.
Amrieva is not new to high level competition and began to solve the challenge. She earned one yuko of her own before performing a counter that resulted in the pair falling into an osaekomi position in favour of the Uzbek judoka. Once again Uljon Amrieva would hang a gold medal around her neck.
GOLD - Uljon Amrieva (UZB)
SILVER - Karoline Duarte (BRA)
BRONZE - Larissa Silva (BRA)
BRONZE - Uslu Hajabipour (TUR)
J1M -95 kg
Arthur Cavalcante Da Silva (BRA) has proved to be a formidable character on the IBSA Judo tour, a competitor who attends regularly and will face anyone, with confidence and skill in his arsenal. In Astana, he used both weapons well and strode into the final with little difficulty.
Pavel Selivanov (NPA) was the surprise on the bottom half of the draw; Abylay Adilbekov (KAZ) was the highest ranking judoka there but couldn’t hold position. Mousa Gholami beat him but was then defeated himself by Selivanov.
In the final Paralympic champion Cavalcante Da Silva gave an unequivocal demonstration of why his backpatch is gold, throwing for ippon in just over a minute to secure the Astana title.
GOLD - Arthur Cavalcante Da Silva (BRA)
SILVER - Pavel Selivanov (NPA)
BRONZE - Mousa Gholami (IRI)
BRONZE - Iaroslva Andrievskii (NPA)
J1W -70 kg
Brenda Souza De Freitas (BRA) took less than a minute to win her semi-final, showing clearly why she was the top seed of the category. As expected, she would compete in the final and it was the number two seed Theodora Paschalidou (GRE) who would meet her there. They have met before and so tactics would be the all-important factor in this gold medal contest.
Paschalidou had her plan and it was to dominate from the outset, no hesitation, no second-guessing. It worked well and she threw for a yuko early on. Continuing with this same attitude, she put De Freitas under further pressure which culminated in a waza-ari throw and perfect transition into a kesa-gatame to finish the contest.
GOLD - Theodora Paschalidou (GRE)
SILVER - Brenda Souza De Freitas (BRA)
BRONZE - Dinara Kujulova (KAZ)
BRONZE - Esmer Taskin (TUR)
J1M +95 kg
Wilians De Araujo (BRA) is a big character in the heavyweight category, many important medals already collected over the years, including the Paris Paralympic gold in 2024. He arrived in Astana as the top seed and soon showed why.
Baglanbek Onalbek (KAZ), not among the top seeds of the day, made his way to the final to meet De Araujo, aiming to be the author of an upset. However, Araujo was too controlled and held pole position all the way to the top of the podium.
GOLD - Wilians De Araujo (BRA)
SILVER - Baglanbek Onalbek (KAZ)
BRONZE - Yerlan Utepov (KAZ)
BRONZE - Ali Navaei (IRI)
J1W +70 kg
Brazil’s Millena De Freitas was the judoka to beat at the beginning of the day but none could succeed in that task in the preliminary rounds. As the number two seed, Erika Zoaga, is also Brazilian and was also dominant in the morning session, the final would be a Brazilian derby.
Zoaga made the decision at the halfway point to take control in what had been a tight contest until that moment. She threw for a waza-ari with makikomi and then held to convert it to a full ipppon. The Brazilian team can be proud of the god and silver medallists, this time with Erika Zoaga coming out on top against the promise made by the ranking.
GOLD - Erika Zoaga (BRA)
SILVER - Millena De Freitas (BRA)
BRONZE - Feruza Ergasheva (UZB)
BRONZE - Aktolkyn Seilbekova (KAZ)
J2M -95 kg
Marcelo Casanova (BRA) and Inigo Gerboles Lopes (ESP) expected a rendezvous in the final but it wasn’t to be as only one of them arrived. Magomedkhabib Saaduev (NPA) put paid the Spanish athletes hopes and duly moved into the gold medal contest.
Casanova looked to be under pressure from dynamic gripping from Saaduev but he re-found his footing fast and produced a Yuko-worthy attack to put space between them. He doubled his lead just 30 seconds later and so Saaduev was now the athlete under pressure. A third yuko for Casanova would be his last of the contest as Saaduev spun into the Brazilian’s space and whipped him on to his back for ippon.
GOLD - Magomedkhabib Saaduev (NPA)
SILVER - Marcelo Casanova (BRA)
BRONZE - Inigo Gerboles Lopes (ESP)
BRONZE - Yermek Nurkabayev (KAZ)
J2W -70 kg
Alana Maldonado (BRA), current Paralympic champion, had anticipated that the number two seed Duygu Cete Artar (TUR) would be her opposition for gold. In the end this was the way things went but Australia’s Taylor Gosens made it more difficult than Cete Artar might have liked.
Gosens has recently moved down from the heavyweight category. Having lost to Cete Artar in their quarter-final, she won in the repechage to book herself a place in the final block for the first time, at either weight. Regardless of the final result. Her day has been very positive indeed.
In the final Maldonado dominated from the first “Hajime” and put a yuko on the board almost straight away. She followed it up with ippon to secure the win and the medal.
GOLD -Alana Maldonado
SILVER - Duygu Cete Artar (TUR)
BRONZE - Cristina Dumitrescu (ROU)
BRONZE - Ayala Mereke (KAZ)
J2M +95 kg
Number two seed Nacer Zorgani (FRA) had a very tough outing indeed, first being beaten by unseeded Mohammadreza Kheirollahzadeh (IRI) and then having to bow out against Gwang Geun Choi (KOR in the repechage. This was not the day he wanted.
Kheirollahzadeh capitalised on his early win and kept momentum all the way to the final where he was set up to face top seed Zhurkamyrza Shukurbekov (KAZ). This was billed as an epic battle in the making.
IBSA world champion Shukurbekov looked to be in trouble when Kheirollahzadeh arrived with posture and confidence in abundance but he knows how to compete at the highest level and spun underneath him with a seoi-otoshi which was almost scorable. It was a warning and so Kheirollahzadeh tightened up his movement. This didn’t stop Shukurbekov though. He continued to unbalance Kheirollahzadeh with a barrage of seoi-otoshi attacks, not allowing him to attack at all and so the penalties began to rain down on him.
As the last 30 seconds arrived, the red backpatch again flew under Kheirollahzadeh and finally earned Shukurbekov a yuko, one which carried him to the top of thew podium.
GOLD - Zhurkamyrza Shukurbekov (KAZ)
SILVER - Mohammadreza Kheirollahzadeh (IRI)
BRONZE - Cheng-Min Huang (TPE)
BRONZE - Amirhossein Nimrouzi (IRI)
J2W +70 kg
Rebeca Silva (BRA) and Meg Emmerich (BRA) have long had a stranglehold on the category, letting in several finals at recent events. However, in Astana, only Silva reached the final, Emmerich having to settle for a bronze medal contest after losing her semi-final to Zarina Raifova (KAZ), unseeded but enjoying the support from the home crowd.
Unfortunately Raifova had taken an injury during the day and was unable to compete in the final. Therefore the gold went to Silva by default.
GOLD - Rebeca Silva (BRA) SILVER - Zarina Raifova (KAZ)
BRONZE - Meg Emmerich (BRA)
BRONZE - Mokhinur Parmonova (UZB)
As the day and the tournament came to a close, the whole organising team could be proud of the environment they built for the travelling delegations. The 2026 IBSA Grand Prix Astana was a success on every level, from accessibility to diversity and from hospitality to organisational standards.
Speaking of diversity, an incredible 14 countries won medals while 18 reached the final block. Brazil topped the medal table, stretching ahead with two more golds than any other nation.
IBSA Judo is growing year by year and it is due to the hard work of dedicated people around the world. Here, the Kazakhstan Paralympic Judo Federation led from the front. We can’t wait for our next visit to Kazakhstan!
All photos courtesy of Nurgali Zhumagazy / IBSA Judo.