Kazakhstan's judo team finished the Grand Slam series event in Budapest without a single medal. The best result among the Kazakh athletes came from Nuradil Alzhan, competing in the under-60-kilogram category, who reached the round of 16, infohub.kz reports.
In the under-60-kilogram division, Alzhan opened with a win over Azerbaijan's Babarahim Mirzayev, then defeated American Christopher Velasco in extra time. In the round of 16, however, the Kazakh lost to David Starkel of Slovenia, who went on to take bronze at the tournament. Kazakhstan's second entrant in the weight class, Magzhan Shamshadin, lost his opening bout to France's Maxime Merlin and exited the competition.
In the under-66-kilogram category, Meirbek Baizakov beat Hungary's Ferenc Fedora in his opening match but fell in the next round to Boyan Yotov of Bulgaria, who went on to win the tournament. Akzhigit Nasyr was eliminated in the first round, losing to Britain's Michael Fryer.
In the under-73-kilogram division, Yeset Kuanov lost his first bout to Uzbekistan's Elbek Tojiyev. Yersultan Duisenkhan began the tournament with a win over Mohammad Bakhtiyar Hamza, competing for the Refugee Team, but then lost to Moldova's Renat Kroitor.
Doskhan Zholzhaksynov also recorded one win in the under-81-kilogram category, first beating France's Alfa Oumar Jalo before losing to Ukraine's Mykhailo Svidrak.
In the under-90-kilogram division, Yermakhan Anuarbekov lost his opening bout to Belarus's Yegor Voropayev. Kazakhstan's second entrant, Daniil Krylov, fell to Bosnia's Toni Miletic in the first round.
Askar Birzhanov also failed to get past the first round in the under-100-kilogram category, losing to Parviz Abdurakhmonov of Tajikistan.
On the women's side, in the under-48-kilogram category, Diana Burkeyeva met Sabina Gilyazova in the first round. The Russian beat the Kazakh, then went unbeaten through the tournament to claim gold.
Akerke Ramazanova, in the over-78-kilogram weight class, opened with a win over Brazil's Tauana Silva but lost in the second round to Croatia's Tina Radic, also finishing outside the medal bouts.
The Grand Slam judo tournament was held in Budapest, Hungary, from September 11 to 13, with 504 athletes from 67 countries taking part. A total of 14 sets of medals were awarded. Kazakhstan was represented by 12 athletes. The event was the final stop on the World Judo Tour before the 2026 World Championships.
At the previous Grand Slam stage in Lausanne, Kazakhstan finished ninth in the medal standings. The team's only medal there came from Abylaikhan Zhubanazar, who won gold in the under-81-kilogram category.
The roster of Kazakhstan's national team for the World Championships, to be held in Baku from October 4 to 11, was announced earlier.