-73kg: Stump Looking to Rediscover World Championship-Winning Form After shoulder surgery and 5 months out of competition, the 2023 world champion at -73kg Nils Stump (SUI) made his highly anticipated return at the Antalya Grand Slam 2024, where he suffered an early exit in round 2. Despite this, the Swiss man arrives in Dushanbe as the top seed and will be hoping to get back to his best and move closer to a seeded position in the Olympic rankings.
In the pool stages Stump may have to get past the host nation’s Abubakr Sherov who was the silver medallist at the Baku Grand Slam 2024. Should he reach the final, there could be a fascinating match-up with another home favourite in the form of the number two seed Behruzi Khojazoda who picked up silver here last year and defeated Stump in their previous encounter, at the Hungary Masters 2023.
With the remaining athletes ranked outside the world’s top 20, who will occupy the medal spots is anyone’s guess. 5-time grand slam medallist Igor Wandtke (GER) is seeded sixth and Tbilisi Grand Slam 2023 winner Erdenebayar Batzaya (MGL) seventh. The remaining seeded players are all former grand slam medallists too, with the exception of third seed Jack Yonezuka (USA), who recently won his first World Judo Tour medal at the Upper Austria Grand Prix 2024. Eighth seed Benjamin Axus (FRA) took bronze at last year’s event.
Outside the top seeds, Türkiye’s former world medallist Bilal Ciloglu is a potential threat. Also worth keeping an eye on is Karen Galstian (AIN) who took silver in his first ever World Judo Tour event back in March at the Tbilisi Grand Slam 2024. Can you predict the medallists?
-63kg: Familiar Faces in Search of More Glory A magnificent seven of the top eight finishers at -63kg at the Dushanbe Grand Prix 2023 are back in Tajikistan once more looking to match, or indeed better, their performances second time round, but with only 14 world ranking places separating the eight seeded players, there is no guarantee of success for any of them.
The gold medallist in 2023 was 22-year-old Katarina Kristo (CRO) who has since continued to climb the world and Olympic rankings with silver and bronze medals at the 2024 Paris and Antalya Grand Slams, respectively. She comes in as the fourth seed and currently sits in a continental qualifying position. Last year’s silver medallist Sarai Padilla Guerrero (ESP) is seeded eighth but is one place behind her teammate and seventh seed Cristina Cabana Perez (ESP) in the Olympic rankings; she too occupies a continental quota spot. Neither can afford a slip up if they are to keep their Olympic dreams alive.
Kristo’s compatriot and eighth seed Iva Oberan (CRO) took one of the bronze medals in June last year but so far is yet to win a grand slam medal in her career. Top seed Lubjana Piovesana (AUT) finished behind Oberan in 5th place but will be confident of making the podium this time, having won her first grand slam title in Baku in February. We cannot rule out the second and third seeds either, Prisca Awiti Alcaraz (MEX) and Barbara Timo (POR), though neither have managed to win a World Judo Tour medal this year after five attempts each.
Other potential challengers for the podium positions will come in the form of twice WJT medallist Seiko Watanabe (JPN), 5-time grand slam medallist Anriquelis Barrios (VEN) and Antalya Grand Slam 2024 silver medallist Dali Liluashvili (AIN).
-81kg: Fresh Faces Will Grace the Dushanbe Podium In direct contrast to the -63kg category, none of the top eight finishers at -81kg at the Dushanbe Grand Prix 2023 have made the trip to Tajikistan this year, leaving plenty of room for some new/old faces to earn the medals. Of the seeded players, arguably the most in-form are the third and fourth seeds Timur Arbuzov (AIN) and Sharofiddin Boltaboev (UZB). 20-year-old Arbuzov has been a revelation in 2024, winning a bronze medal in Paris and then gold in Tbilisi, defeating Boltaboev in the final in the Georgian capital.
Arbuzov faces a tough first round match against the much-improved Aurelien Bonferroni (SUI) but Boltaboev is likely to face even greater difficulty in the preliminary rounds. He faces a potential round 3 match against Abu Dhabi Grand Slam 2023 winner David Karapetyan (AIN) and if he succeeds, a quarter-final match against either the third seed Mikhailo Svidrak (UKR) or Grand Prix Portugal 2024 winner Yoshito Hojo (JPN). The 22-year-old Japanese athlete defeated five world class opponents in a row to take gold in Odivelas in January, including Saeid Mollaei (AZE), Joonhwan Lee (KOR) and Vedat Albayrak (TUR), and looks to be a future star of the weight category.
Abylaikhan Zhubanazar (KAZ) will look to take full advantage of his position as top seed while the seventh and eighth seeds, Lachlan Moorhead (GBR) and Asad Masabirov (KGZ), along with Karapetyan, will be eager to move into qualifying positions for the Olympic Games with a medal-winning performance.
-70kg: Top seed Polleres is the Player to Beat Leading the way at -70kg in Dushanbe is Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medallist Michaela Polleres (AUT), followed closely by 2022 world silver medallist Lara Cvjetko (CRO). Polleres comes off the back of victory in the Antalya Grand Slam 2024, where she defeated both the third and eighth seeds here in the Tajikistan capital, Giovanna Scoccimarro (GER) and Sabina Gercsak (HUN). Just last week, Cvjetko secured her first medal at a Senior European Championships, taking bronze in Zagreb. Polleres was the victor in their only previous encounter at the Baku Grand Slam 2022, so should they meet in the final, Cvjetko will be eager to reverse the result.
The British duo of Katie-Jemima Yeats-Brown and Kelly Petersen Pollard are separated by a mere 39 points in the Olympic rankings - there are up to 1000 points on offer at grand slams – so a favourable result for either will make a big difference to their chance of being selected. They are seeded sixth and seventh, respectively and both finished in the top five here last year.
There are also several unseeded athletes with Olympic aspirations who could be a threat to the seeded players’ supremacy, including Upper Austria Grand Prix silver medallist Irene Pedrotti (ITA), Antalya Grand Slam 2024 silver medallist Tais Pina (POR), Dushanbe Grand Prix 2023 silver medallist Katarina Sobierajska (POL) and recent Asian Championships bronze medallist Yingying Feng (CHN). All four sit outside the Olympic qualification places currently but could make significant strides towards their ultimate goal with a good performance in this event.
Don’t miss a throw: catch all the action on Day 2 at the Kasri Tennis Arena live on JudoTV.com from 10:30 local time on Saturday 4th May.