World leading Dutchman Michael Korrel must surpass best year

World number one Michael Korrel has had an amazing 2017. With a victory at the Grand Slam in Baku the Dutchman cemented his leading position. Two finals in December in Tokyo and the World Masters gave him enough points to secure the jackpot. Six medals this year in qualification events is even better than last year’s rise. However he will have to work hard and surpass last year's results to maintain his position.

Korrel is going for gold and although he didn’t succeed to catch another medal at European or World Championships, he will remain a top contender at each event.

The 23-year old quadruple Dutch champion cares for his fans and sponsors. He is a loyal to his believes and is convinced he should be the World Ranking leader in the future. But the competition U100kg is huge with World Champion Wolf (JPN), World number two Liparteliani who just like Denisov made a successful transition to this category. Azeri fighters Mammadov and Gasimov still shine in the top 10, Hungarian Miklos Cirjenics who keeps surprising and spectacular performers such as Toma Nikiforov and Jorge Fonseca can be a plague for everyone. Russian Zankishiev became a roadblock for most and we didn’t even mention 2015 World Champion Haga who is suddenly a second choice in Japan.  Leading the U100kg category is a massive performance.

Watch the judo stats of Michael Korrel