The unfancied Hashimoto defied the odds by producing a superb display, clinching victory after he scored ippon over a stunned Orujov with a superb manoeuvre for which the Azeri had no answer.

Mirali Sharipov of Uzbekistan sealed the first available bronze medal by ousting teammate Giyosjon Boboyev while the other went to Kim Chol-gwang of North Korea, his first podium finish on the IJF circuit.

Croatian Barbara Matic took full advantage of France's reigning world champion Gevrise Emane’s shock first-round exit to seal gold in the women’s under 70kg weight category by beating Iljana Marzok of Germany.

Matic took the initiative with an early score before she kept up the momentum, eventually emerging victorious as she was able to throw the German for ippon at the halfway stage of the bout.

Kim Seong-yeon of South Korea and Poland’s Katarzyna Klys both ended their respective appearances at the Qingdao Grand Prix, the eighth of the season, on a positive note as they each took home bronze.

It was a similar story in the women’s under 63kg as top seed Munkhzaya Tsedevsuren of Mongolia crashed out of the competition at the first round stage, leaving the destination of the gold medal wide open.

Busra Katipoglu of Turkey, who was the judoka who prematurely ended the challenge of Tsedevsuren, reached the final but came up against a resurgent Yang Junxia of China, who fended off her opponent's attacks before scoring ippon to seal the title to the delight of the home crowd. 

Maricet Espinosa of Cuba won a thrilling contest with American Hannah Martin, earning bronze on the golden point, while South Korean Bak Miyun also finished third in contrasting style as she dominated her bout against Zhang Wen of China.

In the final weight category to take place today, South Korea’s Olympic silver medallist Wang Ki-chun claimed a golden-point triumph in a dramatic men’s 83kg final with Japan’s Goki Maruyama.

The two went toe-to-toe throughout the intriguing battle and just as it looked as though Maruyama would claim a narrow victory, Wang fought back late on to ensure the winner of the gold would be decided on golden point before securing a pulsating success by virtue of a waza-ari score.

Bulgaria’s Ivaylo Ivanov and Uuganbaatar Otgonbaatar of Mongolia both earned bronze.

The competition in Qingdao concludes tomorrow with the women’s under and over 78kg events, as well as the men’s under 90kg, under 100kg and over 100kg categories.

To watch all the latest action and interviews on Judo TV, click here.

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