2018 World Judo Championship wraps up in Baku

By Azernews

By Naila Huseynli

The 2018 World Judo Championship, which took place on September 20-27 at Baku’s National Gymnastics Arena has come to an ended.

The tournament in Baku has record number of athletes. Nearly 800 judokas from 125 nations have come to the Azerbaijani capital, making it the home of one the largest World Championships to date.    

Japan is the most successful judo nation in the world, and it one more justified itself in Baku after Japan earned a 4-1 victory over France to capture the mixed team event title for the second straight year and added an eighth gold medal to a 17-medal haul.

A unified Korean team made history by earning bronze along with Russia. Russian team defeated national team with a score of 1:4, so Azerbaijan finished mixed team competitions in fifth place. As many as 11 national judo fighters attended the Championships bringing together 18 teams.  

Azerbaijani team won two medals in individuals of the World Championships.

National judoka Ushangi Kokauri (+100 kg) has captured a silver medal after losing to Georgian Guram Tushishvili.

Commenting on his victory after the game Kokauri said he is happy to win a medal.

“This is the first time I won a medal at the world championship. I believed that I would win in the final, I worked hard but failed. Nevertheless, I'm very glad that I won a silver medal in the championship,” he said.

The member of national team, Hidayet Heydarov (+73 kg) claimed bronze medal. Kramat Huseynov (60 kg) took fifth place, and Irina Kindzerska (+78 kg) ranks seventh.

Only 22 of 125 countries have won medals at the World Judo Championship in Baku.

Japan won 16 out of 56 medals (seven gold, five silver and four bronze). In this regard, Japanese athletes captured five gold medals in women’s fight and two gold medals in men's competition.

The remaining two gold medals were awarded to South Korea, one medal to France, Georgia, Iran, Ukraine and Spain.

The next World Cup will be held a year later in the homeland of judo, Japan. The Championships will be hosted by Tokyo - the capital of next Olympic Games 2020.