After only 90 minutes of competition in Odivelas, the crowns of the new world champions were already being shuffled closer to some who put their hands up early, those who refused to adhere to their opponents’ wishes.
Just 3 categories will be decided on day 2 and already the top seed at -73 kg, Gabriel Falcao (BRA) is out, beaten by Sherov (TJK), 38 places behind him on the junior WRL. The number two seed remains, a name known among the seniors already, Terashvili (GEO). He won his junior continental championships just 4 weeks but taking a work title requires another level, one that the Georgian is very familiar with.
The -57 kg women have hardly begun, with just a handful of contests fought so far, ironing out the creases in round one. There is little to say now but there are some tantalising contests ahead, especially thinking about Italy’s two strong entries, Toniolo and Capanni Dias. At -63 kg, all 4 of the highest ranked judoka are continuing, for now but unseeded Takaki (JPN) is looking to upset the balance.
1:10pm
At -57 kg all the top seeds tried their best to respect the ranking. Three of them made it to their respective quarter-finals, the only one missing being the number 1, Reis (BRA), beaten by the Japanese judoka, Riko Honda. Reis’ teammate Comanche, in pool B, passed fighters from Uzbekistan and Georgia, while in pool C, the very experienced Italian World Judo Tour medallist Veronica Toniolo is staying ahead of the rest, bringing solid and certain judo the tatami every single round.
The -63 kg women are even further along but only the number one seed remains from the top 4. Japan’s unseeded athlete continues to push forward but France, with Auchecorne at the top of the sheet and Julie Falgon facing Yang (KOR) in the repechage, are forging a strong route to the podium.
The -73 kg men have already played one of the semi-finals and in a shock defeat of the Japanese entrant, last year’s world cadet champion, Kihara, Jack Yonezuka (USA) is the first finalist of this second day.
2:30pm
The third and 4th seeds made it to the -73 kg final after some fascinating and dynamic contests. Galandarzade (AZE) won the European -21 championships in 2022 and took bronze there just last month in the 2023 edition. Yonezuka was junior world bronze medallist in Ecuador last year and has since been very active among the seniors, climbing the Olympic ranking list and he is now not too far away from qualification for Paris.
Sherov (TJK) who disposed of the number one seed earlier in the day, stayed strong and also beat Adorjani (HUN), a well known competitor on the junior European Cup circuit. He lost in the quarter to Almat (KAZ) who had already taken golds in Almaty and Coimbra this year. The Azeri was too much for him though and going into the final block, both Sherov and Almat would have to prepare for medal contests.
Japan dropped their first final of the whole championships, when Yonezuka passed Kihara, but the two women’s categories had a Japanese finalist and so by the end of lunchtime on day 2, it was understood that Japan may go into day 3 with 6 of the first 7 golds in their pocket. This is an incredible statistic, even more domination at junior level than at seniors. This says a lot about heat the rest of the world does to catch up but also about what is needed in the foundation years in order for the rest of the world to build a stronger base.