At the end of day 2 I sat down with Neil Adams to discuss trends, skills and rules. Neil is IJF Referee Supervisor and is a double Olympic medalist and former world champion.

“From the first day I felt there were too many golden scores and that was partly because these world class fighters are finding it so difficult to score against one another. They know each other well and the level is so high, but regardless of that they must attack. Today is a lot better; more ippons.

Generally, a lot of the top fighters really do look tired. We can almost see them looking forward to their rest period. I think the Masters would be more energetic if it were held in May or June. Many of the top athletes really have performed consistently and they’re still throwing at this end of the season. That shows their class.

Israel’s Sagi Muki looks tired but is still winning. The Israeli team have shown amazing consistency throughout the year with both men and women. And here again we have two Israeli men in finals.

Clarisse Agbegnenou (FRA) really does look a head above the rest, a different class. She may not have won the final, but after a rest, she’ll be back on top, no doubt. There may be some athletes to take her to full time but often it’s spoilers.

I was surprised to see Ebinuma (JPN) not make the final. The Germans have a rich history of putting middle weight men out at the top level who cause havoc among the top seeds and here it has happened again.

Albayrak (TUR) committing everything he has to winning a bronze medal at -81kg

I thought Albayrak’s (TUR) throw, in the -81kg bronze medal match, just on the borders of the area, was a close call but correct, well refereed. The other bronze fight in the same weight finished beautifully with my favourite throw of the day. Khubetsov’s (RUS) effortless de-ashi barai was breath-taking in its simplicity. Great judo!"

Khubetsov (RUS) delights the arena for his place on the -81kg podium

Male judoka of the day: Sagi Muki (ISR)

Female judoka of the day: Kim Polling (NED) with her 4th title in the Masters.

Ippon of the day: Khubetsov (RUS)

Tomorrow it's time for the heavyweights to conclude their judo year. All results can be followed via the website, ijf.org

#JudoMasters

See also
The Olympic Champion Series
The Olympic Champions (49): Yoshiyuki Matsuoka (JPN)

18. Sep. 2024 / Interviewing an Olympic champion is something special ...

News
Statement from the International Judo Federation (IJF) - 18/09/2024

18. Sep. 2024 / Following the media and public reaction concerning ...

News
Statement from the International Judo Federation (IJF) - 16/09/2024

16. Sep. 2024 / The International Judo Federation (IJF) and its president, ...

GP Zagreb 2024
Zagreb 2024: A Bright Future

15. Sep. 2024 / With the last five categories entered in Grand Prix ...

Interview
Peter Safrany Enters in the Big World

15. Sep. 2024 / Peter Safrany represents the new generation of Hungarian ...

GP Zagreb 2024
+100 kg: Nakano Concludes With the Last Gold

15. Sep. 2024 / Already a grand slam winner in Antalya in 2023, the ...

GP Zagreb 2024
+78 kg: France Controls the Category

15. Sep. 2024 / Number one seed, in a category where France has proven ...

GP Zagreb 2024
-100 kg : Ukraine Wins with Savytskiy

15. Sep. 2024 / After Daniel Szegedi's (HUN) great victory on the second ...

GP Zagreb 2024
-78 kg: Van Dijke Succeeds While Going Up

15. Sep. 2024 / The first round was a test for the number 1 seed, Croatian ...

GP Zagreb 2024
-90 kg: Peter Safrany Wins His First Gold Medal on the WJT

15. Sep. 2024 / Vugar Talibov's (AZE) 2024 season has been pretty good ...

Interview
On the Other Side of the Mirror

15. Sep. 2024 / One is Brazilian, the other French.

Interview
Lutalo Muhammad: An Olympic Medallist But a New Judoka

14. Sep. 2024 / Among the media representatives in the mixed zone of ...

GP Zagreb 2024
The 11th Zagreb Grand Prix is Open to Launch the New Cycle

14. Sep. 2024 / The second day of competition at the Zagreb Grand Prix ...

INTERVIEW EXPRESS
Shishime Ai (JPN)

08. Jun. 2018 / The next reigning world champion to be invited to answer ...

News
5 Key Takeaways from judo’s first Tokyo 2020 qualifier

06. Jun. 2018 / Highlights from Hohhot Grand Prix 2018

VIDEO
Judo for the World in Iran

07. Jun. 2018 / In April 2018, the International Judo Federation and ...

Meeting
JUDO: A Beneficial Cause

07. Jun. 2018 / 'Society should believe in sport as a beneficial cause ...