Defending champion Oates was hotly-tipped to take gold at the Sarhadchi Olympic Sport Centre but had to settle for silver as Shikhalizada clinched the title to send the crowd into raptures.

“Today is a very emotional moment for me, to win my country’s first medal of the competition,” he said.

“The atmosphere was amazing and it energised me all day.

“Colin is a very tough fighter and I look forward to facing him again and maybe once more in Baku at the European Games.”

There was also success for Loic Karval of France and Spain’s Sugoi Uriarte, who ensured they finished on the podium as they both sealed bronze.

On what proved to be a day of surprises, Kazakhstan’s Rustam Ibrayev was victorious in the men’s under 60kg division as he beat Frenchman Vincent Limare.

Neither Mongolia's world champion Boldbaatar Ganbat, searching for his first podium place of the year, nor home favourite Orkhan Safarov managed to claim a medal as the two bronzes went to Tobias Englmaier of Germany and Georgian Lukhumi Chkhvimiani respectively. 

In the women’s event, there was double delight for the Romanian judokas as Monica Ungureanu and Cornia Caprioriu both claimed hard-fought golds.

Ungureanu was the star performer in the under 48kg weight class and she sealed her maiden career Grand Slam crown by beating Olympic bronze medallist Eva Csernoviczki of Hungary by virtue of an ippon.

The two bronze medals up for grabs were won by Brazilian Nathalia Brigida and Charline Van Snick of Belgium.

Olympic silver medallist Caprioriu then built on her teammate’s earlier success by getting Britain’s Nekoda Smythe Davis, who beat her at the recent Zagreb Grand Prix, to tap out in their gold medal contest in the under 57kg category. 

There was to be no further Romanian triumph as Loredana Ohai was forced to withdraw from her third-place bout with Germany’s Miryam Roper, while Russia’s Irina Zabludina also managed to squeeze on to the podium.

World number three Erika Miranda of Brazil reigned supreme in the under 52kg division thanks to an impressive victory over Romanian top seed Andrea Chitu, and despite the defeat, Romania finished the day with a commanding haul of three medals.

The Brazilian waited for the golden opportunity to arise and she took it with just over a minute left, locking Chitu into an unbreakable choke hold.

Distria Krasniqi of Kosovo and Priscilla Greto each claimed bronze on what was an action-packed opening to the event in the Azerbaijani capital, which continues tomorrow.

Watch the latest action on Judo TV here.

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