The Georgian Who Wouldn't Be Denied and the Japanese Who Cannot Lose: Day Four in Baku

There are days at a World Judo Championships that produce results, and there are days that produce legends. Day four in Baku delivered both, and it did so with a final block that justified every minute of the wait.

At -63kg, Haruka Kaju arrived in Azerbaijan as the reigning world champion and the world number one, having never lost a contest on the World Judo Tour since her senior international debut at the Tokyo Grand Slam in December 2024. Five contests later, she had defended her title, extended that extraordinary sequence to 40 consecutive victories, and drawn level with Teddy Riner's benchmark for consecutive unbeaten contests — an almost implausible comparison for a judoka whose international career is still in its relative infancy.

Her final opponent was Israel's Kerem Primo, who was not only contesting her first World Championship final but her first-ever World Judo Tour final. It was the biggest moment of her career, and standing across from her was one of the sport's most formidable champions. The contest followed a familiar pattern. Kaju created her opening from a shoulder-throw movement and immediately transitioned into ne-waza, her trademark. Primo briefly escaped, but Kaju maintained the pressure, threatened with a strangle, and then converted the situation into osaekomi. Twenty seconds later, it was over. Kaju was world champion for the second consecutive year.

It was a performance of clinical, almost mechanical dominance. As the Japanese press noted afterwards, Kaju has added improved standing techniques to the groundwork that was already her strongest weapon. "This might be even more pleasing than last year," she said. "I want to get to a level where everyone says, '63kg is for Kaju,' and sweep the titles." The victory was Japan's fourth gold medal from four women's categories contested so far, a statistic that speaks to the depth of the Japanese women's programme.

If Kaju's victory was a demonstration of inevitability, the men's -81kg final was its opposite. Tato Grigalashvili, the Georgian who has been one of judo's most dominant forces for half a decade, was facing Zelim Tckaev of Azerbaijan — the home favourite, the crowd's hope, and a judoka who had worked his entire career for a moment like this.

Grigalashvili was already a three-time world champion. He had settled for silver last year. He arrived in Baku determined to return to the top of the podium. Tckaev, meanwhile, had won bronze at the previous World Championships and was looking to upgrade it to gold in front of his own people. The National Gymnastics Arena was electric.

What followed was an epic. The two judoka gave everything — gripping battles, attacks, counters, survival. Penalties were exchanged on both sides. Neither would yield. The contest stretched far into golden score, nearly ten minutes in total, a duration that in judo feels like an eternity. Then, finally, it came: a waza-ari for a counter. There was a moment of silence as the video review checked and double-checked the score. When the decision was confirmed, Grigalashvili had done it again. Four times a world champion.

"The last three months were a very important period of preparation for me," Grigalashvili said afterwards. "There were changes within the team, particularly after our head coach left, so we had to adapt and reorganise ourselves. With the new team, my personal coaches and everyone around me, we continued to work together towards the same goal. In the end, all that collective effort allowed us to achieve this title once again, for the fourth time."

The medals were awarded by Rashad Nabiyev, President of the Azerbaijan Judo Federation. For Tckaev, there was the agony of silver in front of a home crowd that had willed him to gold. For Grigalashvili, there was the confirmation of a legacy that now places him firmly among the modern greats of the sport.

Day four in Baku was, in the end, a day of two very different kinds of greatness. One judoka cannot seem to lose. The other refuses to be beaten. And between them, they produced a final block that will be remembered long after the red back patches are sewn onto new jackets.

The World Judo Championships continue on Thursday with the -70kg and -90kg categories, and the mixed team event closes the tournament on October 11.

Written by Thorben Thiede thorben.thiede@alpineweekly.com