Cheng, who was unheralded going into last year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, overcame home judoka Axel Clerget to top the podium in the men's under-90 kilograms weight division in the French capital.

The Chinese competitor secured gold in some style, throwing Clerget for ippon in the golden score period.

The bronze medals in the category went to reigning world champion Gwak Dong-han of South Korea and Mihael Zgank of Slovenia, who beat Britain's Max Stewart and Beka Gviniashvili of Georgia.

Other judoka who tasted medal success at Rio 2016 did not fare as well as Cheng as Olympic women's over-78kg champion Emilie Andeol of France was stunned in the semi-final by Sarah Asahina of Japan, who went on to clinch gold.

Asahina outlasted team-mate Kanae Yamabe in the final to mark her Paris Grand Slam debut in the best possible fashion.

Andeol recovered from the shock loss by taking bronze with victory over Yelyzaveta Kalanina of Ukraine, while Kim Min-jeong of South Korea also climbed onto the podium by virtue of her win against Eva Bisseni of France.

The disappointment continued for the host nation when Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medallist Cyrille Maret was beaten in the final of the men's under-100kg division by Japanese teenager Kentaro IIda.

Maret had triumphed on home soil in the French capital, a candidate city for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, on three separate occasions but was unable to find his form as he was comfortably second best.

Varlam Liparteliani of Georgia and Portugal's Jorge Fonseca took the two available bronze medals as they ousted Michael Korrel of The Netherlands and Grigori Minaskin of Estonia respectively.

Japan's Arai Chizuru claimed the women's under-70kg honours as she produced a confident display on her way to an ippon win over former world number one Kelita Zupancic of Canada.

Sanne Van Dijke of The Netherlands beat You Je-young of South Korea in the first bronze medal match and her success was followed by Venezuelan Elvismar Rodriguez's victory over Marie Eve Gahie of France.

Former world champion and two-time Olympic medallist Audrey Tcheumeo delivered gold for the home nation by defeating Ruika Sato of Japan in a tense women's under-78kg final.

Bronze medals were clinched by number one seed Guusje Steenhuis of The Netherlands, who beat South Korea's Park Yu-jin, and Sama Hawa Camara of France, who emerged victorious from her clash with Slovenian Klara Apotekar. 

Tokyo Grand Slam winner Takeshi Ojitani won an all-Japanese over 100kg final against Ryu Schichinohe, with Rafael Silva of Brazil and Mongolian Duurenbayar Ulziibayar taking bronze.

The duo beat Bosnia's Harin Sadikovic and Guram Tushishvili of Georgia respectively.

Dutchman Frank de Wit was the other winner on the second and final day of the event in Paris as he sealed his first-ever Grand Slam gold as he reigned supreme in the men's under-81kg weight class, overcoming Zebeda Rekhviashvili of Georgia.

France won both bronze medals, with Baptiste Pierre and Pape Doudou Ndiaye earning victories against Brazil's Eduardo Santos and Hong Suk-woong of South Korea respectively.

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