An Chang-Rim as the challenger for Ono

The Doha masters unveiled that the frontman to challenge Shohei Ono in the category U73kg is clearly An Chang-Rim of Korea. Besides the fact that a country can only send one competitor to the Olympic Games and Hashimoto was outside the selection of Kosei Inoue. An proved to be stable and the worlds number two in strength behind the undisputed Ono.

Ono Shohei has not lost an official match since 2014. He is an artist with unparalleled elegance and a comprehensive repertoire. He is perhaps the only judoka who knows and practises all judo movements. What about the others then outside An and Ono? There is a battalion of adversaries, all very good and we cite them in hierarchical order: Rustam Orujov, Arthur Margelidon, Khikmatillokh Turaev, Tohar Butbul, Fabio Basile and many more. They all want to defeat Ono and they want to do it in the final, in Tokyo.

Few think that Ono will lose, but you know, in this sport there is nothing impossible. Perhaps we will see Ono in one event in advance of the Olympic Games. We doubt whether it will be the World Championships, if fact, we can’t imagine. The Paris Tournament is an opportunity as last Ono competed at the Grand Slam in Düsseldorf which has now been cancelled.

Düsseldorf was THE place for the Japanese team to test their shape for years. It is a Japanese city and the opportunity is gone, perhaps not just for 2021 but beyond. Paris is simply the best tournament to test in advance of the Olympic Games and gives a bit of space in case an athlete gets injured which is the key assignment, don’t get injured in advance of the Games. One reason why Ono may choose to stay in Japan.