Riner's tough fight on Sunday in Zagreb

For the men's heavyweight category in Zagreb, Or Sasson (ISR) is the man to look out for in Pool A. Meanwhile, over in Pool B are Roy Meyer (NED), Iakiv Khammo (UKR), Teddy Riner (FRA) and Kim Sungmin (KOR). Pool C has got Hisayoshi Harasawa (JPN) and Levani Matiashvili (GEO), while Pool D's most exciting player is Stephan Hegyi (AUT).

We think Sasson is the one who will top Pool A but who will win Pool B? Meyer is likely to meet Khammo and if he prevails, he is likely to meet Riner. Normally, the much-bigger Riner should be able to out-power Meyer but Riner is not performing at his best judging by his performance in Montreal recently. The crafty Meyer might just be able to create an upset. But if he doesn't, that means Riner is likely to meet Kim, whom he has beaten on multiple occasions. Will he be able to do so yet again? It's hard to say given his lackluster performance in Montreal. If he gets past Kim, the person he is likely to face in the semi-final is Sasson, and that match is worthy of a final. The last time they met was in Rio 2016 and even then, when Riner was in his prime, Sasson gave him a good fight.

The other side

It's hard to predict who would prevail in a match-up between Harasawa and Matiashvili in Pool C. It really could go either way. In Pool D, we think it will be Hegyi who will top the pool. He probably has a better chance against Harasawa, who he has beaten before, than Matiashvili, whom he has lost to before. This is due to the differences in style. Hegyi is a relative small player for the heavyweight division. What he lacks in bulk, he makes up for in speed. His work rate is incredible for a heavyweight player. Harasawa is a big player who doesn't move as much. Hegyi might not be able to throw Harasawa but he could cause him to incur penalties and that's how he could defeat the Japanese. Matiashvili is a hefty but relatively short heavyweight who moves around a lot and does big throws like seoi-nage (unusual for a heavyweight). This makes him harder for Hegyi to beat him.

Prediction is too tough

What's the final going to look like? Well, Riner could very well be stopped at the semi-final stage by Sasson but if he gets through, the three players he could be facing are Harasawa, Matiashvili or Hegyi.

Either Harasawa or Matiashvili would give Riner a run for his money. Harasawa famously gave Riner a hard time in Montreal. Riner's usual throws: uchimata and sumi-gaeshi were not working for him there although in Golden Score he managed to produce a belt-grip osoto that scored waza-ari. It's unlikely that Harasawa would fall victim to the same throw twice, so it's not going to be easy for Riner to throw him. It could very well end up being a shido match with the winner being determined by hansoku-make.

Matiashvili still in Worlds race

Matiashvili is well-known for being able to take the fight to Riner. Again, no throws are likely to be produced and the winner will probably end up being decided by hansoku-make. Matiasvili's work rate could be Riner's undoing.

We think Hegyi is too small to overcome a giant like Riner so if Hegyi is the one who gets through to the final, Riner will have a relatively easier time than if he were to meet Harasawa or Matiashvili.

So, Zagreb won't see the participation of Tushihsvili or Krpalek in the heavyweight but there are still plenty of top fighters to give Riner a real challenge, notably Sasson, Harasawa and Matiashvili. But also in Riner's way are Meyer and Kim, both of whom may surprise Riner. For sure this will be an exciting category to watch.