Hassan Doukkali Wins Morocco’s First Judo Grand Slam Gold in Abu Dhabi
Hassan Doukkali won gold in the under-73 kg category at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam 2026, the first Grand Slam title ever won by a Moroccan judoka.
Photo: International Judo Federation
Hassan Doukkali became the first Moroccan judoka to win gold at a Grand Slam event, taking the under-73 kg title at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam 2026 in the United Arab Emirates.
The Moroccan beat Tajikistan’s Masoudi Ahmadzod in the final, capping a run of four straight wins against strong opposition.
His path to the title began with a victory over Romania’s Ioan Dzitac in the round of 32. He then got past France’s Maxime Gobert in the round of 16, Georgia’s Giorgi Chikhilidze in the quarter-finals and Russia’s Karen Galstian in the semi-finals.
No Moroccan judoka had reached this level before. Grand Slam tournaments sit on the International Judo Federation (IJF) calendar, bring together the sport’s top competitors and award valuable points towards the world rankings.
The Abu Dhabi event, held from October 28 to 31, gathered 374 male and female judokas from 59 countries.
Among the international names in the draw were Japan’s Masushi Ryotoro, gold medallist in the under-100 kg category at the 2025 Tokyo tournament, Azerbaijan’s Jamz Atkhanov, a title-winner at world age-group competitions, and Hungary’s Aron Szabo, European under-23 champion at under-73 kg.
