Azerbaijani
Bosnian
Bulgarian
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English
Estonian
Finnish
French
Georgian
German
Greek
Hebrew
Hungarian
Italian
Japanese
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese
Romanian
Russian
Serbian
Slovak
Slovenian
Spanish
Swedish
Turkish
Ukrainian
It could be an all-Japan final in the -60kg category should the seeding be accurate as Olympic medallist, NAGAYAMA Ryuju and NAKAMURA Taiki take the top two spots. Though the focus will be on the local athletes, European medallist, Balabay AGHAYEV and Ahmad YUSIFOV. Aghayev took the title in Baku in 2022 and a bronze in 2024, whereas Yusifov is still chasing down a medal on home soil.
The same it would seem, will occur in -66kg as TAKEOKA Takeshi and TANAKA Ryoma of Japan lead the category, again with two hosts following closely; Ruslan PASHAYEV who most recently claimed the Paris Grand Slam title and Olympic representative Yashar NAJAFOV, the 2023 Baku Grand Slam winner. This weight is more populated and has some strong competition from the likes of Strahinja BUNCIC (SRB), David GARCIA TORNE (ESP) and European silver medallist, Muhammad DEMIREL (TUR).
World silver medallist, ISHIHARA Tatsuki (JPN) leads the -73kg men, followed by yet another rising talent from Azerbaijan, Paris Grand Slam bronze medallist, Rashid MAMMADALIYEV, as well as 20 year-old, Junior European Champion, Vusal GALANDARZADE. Paris saw many top talents finally realise their dream of taking a win in the Accor ‘Bercy’ Arena, one of those was Francois GAUTHIER DRAPEAU (CAN) who now stands at #3 in the world ranking list for -81kg. He will be chased down by Olympic bronze medallist, Somon MAKHMADBEKOV (TJK) and two time Baku Grand Slam winner, Zelim TCKAEV, who will of course be the home favourite, though his team mate, Omar RAJABLI recently staked his claim in the -81kg category with a Paris Grand Slam medal.
Japanese strength continues on in the -90kg category with Olympic silver medallist, MURAO Sanshiro at the helm, followed by Olympic bronze medallist, Theodoris TSELIDIS (GRE). They will see stiff Pan American competition from Rafael MACEDO (BRA) and Marcelo FRONCKOWIAK (BRA), but also still far down the list is the former -81kg competitor, Frank DE WIT (NED).
The heavyweight categories are the only ones not to have Japan leading. At -100kg, Leonardo GONCALVES (BRA) will be top seed, followed by Tokyo Grand Slam silver medallist, ARAI Data (JPN). Interest will be in TOTH Krisztian (HUN) who is testing out the heavier category. In the +100kg category, Tamerlan BASHAEV (IJF) is at the top of a very exciting category. Younger rivals will include Ibrahim TATAROGLU (TUR), Kanan NASIBOV (AZE) and Saba INANEISHVILI (GEO) but there is great potential for a more senior entry, Toma NIKIFOROV (BEL) who medalled in Paris in his new weight category and seems well suited against the larger men.
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen