Judo: Japan crowns two new world champions in Baku

It's day three of the 2026 World Championships here in Baku.

International Judo Federation President Mr Marius Vizer and CEO of CBH Bank, Mr Simon Benhamou, signed a sponsorship agreement.

And an MOU was signed between the IJF General Treasurer Dr Naser Al Tamimi and the International Police Sports Union Secretary General, Gonzalo Londono

As the National Gymnastics Arena filled, fans were treated to the chance to meet some of their judo heroes, before settling in for another fantastic day of competition.

Current World Champion, Eteri LIPARTELIANI made it to the final once again at -57Kg.

LIPARTELIANI provided some of the highlight throws of the day!

Trying to take the title was Japan's Akari OMORI. Throughout the prelims, OMORI showed how dangerous she can be in standing and groundwork. Her toughest fight came from teammate Momo TAMAOKI. A huge victory on the road to the final.

In a tense final that entered golden score, OMORI showed her dominance on the ground, successfully turning over and holding down the current world champion to take the title.

When I was fighting, the support for Liparteliani was so loud it was all I could hear. The atmosphere was incredible. I was determined to win, even if it meant disappointing the crowd.

CBH Bank CEO Mr Simon BENHAMOU, Awarded the medals.

At -73KG, TANAKA Ryuga had a tough draw, but after successfully defeating the category's top seed, a waza-ari score in the semi-final put him in contention for gold.

World number 3, Makhmadbek MAKHMADBEKOV of the UAE already has a World bronze, and today he was hoping to finally take the top spot. A fantastic display of skill and power in the preliminaries made that look possible.

The final was another close battle, with just a single score enough to take the victory.

It was TANAKA who struck the winning blow, an incredible driving ouchi-gari, taking down MAKHMADBEKOV for a yuko score. Two new world champions for Japan, crowned on Day 3!

I think it's wonderful to see judo spreading not just in Japan, but all around the world. Seeing the crowd cheering for every athlete and being so invested in the matches gives me a lot of energy.

General Treasurer of the International Judo Federation Mr Naser AL TAMIMI awarded the medals.

We'll see you tomorrow for Day 4.