Jo Crowley

All eyes were on world number two Muhiddin Asadulloev, fighting at home and with an entire arena behind him. His route to the final wasn’t easy but he arrived for the final block determined to reach the top step of the podium.

In the final for women U70kg, Aleksandra Kowalewska (POL) arrived to undertake a mammoth task, facing double Olympic medallist Michaela Polleres (AUT) for gold. From the first “hajime” Polleres seemed in control but her pace slowed as Kowalewska rose to the challenge.

Somon Makhmadbekov fulfilled the brief on Saturday in Dushanbe, reaching the final and igniting the crowd’s hopes of another airing of the national anthem. In the final he would have to pass Austria’s Bernd Fasching, a physical competitor with a progressing career.

In a category that the hosts had hoped would be theirs, it became a very open field at -100kg when Briton Max Gregory threw number one seed Dzhakhongir Madzhidov (TJK) out of the competition before losing himself in the repechage. It was the first male gold for China in a Grand Slam since 2017 when Xunzhao Cheng won the Grand Slam in Paris.

The lighter of the two women’s categories on the third and final day of the 2026 Dushanbe Grand Slam was the U78 kg category. From the beginning of the day it seemed written in advance that Yelyzaveta Lytvynenko would be the winner. Of course, judo can be unpredictable but in this case, there was little in the draw to disturb the 2022 world medallist.

The top 3 seeds in the men’s U90kg class in Dushanbe were all very close on the IJF World Ranking List, numbers 12, 13 and 15, but Tselidis, the leader among them, has far-and-away the best profile. The Greek hero won Olympic bronze in Paris just two years ago and in Dushanbe, he showed why. The first of the 5 weights to assign its medals on the final day of the Dushanbe Grand Slam 2026 was the men’s -90 kg category.

In the final for women +78kg Asya Tavano (ITA took the first score early in the contest against Chinese Jinesinuer Ayiman, a yuko. With the Italian leading, Ayiman had to come forward and up the pace but no matter how hard she tried, she could not break the defences of Tavano. Now Tavano has two gold medals from Dushanbe, in 2024 and 2026, and can be satisfied with a great day’s work at this year’s edition.

In the men’s heavyweight category at the 2026 Dushanbe Grand Slam, none of the 4 top seeds made it to the final. Therefore the last gold medal of the tournament would be won by a less anticipated judoka. Having been down by a waza-ari in their semi-final, Jakub Sordyl (POL) worked incredibly hard to eventually beat Ushangi Kokauri (AZE), the number one seed, by a yuko and three penalties. Kokauri just couldn’t hold his lead under the pressure from the Polish fighter and had to concede, dropping him into a bronze medal contest.

The -78kg category has long included German representatives on its podia. World, Olympic and European medals have been won by Wagner, Boehm and Olek for several years and so it was no surprise to find Anna Monta Olek and Alina Boehm in a German derby for gold in Astana.

Vadim Ghimbovschi (MDA) had an uphill climb on his hands in the -100kg final at the Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov Martial Arts Palace in Astana. His opponent, Marat Baikamurov, was being driven hard by the crowd; they wanted another gold for Kazakhstan after Zhaglas Kairolla won their first gold on day 2.