Tckaev rules the ranking, Grigalashvili rules him

Zelim Tckaev leads the world at -81kg. The IJF World Ranking List of 12 October 2026, the first after the World Championships in Baku, puts the Azerbaijani first at -81kg, a position built on medals at four of the biggest events of the season: silver at the Grand Slam in Paris in February, bronze at the European Championships in Tbilisi in April, gold at the Grand Prix in Qingdao in June and silver at the World Championships in Baku in October.

His path to the top runs through two countries. Born in 1999, Tckaev competed for Russia as a cadet and junior. He became European cadet champion at -73kg in Vantaa in 2016 and the number one of the cadet world ranking that year. He later switched to Azerbaijan, and Baku became his city: he won the Grand Slam there in 2023, 2024 and 2025, added Abu Dhabi in 2024 and took bronze at the World Championships in Budapest in 2025.

The one opponent he cannot solve

Every senior championship tells the same story. Tato Grigalashvili of Georgia stopped Tckaev in the semi final of the European Championships in 2025 and 2026, in the semi final of the World Championships in Budapest, and in the world final in Baku. His JudoInside record shows eight contests against the Georgian and just one win, in the final of the European Cup for cadets in Berlin in May 2016 (records up to 12 October 2026). Against the rest of the elite the numbers look very different: two wins and two defeats against Matthias Casse, whom he beat in Baku, and three wins in four meetings with Nugzari Tatalashvili.

That is the paradox of his ranking. Tckaev is the most consistent judoka at -81kg, and the ranking rewards that consistency, but the titles have gone to the man who keeps beating him. The next meeting with Grigalashvili will decide whether the world number one can also become world champion.

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