Varapayeu’s Uchi-mata Sparks Europe’s Strong Finish in Qingdao

Yahor Varapayeu and Europe closed the Qingdao Grand Prix 2026 on a high in judo, with the continent taking all five gold medals available on the final day. In the men’s -90 kg division, Varapayeu delivered one of the key moments of the session and added a first Grand Prix title to his name.

The -90 kg category had already felt wide open before the medal fights, and the final reflected that tension. Guilherme Schimidt came in aggressively against Varapayeu, pushing the pace in both tachi-waza and ne-waza, but for a long stretch neither athlete could separate himself on the scoreboard.

The decisive action arrived late. With the contest moving into its final minute, Varapayeu timed a circular Uchi-mata beautifully and earned yuko, a score that suddenly put him in control when the pressure was at its highest.

Schimidt looked to answer right away with ko-uchi-gari, and for a moment it appeared the match might swing again. The attack was initially given yuko, which would have sent the final into golden score, but the review changed everything. Officials cancelled the score after judging that Schimidt had grabbed the leg during the action, and the attack was instead penalised with Shido.

That decision confirmed the win for Varapayeu and sealed the first Grand Prix gold medal of his career. It was a dramatic finish, but also one built on patience and timing, with Varapayeu finding his opening exactly when he needed it most.

After the final, Varapayeu said the victory meant a great deal after a difficult recent period. He pointed to a long break, an opening loss to a Korean athlete in Ulaanbaatar, and a short training camp in Mongolia as part of the path that brought him to this result. He also described the medal as an important start to his Olympic qualification campaign.

One clean opening changed the whole final.

Europe’s presence in the category did not end with gold. Murad Fatiyev also added a bronze medal for Azerbaijan, giving the continent another podium moment in Qingdao. In his bronze medal contest against Erzhan Kanatbekov, Fatiyev struck in the closing stages and scored yuko in the final minute.

That effort earned him a second straight World Judo Tour bronze medal after his podium result in Mongolia a week earlier. It may not have had the same spotlight as the final, but it underlined Europe’s depth on the last day of the event.

The wider story in Qingdao was Europe’s complete control of the final day, with gold medals across the men’s -90 kg, -100 kg and +100 kg divisions, as well as the women’s -78 kg and +78 kg categories. In the -90 kg class, Varapayeu’s calm finish and Fatiyev’s late bronze-winning score captured that momentum perfectly.

Source: EJU.net