Фото: Федерация дзюдо Молдовы
The tournament is taking place in the capital of Azerbaijan from 4 to 10 October. A total of 621 athletes from 92 countries are taking part in the World Championships. This was reported by the National Olympic Committee of Moldova.
The Moldovan judoka’s first opponent was the Frenchman Daiki Bubá – the 2025 European champion in the under-66kg weight category. Vieru secured victory and progressed to the next round.
The Moldovan athlete then faced Brazilian Ronald Lima, who had finished on the podium at the Grand Prix events in Austria and Qingdao this season. Vieru once again proved the stronger of the two.
In the quarter-finals, he faced Nuraly Emomali from Tajikistan. Prior to the World Championships, he was ranked second in the world, and in 2025 he won the silver medal at the World Championships. In 2026, Emomali won the Asian Championships and the Grand Slam tournament in Dushanbe.
Vieru defeated the Tajik judoka and advanced to the semi-finals.
To reach the final, the Moldovan athlete faced Spain’s David García Torne. This was not the first time the two had met. In 2023, they faced each other in the final of the European Championships in the under-66kg category. On that occasion, Vieru emerged victorious.
This time, Garcia Torne proved the stronger of the two, advancing to the final, whilst Vieru continued his campaign for the bronze medal.
In the decisive bout, the Spaniard faced Japan’s Hifumi Abe. It took the Japanese athlete around a minute to score an ippon and become world champion for the fifth time.
In the match for third place, Viera’s opponent was Murad Chopanov — the reigning European champion in the under-66 kg weight category.
It was a tense bout. Both athletes attacked aggressively and responded to their opponent’s moves with counter-attacks. Towards the end, Vieru executed a successful counter-move and managed to maintain his lead until the end of the bout.
As a result, the Moldovan judoka won the bronze medal. The second bronze in this weight category went to Japan’s Takeshi Takeoka.
Thus, Hifumi Abe was crowned world champion, David García Torne won the silver medal, and Denis Vieru and Takeshi Takeoka took the bronze.
This is Vieru’s third bronze at the World Championships
The medal in Baku marked Denis Vieru’s third bronze at the World Championships. He had previously finished third at the World Championships in 2019 and 2022.
Vieru is also a bronze medallist at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. This medal marked the first Olympic medal in the history of Moldovan judo.
In 2023, the athlete won the European Championships in the under-66kg category. During his career, he has also won six Grand Slam tournaments.
In the 2026 season, Vieru won silver at the Grand Prix in Lima and bronze at the Grand Slam tournament in Hungary. He has now added a World Championship medal to these achievements.
This story was translated with the assistance of artificial intelligence.The translation was also reviewed by the Logos Press editorial team.
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