They saw their wish realised when Baikamurov caught Ghimbovschi for a yuko with an ambitious o-uchi-gari. The Moldovan gave everything he had to pick his opponent up, engaging fully, but Baikamurov was inspired and held his ground.
At the 2025 Qazaqstan Grand Slam Marat Baikamurov won his first and only grand slam medal to date. That result was upgrade in 2026!
After the final, Marat Baikamurov said, “I am deeply proud to win gold at home and sing our national anthem. The crowd's support gave me immense strength rather than pressure. Using Qazaq kuresi techniques helped me maintain control in the final. This team victory gives me great confidence moving forward and we will definitely celebrate together as it is our triumph not just mine.”
In the first contest for a bronze medal, this year’s Tbilisi Grand Slam winner, Idar Bifov (RUS), faced former world number one Michael Korrel (NED). The former seemed to have control but it was an attack from Korrel that put the ball in motion for the first score. The attack wasn’t successful and Bifov looked to have the advantage as they went into ne-waza but Korrel secured a hold from underneath and managed to hold on for 14 seconds. He wanted ippon but a waza-ari still put considerable space between him and his opponent.
Of course, Bifov pressured but Michael Korrel loves a kumi-kata battle and he used it to set up a seoi-otoshi that finished the debate. There was obvious relief on his face as the referee awarded the contest to him; understandable as he had been without a podium finish on the World Judo Tour since the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam.
Simeon Catharina has had an incredible consistent run of performances. Several fifth places, a grand slam medal and a European silver point to a judoka who is following the right path. In Astana that continued! Facing him to fight for bronze was Brazil’s Leonardo Goncalves, the number one seed.
This was a very close fight. Going into golden score with two penalties each meant any slip-up would be catastrophic. However, the last shido was not required. Goncalves registered a yuko when he turned Catharina over in a moment that was very close to being labelled ‘ne-waza’ but Catharina had not yet put his arms on the floor; Goncalves knew that was his chance.
Final (-100 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-100 kg)
