Azerbaijani judoka Ahmad Yusifov is set to top the men's 60 kg world ranking for the first time following his victory at the World Championships in Baku.
İdman.Biz reports that Yusifov will receive 2,000 ranking points for winning the first World Championships gold medal of his career, with the points counted at their full value.
Under the International Judo Federation (IJF) ranking system, only an athlete's six best results from the most recent 12-month period are counted. Therefore, the new 2,000-point result will replace one of Yusifov's previous results worth 350 points among his six best scores.
Ranking points earned during the first 12 months are counted at 100 percent, while in the following 12 months they are reduced to 50 percent before being removed completely. In each of these periods, an athlete's six best results are taken into account.
According to İdman.Biz calculations, Yusifov will have 5,180 points when the ranking is next updated following the conclusion of the World Championships in Baku.
One important factor in the calculation is his result at the Lima Grand Prix, where Yusifov finished second on October 11, 2025, earning 490 ranking points. When the ranking is updated on October 12 following the Baku World Championships, that result will move outside the most recent 12-month period and will therefore be counted at 50 percent of its original value, giving him 245 points.
At the same time, all 2,000 points from Yusifov's World Championships triumph in Baku will be added at full value. After the recalculation, his six best results from the most recent 12 months will be worth 4,470 points, while results from the preceding 12-month period will add another 710. His overall total is therefore expected to reach 5,180 points.
Meanwhile, Balabay Aghayev, who entered the World Championships as the world No. 1 with 4,620 points, is expected to drop to second place.
Aghayev will receive 320 points for his performance in Baku, but that result will replace a 112-point result among his six best scores. In addition, an older result worth five points will expire. As a result, Aghayev's total is expected to stand at 4,823 points.
Russia's Ayub Bliev is projected to move into third place with 4,600 points. Brazil's Michel Augusto is expected to be fourth with 4,121, while Israel's Yitzhak Ashpiz should occupy fifth place with 3,993 points.
Thus, following the World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijani judokas Ahmad Yusifov and Balabay Aghayev are expected to occupy the top two positions in the IJF men's 60 kg world ranking.
The official updated IJF ranking has not yet been published. The figures above are projections calculated by İdman.Biz based on the International Judo Federation's current ranking regulations.
