Polling was competing in her first 2015 World Tour tournament owing to injury but she could not quite top the podium as Conway, ranked number eight in the world, produced a stunning last-gasp move to win by virtue of an ippon in the final 10 seconds of the bout.

“I am really, really happy with the result,” Conway said.

“I concentrated on every fight until the end and it paid off.

“In the final I did what I needed to do, I kept my focus and I closed the distance but I was still surprised when I won with 10 seconds left.”

Israel’s Linda Bolder managed to secure a spot on the podium as she took one of the bronze medals available, while the other went to Frenchwoman Marie Eve Gahie.

Elsewhere, there was yet more success for the home nation as Azerbaijan’s Rustam Orujov got the better of Mongolian Nyam-Ochir Sainjargal to justify his top billing in the men’s under 73kg division.

The gold medal bout did not quite light up the Sarhadchi Olympic Sport Centre but that mattered little to the partisan crowd inside the arena.

Hungarian Miklos Ungvari was one of the two judokas to finish the competition with bronze and he was joined on the podium by Russia’s Zelimkhan Ozdoev.

Women’s under 63kg division world number five Kathrin Unterwarzacher reigned supreme in the category thanks to a commanding victory against Germany’s Martyna Trajdos, largely dominating the contest from start to finish to take the title.

The win gave Austria their first Baku Grand Slam gold, while there was another triumph for the female British judokas as Alice Schlesinger secured an excellent bronze and Anicka van Emden of The Netherlands also clinched a third-place finish.

The final men’s category of the day proved to be somewhat of an anti-climax as Russia’s Khasan Khalmurzaev was awarded gold in the under 81kg weight category after Georgian opponent Ashani Margiani was forced to withdraw through injury.

German Dominic Ressel claimed bronze as his compatriot Alexander Wieczerzak was disqualified for receiving four penalties and Japan won their first medal of the day thanks to Goki Maruyama.

The event is due to conclude tomorrow with women’s competitions in the under 78kg and over 78kg divisions as well as the men’s under 90kg, under 100kg and over 100kg.

Watch the latest action on Judo TV here.

Related stories
May 2015: Shikhalizada claims shock win to delight of home crowd at IJF World Tour Baku Grand Slam
May 2015: Polling bidding to retain title at IJF World Tour Grand Slam in Baku
May 2015: Velensek lives up to expectations with gold at IJF Grand Prix in Zagreb
May 2015: Hungary's Krizsan outshines compatriot at IJF Grand Prix
May 2015: Ukraine's Zantaria backs up pre-event billing at IJF Grand Prix