Present at the draw for the IJF were IJF General Treasurer Mr Naser Al Tamimi, IJF Head Sport Director Mr Vladimir Barta and IJF Head Referee Director Mr Armen Bagdasarov. For Uzbekistan, Minister of Sports of the Republic of Uzbekistan Dr Adham Ikramov, Uzbekistan Judo Federation President Mr Azizjon Kamilov and Vice President of the Uzbek NOC Mr Sherzod Tashmatov, were present.
Mr Naser Al Tamimi opened proceedings, “Good afternoon, dear Dr Ikramov, dear Mr Tashmatov and dear Mr Kamilov, firstly I would like to congratulate Uzbekistan again for the Olympic gold medal of the last Games in Paris and wish more medals for your team in the future."
"Thank you to all who are supporting the grand slam year by year; we are proud of the support of the Uzbek government. We thank the federation’s executive committee and staff for making this competition successful. We thank both the IJF and local sponsors as well as the local and international media and we wish all of you a good stay. Best of luck for tomorrow, for the three days ahead.”
Dr Adham Ikramov then took the floor, “Dear friends, on behalf of the ministry, I welcome you to the OTP Group Tashkent Grand Slam 2025. Let me express my gratitude to the IJF for trusting us with organising this important event in Uzbekistan. We are proud of our long experience of hosting world level events. In the past 7 years, Uzbekistan’s judo has grown a lot, earning many medals at all levels."
"Today has been very special as in the morning IJF President Mr Marius Vizer participated in the opening of a new judo complex, part of an ongoing project which has now seen 16 new dojos opened in schools across the country. This draw today is another new step in the journey of the athletes here. They will now only show great skill but also the values of judo. Welcome to Uzbekistan where judo is becoming part of the national identity.”
Mr Azizjon Kamilov then gave a warm welcome, “Ladies and gentlemen and all esteemed guests, welcome to the OTP Group Tashkent Grand Slam 2025. We are happy to host this great event, bringing together talented athletes from all over the world. We thank our country’s president for his continued support. Under his leadership, Diyora’s Olympic gold medal shows that when we work together we can achieve great results. We thank the IJF and President Marius Vizer for the trust that helps us to grow judo in our country and beyond. Thank you to all.”
As the draw moved towards the technical aspects of the tournament, Mr Armen Bagdasarov, not only an IJF Head Referee Director but also Uzbekistan’s first Olympic medallist, highlighted some refereeing matters, “Dear judo family, after the presentation of the new rules, in play in Paris and Baku already, we continue here with a selection of 15 of the best referees in the world together with two Head Referee Directors and 3 supervisors, to ensure fair contests.”
Mr Vladimir Barta then pressed ahead, “Dear ladies and gentlemen, we now start the draw. For the first time ever on the World Judo Tour, we have a majority of women participating and for this we must congratulate our judo family.”
The draw was then conducted for the 14 weight categories. All contest sheets and statistics can be found on JudoTV while following #JudoTashkent on all social medal platforms will deliver the best photos, videos and news in real time.