A minute's silence was held in memory of the victims of the Turkey-Syria earthquake at the Antalya Grand Slam Opening Ceremony ©IJF

A minute's silence to remember victims of last month's Turkey-Syria earthquake preceded the first day of the International Judo Federation (IJF) Grand Slam in Antalya, where France dominated proceedings with four gold medals.

More than 50,000 people are reported to have died in Turkey and at least 7,250 in neighbouring Syria in one of the 21st century's most devastating earthquakes.

During the Opening Ceremony at the Antalya Sport Hall, those in attendance held a period of silence in memory of the disaster's victims, with IJF director general Vlad Marinescu declaring "the entire judo family is with you in solidarity, friendship and peace as you rebuild".

France's Blandine Pont continued her sensational form on this season's IJF World Tour with a third consecutive Grand Slam victory in the women's under-48 kilograms category, her latest against Israel's Shira Rishony in the final.

There were a pair of bronze medals for Mongolia as Bavuudorjyn Baasankhüü and Ganbaataryn Narantsetseg beat Brazil's Amanda Lima and Germany's Katharina Menz respectively.

Blandine Pont of France, second left, earned her third IJF Grand Slam gold of the season in the women's under-48kg category in Antalya ©IJF
Blandine Pont of France, second left, earned her third IJF Grand Slam gold of the season in the women's under-48kg category in Antalya ©IJF

Olympic bronze medallist Luka Mkheidze of France earned a second Grand Slam win of the season in the men's under-60kg against Ukraine's Dilshot Khalmatov.

Jorre Verstraeten of Belgium overcame Dilshodbek Baratov of Uzbekistan in the first match for bronze, and Nurkanat Serikbayev of Kazakhstan saw off Mongolia's Enkhtaivany Ariunbold.

Tokyo 2020 individual silver medallist and mixed team champion Amandine Buchard provided another gold for France in the women's under-52kg, triumphing in a high-quality final against top seed Chelsie Giles of Britain.

Last year's Antalya Grand Slam winner Réka Pupp of Hungary had to settle for bronze after beating Portugal's Maria Siderot, and Uzbekistan's Sita Kadamboeva defeated Estrella López Sheriff of Spain.

The fourth French victory of the day came through Maxime Gobert in the men's under-66kg.

He triumphed in his first Grand Slam final against Mongolia's Erkhembayar Battogtokhyn.

Willian Lima of Brazil saw off Kazakhstan's Gusman Kyrgyzbayev, and Spain's David García Torné claimed a surprise victory over Baruch Shmailov of Israel in the matches for bronze.

The other gold medal went to Brazil through Rio 2016 Olympic champion Rafaela Silva in the women's under-57kg, who won an 11-minute semi-final against Ukraine's Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist and two-time world champion Daria Bilodid before beating Canada's Christa Deguchi in the final.

Jessica Lima doubled the Brazilian presence on the podium with a victory against Seija Ballhaus of Germany, with Kaja Kajzer of Slovenia beating China's Qi Cai in the other match for bronze.

The Antalya Grand Slam is set to continue tomorrow with competition in the women's under-63kg and under-70kg and men's under-73kg and under-81kg.