Dayyan Boulemtafes wins World Judo bronze in Baku

Dayyan Boulemtafes has delivered France a bronze medal at the World Judo Championships in Baku, confirming the 20-year-old as a leading figure in the next generation of the -73kg category. His result came after defending champion Joan-Benjamin Gaba was eliminated at the opening stage.

Boulemtafes, who represents Paris Saint-Germain, entered the tournament ranked 22nd in the world. He began with a golden-score victory over Kazakhstan’s Angsarbek Gainullin after 6 minutes and 35 seconds, then defeated Australia’s Kohsei Toyoshima with two waza-ari. His quarter-final win over fourth-ranked Russian Danil Lavrentev, also decided in golden score after 5:07, took him into the last four.

Japan’s Ryuga Tanaka ended his run in the semi-final with a waza-ari. Boulemtafes responded in the bronze-medal bout against Israel’s Yehonatan Elbaz, ranked 50th, producing an ippon with 1:48 remaining. The medal is his first at a world championship and his second major international medal after European bronze in April. It also gives France its second medal of the championships, following Shirine Boukli’s bronze in the -48kg division.