An, a junior world champion, defeated top seed and Baku Grand Slam winner Sagi Muki of Israel in the final, having beaten Mongolian duo Khashbaataryn Tsagaanbaatar and Odbayar Ganbaatar on route.

The home favourite, who was aiming for his first IJF medal on the senior stage, had a waza-ari cancelled out by Muki but settled the fate of the gold medal by throwing beautifully with a tai-otoshi.

In the bronze medal matches, Belgium's Dirk Van Tichelt beat United States' Nick Delpopolo, while Azerbaijan's Rustam Orujov overcame Ganbaatar.

There was further success for the host nation in the men's under 81kg category as Olympic champion Kim Jae-Bum repeated his gold medal showing from a year ago.

The 29-year-old, who is targeting a third Olympic medal at Rio 2016, defeated Belgium's former European bronze medallist Joachim Bottieau after just 99 seconds.

Bottieau started by being penalised for passivity and it was not long before he became the latest victim of Korean superstar Kim, who threw with a stunning morote seoi-nage.

Kim's compatriot Wang Ki-Chun and Mongolia's Dagvasuren Nyamsuren claimed the bronze medals after beating Russia's Aleksandr Uliakhov and Hungary's Attila Ungvari respectively.

France's Clarisse Agbegnenou (in white) was dominant in the women's under 63kg category ©IJF



Meanwhile in the women's under 63kg category, France's world champion Clarisse Agbegnenou maintained her unbeaten record in 2014 by seeing off Spain's Isabel Puche in the final.

The 22-year-old, who was competing for the first time since winning the world title in August, took the lead with a yuko after Puche had been penalised with a shido for negative posture, and sealed her seventh gold medal of the year with a huge osoto-gari earning ippon.

The first bronze medal match was won by South Korea's Bak Ji-yun at the expense of France's Lindsay Tsang Sam Moi, but fellow countrywoman Joung Da-Woon lost out to Germany's Nadja Bazynski in the second.

France's Gevrise Emane was in sensational form as she emphatically worked her way through the high-quality field to earn the women's under 70kg gold medal.

Emane defeated Abu Dhabi Grand Slam winner Laura Vargas Koch of Germany in the final having spent just 94 seconds on the mat in total in her previous three contests.

The pair failed to unlock their respective defences as Vargas Koch lost out by one shido, which she received for passivity in the final minute.

Israel's Lior Wildikan triumphed in the first bronze medal match against Russia's Irina Gazieva, before Morocco's Assmaa Niang prevailed in her encounter with Canada's Monika Burgess.

Tomorrow sees the three-day competition come to a close with five gold medals set to be decided in the men's under 90kg, under 100kg and 100kg categories and the women's under 78kg and over 78kg divisions.

Watch the latest action on Judo TV here.

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