In the men’s +100kg semi-final, Uzbekistan delivered a tense internal clash as Turoboyev met Yusupov. Each man scored a yuko before the end of normal time but it was Turoboyev who secured the decisive yuko after an exhausting eight minutes of golden score.
Turoboyev went on to face Rakhimov (TJK) in the final, where the Uzbek judoka once again emerged victorious, completing a dominant performance in this category.
The host nation, Saudi Arabia, was represented in the final block by Fay Alslboud in the women’s -70 kg category. She contested the bronze medal match but was defeated by Aytaj Gardashkhanli (AZE).
Cameroon achieved an impressive milestone, fielding athletes in the final block in all three women’s categories of the day (-70 kg, -78 kg, +78 kg), a strong sign of rising competitiveness on the international stage.
In the women’s -70 kg category, Maryam Barbat secured a medal for Iran, the country’s only judo medal so far in these Games.
At -100 kg, Azerbaijan’s Olympic champion Zelym Kotsoiev failed to follow in the footsteps of his teammate and fellow star Hidayat Heydarov, who won gold yesterday, as he was caught with a well-executed shime -waza by Omar Elramly (EGY).
Türkiye continued its rich medal harvest with a strong showing from Vedat Albayrak (-81 kg) and a gold medal from Hilal Ozturk (+78 kg). Türkiye finished at the top of the medal table for the individual events with six gold medals. A total of 13 nations made it onto the medal table during the individual contests.
Tomorrow, the spotlight turns to the team event, with seven teams set to battle for collective glory.