Israel's Baruch Shmailov won gold for the host nation in the men's under-66kg at the Tel Aviv Grand Slam ©IJF

Home favourite Baruch Shmailov gave Israel a gold medal in the men's under-66 kilograms category on the first day of Tel Aviv Grand Slam, with French judoka triumphing in the three women's events.

Backed by the home crowd at the Shlomo Arena, Shmailov defeated Azerbaijan's Yashar Najafov to triumph in the final, with the bronze medals going to Ukraine's Bogdan Iadov and Mongolia's Kerlen Ganbold at the expense of Kazakhstan's Gusman Kyrgyzbayev and France's Daikii Bouba, respectively.

The other men's competition held today was in the under-60kg weight division, with gold going to Artem Lesiuk.

The Ukrainian overcame Bauyrzhan Narbayev of Kazakhstan in the final.

Narbayev's compatriot Magzhan Shamshadin won one of the bronze medals with an impressive victory over top seed Karamat Huseynov of Azerbaijan, with the other going to Mongolia's Tsogt-Ochir Byambajav after a golden-score triumph over Tornike Tsjakadoea of The Netherlands.

Former European champion Shirine Boukli was one of the three French winners on the first day of the Grand Slam, beating Italian Francesca Milani to earn gold in the women's under-48kg in Tel Aviv for the second year running.

London 2012 bronze medallist Priscilla Gneto was one of three French winners on the first day of the Tel Aviv Grand Slam ©IJF
London 2012 bronze medallist Priscilla Gneto was one of three French winners on the first day of the Tel Aviv Grand Slam ©IJF

Baasankhuu Bavuudorj of Mongolia took bronze when Serbia's Milica Nikolić was unable to compete, with Spain's Julia Figueroa seeing off Israel's Shira Rishony in the other medal match.

Astride Gneto was the other French gold medallist in Tel Aviv, beating Japan's Ryoko Takeda in the women's under-52kg event.

Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Odette Giuffrida of Italy earned the same prize in Tel Aviv against the host nation's Gefen Primo, with Hungarian top seed Réka Pupp beating Diyora Keldiyorova of Uzbekistan to join her in third place.

In the women's under-57kg, London 2012 bronze medallist Priscilla Gneto came out on top with victory over Georgia's Eteri Liparteliani.

Faiza Mokdar doubled the French presence on the podium with victory over Brazil's Rio 2016 Olympic champion Rafaela Silva, while home favourite Timna Nelson Levy saw off Arleta Podolak in the other bronze-medal match to earn Israel's second podium finish of the Grand Slam.

Competition is set to continue tomorrow in the women's under-63kg and under-70kg, and the men's under-73kg and under-81kg weight divisions.