Inal Tasoev claimed the men’s over-100kg gold medal at the 2026 World Judo Championships on October 10 at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan, according to tournament records published by eJudo.
Baku Tournament Field and Medal Podium
The heavyweight division drew 41 competitors to the Azerbaijani capital. Tasoev, competing under a neutral designation, navigated the large bracket to secure the world title. Ushangi Kokauri of Azerbaijan finished second to take the silver medal. The bronze medals went to Czech veteran Lukas Krpalek and Azerbaijan’s Kanan Nasibov, rounding out the podium spots for the day’s action.
Heavyweight Preliminary Rounds
Opening-round matches set the tone for a busy tournament schedule on the tatami in Baku. Stefan Kovinic of Montenegro defeated Igor Vracar of Serbia by tate-otoshi at the 4-minute mark. Marek-Adrian Masak of Estonia scored an ippon via o-soto-gari in 1 minute and 33 seconds against Darius Dobre of Romania. Jamal Gamzatkhanov of Azerbaijan advanced past Francisco Solis of Chile using a kata-guruma at 2:14, while Batkhuyag Gonchigsuren of Mongolia threw Marius Fizer of Slovakia with a uki-otoshi in 1 minute and 23 seconds.
In other early contests, Yevhenii Bariiievskyi of Ukraine defeated Adnan Khankan of the IJF Refugee Team by ko-soto-gake at 2:11. Lasha Tushishvili of Georgia overcame Odbayar Tsetsentsengel of Mongolia with a combined technique of uchi-mata and yoko-shiho-gatame at 3:31. Lee Seung-yup of South Korea edged Li Haiyang in golden score by waza-ari-awasete-ippon via uki-otoshi at 27 seconds of overtime. Jakub Sordyl of Poland defeated Mohamed-El-Mehdi Lili of Algeria using o-soto-gari and kuzure-kesa-gatame at 2:27. Rosserne Kone of Germany advanced when Vidak Maljevic of Serbia received three shido penalties at 3:30.
Tournament Classification Placements
Beyond the medalists, the tournament standings recognized finishes down to seventh place. Martti Puumalainen of Finland and Jamal Gamzatkhanov of Azerbaijan finished equal fifth in the classification standings. Jur Spikers of the Netherlands and Valerii Endovitskii finished equal seventh.
Keep reading
