Four WA judoka take on the world in Baku as the road to LA28 gathers pace

From winning on home soil in Mandurah to reaching the Commonwealth Games podium in Glasgow, Western Australia’s judoka have already produced memorable performances this year. Now, four WA athletes face their toughest examination yet: the Senior World Championships.

The individual championships run from 4–10 October, with the IJF currently listing 634 competitors from 96 countries. With world titles at stake and the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic qualification period underway, Baku offers an opportunity to make a mark against the athletes setting the standard internationally.

Keishin Ochi: a breakthrough year meets its biggest test

At just 20, Keishin Ochi heads to Baku ranked 35th in the world in the men’s under-81kg division. His Commonwealth Games bronze in Glasgow added another major achievement to an increasingly impressive senior record.

Ochi’s momentum has been building across successive international campaigns. In 2025, he won silver at both the Hangzhou and Hong Kong Asian Opens, bronze at the Gold Coast Oceania Open and gold at the Mandurah Oceania Open. This year, he claimed the Oceania Senior Championship title in April before successfully defending his Mandurah title in May. A July appearance at the Sarajevo European Open preceded his medal-winning Commonwealth Games campaign.

In Glasgow, the UWA Judo Club athlete showed he could recover from disappointment and deliver when a medal was on the line. After a narrow semi-final defeat, he threw India’s Harsh Tokas with osoto-gari for ippon to secure bronze.

Baku will demand another step forward. The 50-athlete under-81kg field includes world No. 2 Francois Gauthier Drapeau of Canada, Azerbaijan’s world No. 3 Zelim Tckaev and Japan’s world No. 4 Yuhei Oino. Matthias Casse, Lee Joonhwan and Tato Grigalashvili also feature in the entry list, underlining the quality extending beyond the highest seeds.

For Ochi, this is a chance to test his growing senior credentials against a much broader field and build on a year that has already delivered significant success.

Kohsei Toyoshima: continental champion takes the next step

Kohsei Toyoshima, 21, enters the men’s under-73kg competition ranked 41st in the world, following back-to-back gold medals at the Oceania Senior Championships and Mandurah Oceania Open earlier this year.

Those victories followed bronze medals at the 2025 Taipei Junior Asian Cup and Gold Coast Oceania Open. His recent international schedule also includes the 2025 Junior World Championships in Lima and the 2026 Taipei Asian Open.

Toyoshima has already experienced the demands of world championship competition through the age-group pathway. He finished seventh at the 2022 Cadet World Championships and competed at the Junior Worlds in both 2024 and 2025. Baku represents the next stage in that progression: taking his place among the senior elite.

The 50-strong under-73kg division includes all of the world’s top six: Muhiddin Asadulloev, Daniel Cargnin, Makhmadbek Makhmadbekov, Danil Lavrentev, Rashid Mammadaliyev and Jack Yonezuka. The entry list also features Hidayat Heydarov and Lasha Shavdatuashvili.

For Toyoshima, the challenge is to translate his successful continental campaign into competitive performances against this depth of opposition. His recent titles provide a strong foundation; the Worlds will offer a clear measure of the next level.

Maria Swan: world top-15 standing and momentum from Glasgow

Maria Swan arrives as the highest-ranked member of the WA quartet, sitting 14th in the world in the women’s under-78kg division. The 24-year-old brings a Commonwealth Games silver medal and a recent European Open title into her Baku campaign.

Swan’s preparation has included sustained exposure to the international circuit. After winning the Gold Coast Oceania Open in November 2025, she competed at the Abu Dhabi and Tokyo Grand Slams. Her 2026 campaign included fifth at the Ljubljana European Open, appearances in Tashkent and Upper Austria, and seventh at the Tbilisi Grand Slam.

She then won the Oceania Senior Championships before contesting the Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam and Qingdao Grand Prix. Gold at the Sarajevo European Open in July provided another significant result shortly before Glasgow.

At the Commonwealth Games, the UWA Judo Club athlete defeated Kenya’s Zeddy Cherotich and Canada’s Coralie Godbout to reach the final. She took an early lead against England’s Emma Reid before the defending champion secured victory in ne-waza. The silver nevertheless capped a strong campaign and demonstrated Swan’s ability to compete under major-event pressure.

Her 45-athlete Baku division includes seven of the world’s top eight, led by Germany’s Anna Monta Olek, Yelyzaveta Lytvynenko of the United Arab Emirates and Slovenia’s Metka Lobnik. Japan’s Kurena Ikeda, Portugal’s Patricia Sampaio and Reid are also entered.

Swan’s ranking places her within reach of the division’s leading group, but outside Baku’s eight seeded positions. That makes the draw an important factor and reinforces the value of the experience she has accumulated against strong international opposition.

Saya Middleton: Commonwealth silver fuels the next challenge

Saya Middleton, 23, will compete in the women’s under-63kg division ranked 57th in the world, with her Glasgow silver medal providing an encouraging platform for the World Championships.

Her recent results chart a successful move into under-63kg after earlier international medals at under-70kg. Middleton won the Hong Kong Asian Open in November 2025, then undertook a European campaign featuring Sofia, Ljubljana and Warsaw. The highlight was gold at the Podgorica Senior European Cup in March, followed by Oceania Championship bronze in April and an appearance at the Sarajevo European Open in July.

The Perth Judo Club athlete subsequently won three contests in Glasgow to reach the Commonwealth final, defeating opponents from Scotland, Nigeria and India. Her final against Canada’s Laurence Biron went into golden score before Middleton finished with silver.

The 48-athlete under-63kg field in Baku includes the entire world top eight. Japan’s Haruka Kaju leads the rankings, followed by Mongolia’s Enkhriilen Lkhagvatogoo and Brazil’s Rafaela Silva. Joanne van Lieshout, Jessica Klimkait, Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard and Clarisse Agbegnenou are also entered.

That depth makes this a formidable assignment. Middleton’s recent campaign offers evidence of her progress, while Baku provides the opportunity to carry that confidence into a field packed with internationally established athletes.

Why Baku matters on the road to Los Angeles

The World Championships arrive early in the LA28 Olympic qualification period, which runs from 15 June 2026 to 12 June 2028. Results in Baku therefore have significance beyond the world titles themselves, contributing to the qualification campaign that will ultimately determine places at the Games.

At the end of the cycle, direct qualification goes to the 17 highest-ranked eligible athletes in each division, subject to a maximum of one athlete per country per weight category. Continental qualification offers another route, but permits only one athlete per country across all divisions and genders. Building a strong qualification record is therefore particularly important for Australian athletes.

For WA’s quartet, Baku is both an immediate competitive opportunity and an early benchmark for the campaign ahead. Facing the world’s best will test their preparation, reveal areas for development and offer valuable experience under the pressure of a major championship.

Their selection also gives younger WA judoka a view of the pathway ahead: from club training and local competition to continental events, international medals and the opportunity to represent Australia at the World Championships.

Watch WA’s athletes live

Get behind our four Western Australians and follow the action on JudoTV’s Baku World Championships event page.

The scheduled preliminary sessions for all four athletes begin at 2:30 pm AWST, with the medal contests starting at 10:00 pm AWST on their respective competition days.

Judo WA wishes Keishin, Kohsei, Maria and Saya every success as they represent Australia on the world stage. We also recognise the coaches, clubs, families and training partners whose support has helped them reach this point.

Tune in, follow their progress and cheer on WA’s athletes as their road to LA28 continues.

Watch on JudoTV · Event information, entries and results