With a format including only the best 8 judoka of each category, the results will determine the selection of the 2022 edition of the World Championships in Tashkent, which will take place from 6th to 12th October.
The AJJF National Championships will take place on 2nd April for women and 3rd April for men and will be held in the heart of Kyushu at the Fukuoka Kokusai Centre. It will be live streamed and archived on the AJJF Youtube Channel (CLICK HERE)
The draw of the event can already be found at: CLICK HERE
No less than 6 Tokyo 2020 gold medallists will be engaged: Abe Uta, Hamada Shori, Takato Naohisa, Abe Hifumi, Nagase Takanori and Wolf Aaron. There will be a total of twelve Olympic medallists and 57 senior world medallists, including 26 world champions (several athletes are multi time medallists).
The oldest athlete will be Udaka Nae, 37 years old, who became world champion in 2014. Among the younger competitors who could become the superstars of tomorrow and who will be followed closely are: -66kg Tanaka Ryoma (20), -81kg Sasaki Takeshi (25), +100kg Saito Tatsuru (20), -57kg Funakubo Haruka (23), -70kg Tanaka Shiho (23) and +78kg Tomita Wakaba (24).
Last but not least, there is a chance of a rematch between Hifumi Abe and Joshiro Maruyama, if they meet in the final The two athletes produced one of the most exciting and watched matches ever, to determine the selection for the Tokyo Games. After an endless contest, Abe obtained the precious place and went on to win the gold medal in Tokyo. Will the story repeat itself? You will know more over the weekend.