He lost the final fight to Serbia's Nemanja Majdov, bagging the second medal for Slovenia at the championships after Tina Trstenjak won silver in the -63 kg category on Thursday

"Some say you have to sleep on the results but I already feel like a medal winner already and the feeling is phenomenal. It is true that I was well prepared for the competition."

"I expected a tough day. I was very disappointed at the European Championships in Warsaw. I put all my energy into the World Championships and it paid off," added the 23-year-old.

He made it into the final after beating Serbia's Aleksander Kukolj in the semi-finals. He moreover defeated in the quarter-finals Donghan Gwak of Korea, the 2015 champion and bronze winner at the Rio Olympics.

Žgank's medal is the first for Slovenia's male judokas at any World Championships.