Akbarov made sporting headlines at the 2001 Summer Universiade in Beijing, where he threw South Korea's Choi Yong-sin in the closing seconds to grab the gold medal in the 73-kg division. When South Korea hosted the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, Akbarov missed a chance for another gold with a stunning defeat to his former rival Choi in the semifinals by the mighty commotion of the home crowd inside Gudeok Gymnasium, but redeemed himself to score a waza-ari awasete ippon victory over Mongolia's Damdiny Süldbayar for the bronze medal.