Dr Lisa Allan, IJF Events Director, welcomed those present and introduced the guests attending: Head Referee Directors Mr Armen Bagdasarov and Mr Florin Daniel Lascau, IJF Sport Director Mr Mike Tamura and from the Israeli Judo Asdociation the President Mr Moshe Ponte, the CEO Mr Noam Greenberg and Israeli superstar and winner of the 2021 Paris Grand Slam and a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympic Mixed Team Event Raz Hershko.
Mr Lascau then offered a warm welcome on behalf of IJF President Mr Marius. Vizer, “In Israel we find friendship, solidarity and excellence, always and with Israel’s second grand slam ready to begin, our World Judo Tour is in safe hands.
Paris 2024 is approaching at speed and so having the guarantee of the highest standards of organisation and hospitality puts our minds at rest.
I thank all our partners and sponsors for their diligence and continued support. I wish all participants an experience to remember, always within the spirit of fair play.”
Mr Ponte then spoke, “Dear Mr Vizer, IJF President, Mr. Sergey Soloveychik, EJU President, to the Israeli Minister of Culture and Sporf, to Mr Sylvan Adams and to all staff and volunteers of the event, shalom. This year the fans are back. This grand slam provides a place where people can come together to share what we enjoy. To Mr Vizer thank you. I wish good health to all.”
Dr Lisa Allan continued, “We appreciate the professional collaboration we have with you and your team and we also offer a special thank you to the local sponsors. Thank you for your respect of the updated IJF Covid regulations.”
“The safety of all is our main priority and to that end event bubbles must be respected. The event must be run in the spirit of fair play and any suspicion of competition manipulation must be reported.
We remind all of one particular update: coaches may now remove masks once in the coaching box and must replace them at the end of each contest.”
Mr Bagdasarov then reminded us, “We changed our rules, applied from Portugal and they continue here at the Tel Aviv Grand Slam. We have nominated from the best referees of the continental unions and anticipate a high standard throughout. We wish all participants good luck.”
Mr Mike Tamura conducted the draw, opening with a few words of welcome, “Dear friends and judo family members, it is my pleasure to conduct the draw for the third event of the 2022 World Judo Tour. We have 298 athletes from 34 nations.”
Once the draw was complete, Dr Allan closed proceedings, “We have three days of what promises to be an exciting judo competition. Please tag #JudoTelAviv on all your posts and coverage. I offer a final reminder to keep safe. Thank you all.”
As always, with the draw done, our interest is sparked by a number of first round and potential medal contests. At -66kg, for example, Yeldos Smetov makes an appearance as an unseeded judoka, with an Olympic medal from Tokyo in his back pocket but from the lighter category. Facing him will be a daunting prospect for an opponent but we can’t wait to see how his judo might change to meet the needs of this heavier group.
At -81kg we may well be treated to an all Belgian semi-final as world champion Matthias Casse leads the group ahead of his team mate and the heir apparent, Sami Chouchi.
Actually, we should note that there is a generous sprinkling of Olympic and world medals among all categories, especially among the women’s groups; the quality of the field is high. Newcomers, youngsters, will not have an easy path to the high level, with the incumbent elite awaiting them at every turn. In Israel this is likely to produce some vibrant fireworks as the passion here always brings some surprises.
In Tel Aviv there is going to be a lot of fun. Welcome to Israel.