To enter the gold medal contest, before his victory against Lima the top seed of pool B, Nurillaev, hung on his hunt record, Davut Toktay (TUR), Orlando Polanco (CUB) and Ravshan Nasriddinov (AIN).
One of the best medal chances for the host country was in the hands of Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medallist Vazha Margvelashvili. After a promising start against Juan Hernandez (COL), the Georgian champion had to surrender against Ivan Chernykh (AIN), who used his momentum to propel himself into the final after his victory in the semi-final against the Italian Matteo Piras.
The final therefore pitted Sardor Nurillaev (UZB) and Ivan Chernykh (AIN) against one another. When Sardor Nurillaev picked up a third penalty in golden score, the winner was known and it was Ivan Chernykh for a very first gold medal in a grand slam and generally speaking on the World Judo Tour.
Ruslan Pashayev (AZE) and Matteo Piras (ITA) qualified for the first contest for a bronze medal. The contest was intense, the first penalties falling down only at the end of the normal time and in golden score, mainly because both judoka were exhausted. Breathing heavily, they had to throw their last forces into the battle. It was eventually Pashayev who had a tiny bit of extra power left and who threw his opponent with a little ashi-waza, enough to win the medal.
Azerbaijan had a second chance at a medal with Rashad Yelkiyev who took to the tatami against Willian Lima (BRA) to win the second bronze medal. It didn't take long for Lima to drop under Yelkiyev with a powerful seoi-otoshi that made him land flat on his back for ippon.
Final (-66 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-66 kg)
