Many contenders could have capitalised but it was Adam Sangariev (RUS) and Fuchun Huang who reached the final to fight for gold. The first four minutes was close, neck-and-neck, both attacking and both defending well but as soon as the golden score period began, Huang unleashed a devastating o-uchi-gari that drove Sangariev on to his back for ippon.
Huang won bronze in Dushanbe a year ago and upgrading to gold in 2026 gives him a second grand slam medal; Dushanbe is now a special place for him. This also gives China their 4th medal overall in at this tournament.
After this year’s final, Huang said, “I understood after last year’s performance that the difference between bronze and gold is a little nuance. Step by step, I got closer to my first grand slam title, and where else to win other than one of the best judo cities, Dushanbe?”
The first bronze medal contest took less than 20 seconds to play out, among the fastest ippon wins of the 2026 Dushanbe Grand Slam. Lazar Zdrale (SRB) went straight for a huge ko-soto-gake against Oleksii Yershov (UKR), playing right into his hands. Yershov picked him up immediately and the two fought hard for control of each other’s balance, the ippon being given indisputably to Yershov as he toppled the Serbian judoka. This is the 24-year-olds first grand slam medal.
Vadim Ghimbovschi (MDA) made light work of his bronze medal fight too and claimed his own first grand slam medal, the third for his team at this tournament. He latched on to Caramnob’s outside leg and propelled him through the air for a clean ippon landing.
Final (-100 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-100 kg)
