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At first glance, the Warsaw European Open 2025 will already be a tough tournament with 581 judoka from an incredible 44 nations, however the top ranked judoka start at #24 in the world, or so it seems. Far beyond any ranked athlete, two of the best athletes in the world are flying under the radar.
World Champions and Olympic medallist, Giorgi SARDALASHVILI and Tato GRIGALASHVILI of Georgia will be competing in Poland on the 22nd and 23rd of February, only this time in weight categories above their usual footing. Both judoka are ranked at #1 in the world in their respective categories; -60kg and -81kg, however an introduction back to competition is required.
So avoiding the current World Champion, Sardalashvili, in the -60kg are the likes Artem LESIUK (UKR) who took the gold in the Rome European Open and as the top seed will hope to make it to the top podium position again. As well as the more experienced, there are many younger judoka hoping to fight through for a medal, including one of the host nations youngest entries, Jakub KUROWSKI who has taken medals in the Cadet European, Cadet World and U23 European Championships in 2024.
In the -73kg we will see the return of 2022 Master champion and Olympian, Baruch SHMAILOV (ISR), again a new weight category so he will surely cause upset to the seeded athletes in the opening rounds. Poland will be happy to have Adam STODOLSKI leading the category, as well as 2022 Warsaw European Open winner, Wiktor MROWCZYNSKI.
Pawel DRZYMAL (POL) took the win in Ljubljana only a couple of weeks ago, and will be the #3 seed going in to this event on home soil, but will need to surpass the top two seeds; Mykhailo SVIDRAK (UKR) and Aurelien BONFERRONI (SUI). Success at -73kg, Adrian SULCA (ROU) continues on his mission to break through on to the senior circuit after becoming a Junior World Champion. Coming second to Drzymal in the Ljubljana European Open was WRL #132, Igor TSURKAN (UKR) who will have a refreshed drive in Warsaw.
All of the -90kg competitors need to bring their A-game with Grigalashvili in their midst. As he is coming in unranked it will be impossible to know where he will end up in the draw, so all seeds will be envisioning an Almighty final with the Olympic silver medallist. Top of the list is one of the more experience judoka, David KLAMMERT (CZE) who took silver in the Dushanbe Grand Slam last year, as well as Ljubljana European Open medallists, Daniel NIETO TRINIDAD (ESP) and Teo L HERBIER (FRA).
Rhys THOMPSON (GBR) heads the -100kg category, steadily climbing the ranking, last year he placed third in the Warsaw European Open but later in the year was in the final of the Zagreb Grand Prix, as well as medalling in more European Open events. Thompson will be challenged by Iosif SIMIN (ISR) who took third place in Zagreb but succeeded earlier in the year, taking gold in the Madrid European Open. Last year was his first competing for Israel on the international circuit and he looks to be a strong contender for the future.
The home crowd will be rallying for the heavyweight men in the +100kg, Grzegorz TERESINSKI is leading the charge, with Patryk BRONIEC in the third seeded position. However there are some big names coming to steal the limelight; World medallist, Yakiv KHAMMO (UKR) and Mikita SVIRYD (CRO) is making a comeback, which started in Ljubljana under his new flag.
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen