Highlights From the Men’s Preliminaries - Day 3

2025 world champion Joan-Benjamin Gaba (FRA) lost by a yuko to 20-year-old Bulgarian Victor Skerlev in the first round. Olympic champion Hidayat Heydarov lost on penalties, on home soil, in the round of 16, to Giovanni Esposito (ITA).

Muhiddin Asadulloev (TJK), the top seed, was knocked out in round two by the impressively explosive, unseeded Japanese judoka Ryuga Tanaka. World champion and 3-time Olympic medallist Lasha Shavdatuashvili (GEO) was knocked out by young Kosovan Dardan Cena. And the list goes on.

Makhmadbek Makhmadbekov (UAE) was the only entrant in the category to agree with the ranking, making it all the way to the final with a solid, reliable performance, closely followed by second seed Daniel Cargnin (BRA) who will fight for bronze in the afternoon session. He lost to Makhmadbekov in the semi-final, some slick ne-waza being the tool of choice.

His opponent in the final, Ryuga Tanaka, had an equally solid day, supported by unshakable confidence and an iron will to win.

Aside from those making it to the final block, there were many exciting moments and big throws, each rating the volume inside the arena. Leonardo Valeriani won three contests before losing out to tanaka; his determination and skill on show throughout the morning session.

Rashid Mammadaliyev (AZE) also gave his home crowd much to enjoy. He worked hard in every contest to get the best result he could and this became increasingly important after the loss of his teammate. His work paid off, earning him a place in the final block, his first world championship final block.

The final block will begin at 6pm sharp, local time, and will be live on JudoTV.com. Follow all the action to find out who the new -73 kg world champion will be.