-60kg Gold: Aghayev (AZE)
The last time Balabay Aghayev fought Ryuju Nagayama (JPN) was in 2022 at the Jerusalem World Masters. Back then, Nagayama threw him with uchimata for ippon. This time around, Aghayev managed to get his revenge, throwing Nagayama with sumi-gaeshi for yuko halfway through the match. Try as he might, Nagayama could not even up the scores before time ran out.
After the match, Aghayev said: "It was an incredible way to begin the Olympic qualification period, especially since I was able to avenge past losses against world champions. My coach and I really did our homework, analysing my previous mistakes. Their styles are very classic and calm; our Azerbaijani judo is much more emotional which makes it very difficult for them to handle. Looking ahead, having the world championships at home in Baku isn't a pressure, it’s an extra motivation for me, my family and our supporters. Our team is like a tight-knit family and when someone struggles, we remind them of Baku because our goal isn't just to have one world champion, but several champions on home soil. I also want to say thank you to Mongolia; the organisation and atmosphere here in Ulaanbaatar have been absolutely top level."
-66kg Gold: Takeoka (JPN)
Eager to salvage Japanese pride after his teammate lost the -60kg final, Takeshi Takeoka took the fight to his Russian opponent, Ramazan Abulaev in the -66kg final, and threw him with a very non-Japanese style technique: Drop kata-guruma. It was only scored a yuko but that was enough for Takeoka to win the match and bring home the gold.
Later, he said: "Heading towards my first Olympics, I know international opponents have researched my style, so I must continuously grow and defeat them one by one. This is especially true for the Baku World Championships; since I won last year and now wear the red backnumber. Everyone is targeting me, so my main goal is to secure a second consecutive world title. In today's final, I wanted to fully showcase my greatest strength, constantly stepping forward and staying on the attack. Ultimately, the biggest factor in my victory was winning that mental battle, refusing to lose to myself and keeping my determination strong."
