He wasn't the top Azeri in this division. That person was Balabay Aghayev who was ranked No. 1 in the World. But Ahmad Yusifov, whose best results leading up to the World Championships was two European Championship bronzes and an IJF Grand Slam gold, emerged as the -60kg champion.
Throughout the day, he displayed a wide range of techniques. Against his first opponent, Tumenjargal Tuvshintur (MGL), he scored with drop sode just seconds before regular time ended. Next, he dispatched Harsh Singh (IND) with a superb yoko-tomoe-nage.
In his quarterfinal match, against Ayub Bliev (RUS), he used a footsweep which scored yuko. It was enough to win him the match. And, in his semifinal match, he threw the very capable Yang Yung-Wei (TPE) with tani-otoshi.
His final match, against Sherzod Davlatov (KAZ), was his toughest. Davlatov scored first, with kouchi-gari for waza-ari. But Yusifov struck back, wrestling his opponent to the ground for a waza-ari and then pinning him for waza-ari-awasete-ippon.
