-90kg: Bobonov Versus the Rest
Perhaps the strongest field of the tournament can be found at -90kg, with all 8 seeded players ranked inside the world’s top 20. Home-grown world champion and world number 1 Davlat Bobonov heads the pack and will be dreaming of delighting his home crowd once more.
Several other stalwarts of the category will be attempting to block his path to gold, namely Silva Morales (CUB), Toth (HUN), Majdov (SRB) and Ustopiryon (TJK). In the head-to-heads, Bobonov is even with all four, with the exception of Majdov, where he came out victorious in their only encounter. Also, let’s not forget world number 4 Murao (JPN), who is capable of beating anyone and everyone on his day. As ever, the -90kg crown is there for the taking. Expect some surprises and some explosive judo.
-78kg: Concentrated Excellence
From the strongest field we now head to the smallest but by no means the weakest, that of the -78kg category. Despite having the lowest entry, 3 world medallists are present in the form of 2015 bronze medallist Posvite (FRA), 2022 Silver medallist Ma (CHN) and 2021 champion Wagner (GER), along with 2022 European champion Boehm (GER) and 2023 Portugal Grand Prix winner Sampiao (POR). However, the 5th seed, Takayama (JPN), recent winner of the Tokyo Grand Slam, is more likely to be the player to beat. Which of them will add to their medal collections in Tashkent?
-100kg: We Challenge You to Call it!
Muzaffarbek Turoboyev is Uzbekistan’s other returning world champion and he also takes pole position going into his home grand slam. He will be hoping for a repeat of that phenomenal performance from October but as we know, anything can happen in this weight category and total dominance is incredibly difficult to achieve.
2022 Asian champion Dzhafar Kostoev (UAE) will be hoping to go one further than his silver medal in Paris and continue enjoying his fine form. However, there will be challenges from all sides; veteran Georgian Liparteliani is always a threat, Daniel Eich (SUI) will be after a first grand slam medal following two grand prix successes and the Tokyo bronze medal-winning pair of Green and Ueoka, both of Japan, look ready to take on the world. Can you predict the winner?
+78kg: Tomita is Ready for Anything
The standout performer present at +78kg is top seed Wakaba Tomita (JPN) who took a world bronze medal in her last visit to Tashkent but a couple of slip-ups in Tokyo and Jerusalem have allowed compatriot Sone to close the gap in the race for Olympic qualification. With Sone absent in Tashkent, Tomita will certainly widen that gap once more. Her strongest opposition will come in the form of the Chinese judoka Xu and Su but each has yet to take a win against Japanese opposition on the world circuit so far, so Tomita will be brimming with confidence.
Otherwise, the remaining podium places are wide open but the 5th and 6th seeds Ozturk (TUR) and Somkhishvili (GEO) will stand the greatest chances.
+100kg: Will Repetition Reign?
Last but by no means least, we have another potential repeat of last year’s world championship final, in the +100kg category, with Granda (CUB) and Saito (JPN) seeded 3rd and 4th respectively. The home nation has another strong showing here, with Masters bronze medallist Yusupov seeded 2nd and Baku bronze medallist Bakhtiyorov seeded 5th. World number 1 Rakhimov (TJK) is the most consistent and most constant fighter in the category but will be keen to change his poor fortunes against Japanese opposition should he meet Saito in the semi-final.
Another one to watch closely is 6th seed Zaalishvili (GEO), another fighter who can beat the very best when on form, with big throws and hidden energy when under pressure. He could well be the dark horse of the group.
With little separating the countries at the top of the medal rankings after day 2, it is still all to play for on day 3. See who comes out on top by watching on live.ijf.org.