The three-day competition format, starting on Friday and ending on Sunday evening, is the same as for most grand prix and grand slams; there is nothing unusual there. The whole set-up of the stadium is also fully in line with the standards of major world events. A small difference however, is the colour, since the branding of the Masters is purple. Again, this is nothing really disturbing.
The main difference is that the Masters is a competition based on invitation. You have to be in the top 36 on the World Ranking List to be eligible to participate. The first consequence of all this is that the standard of the line-up offered to spectators and fans around the world is very high. The best judoka in the world are present and it is not surprising to see the first rounds being very similar to world or Olympic finals.
In the middle of summer 2023, the World Judo Masters Hungary, of which this is the 12th edition (first edition in 2010 in Suwon, Korea) therefore attracted the top of the world's elite. It must be emphasised that the reward is attractive since no less than 1800 points go to the winner, a little less than the world championships, but almost twice as much as a grand slam. Just participating in the Masters earns 200 points, enough to make the difference when it comes to doing the accounts at the end of Olympic qualification. All the athletes know that.
These are technical and accounting aspects that all competitors and coaches take into consideration, it's obvious, but what makes the Masters so attractive is that everything is possible, at any time. Nothing is written in advance. This is the case at each event on the world circuit of course, it is even more so during the Masters.
While the elimination phases of the first day of competition are underway, the first surprises have taken place: the world champion Christa Deguchi (CAN) lost in the first round against Telma Monteiro (POR) at -57kg and Harim Lee ( KOR), seeded number one, also lost in the first round, against Tsogt-Ochir Byambajav, in -60kg, for example. So no, the Masters is not a competition like the others and that's really what we like.