Kazakh judoka Abylaikhan Zhubanazar failed to reach the final of the 2026 World Championships in Baku. In the semifinals of the under-81 kg weight class, he lost to Azerbaijani Zelim Tckaev, the 2025 World Championships bronze medalist, and will now contest third place, infohub.kz reports.
Tckaev scored waza-ari twice, while Zhubanazar was unable to register a scoring move.
The Kazakh athlete retains a chance to win his first medal at a senior World Championships. In the bronze-medal bout, he will face another Azerbaijani, Omar Rajabli, who defeated Slovenia's Nace Herkovic in the repechage round.
On his way to the semifinals, Zhubanazar beat Australia's Keysin Oti, Azerbaijan's Vusal Galandarzade and 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Lee Joon-hwan of South Korea. This season he won the Grand Slam in Lausanne and also took bronze at the Asian Championships and the Paris Grand Slam.
Earlier in the under-81 kg category, Zhalgas Kairolla ended his run in the round of 16, losing to Serbia's Mihailo Simin. Kazakhstan currently has one medal at the World Championships — Sherzod Davlatov won silver in the under-60 kg division.
The World Judo Championships are being held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from October 4 to 11, with 622 athletes from 93 countries taking part. Kazakhstan's national team is represented by 15 athletes.