Tajikistan’s judoka Somon Mahmadbekov won gold at the 2023 Qazaqstan Barysy Grad Slam, finishing first in the -81kg weight category of the tournament.

In the final, Somon Mahmadbekov defeated his Brazilian opponent Ghuilherme Schmidt, who was top seed. 

The International Judo Federation (IJF) notes that the contest showed the full control Somon had over his opponent to deliver a very precise and serious final that pushed Guilherme Schmidt to be penalized three times. He simply couldn't apply any technique that would put Somon Mahmadbekov in a difficult situation.

The Tajik judoka signed for a second gold medal in a row; impressive!  Recall, Somon’s performance in Dushanbe two weeks ago had made a strong impression, where he won gold in Dushanbe Grand Prix 2023 in the -81kg category.   

Another Tajikistan’s judoka Temur Rahimov won silver at the 2023 Qazaqstan Barysy Grad Slam, finishing second in the +100kg weight category.  In the final, he lost to the neutral athlete Tamerlan Bashayev.  

Rahimov vs Bashayev

Somon Mahmadbekov (born March 24, 1999) is one of the bronze medalists of the 2019 Judo Grand Slam Osaka in the –73 kg weight category. He competed in the men's 73 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.  He won gold at the Dushanbe Grand Prix 2023 in the -81kg weight category and gold at the 2023 Qazaqstan Barysy Grad Slam.

Temur Rahimov (born July 8, 1997) is a bronze medalist of the 2019 Judo Grand Prix Marrakesh and he represented Tajikistan at the 2020 Summer Olympics.  Rahimov won one of the bronze medals in his event at the 2022 Judo Grand Slam Tel Aviv held in Tel Aviv, Israel.  He is also a silver medalist of the Dushanbe Grand Prix 2023.   

The 2023 Judo Grand Slam Astana is a judo competition of the Grand Slam series that was held at the Barys Arena in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, from June 16 to June 18, 2023 as part of the IJF World Tour and during the 2024 Summer Olympics qualification period.

The Judo Grand Slam tournaments are international judo tournaments held by the International Judo Federation as part of the IJF World Tour.  After the Olympic Games, World Championships and World Masters, the Grand Slam tournaments are the highest-ranking worldwide judo tournaments, i.e. the tournaments in which the judoka can acquire the most ranking points.