Brilliant performances in Tashkent bringing the crowd top judo

The Tashkent Grand Slam 2023 concluded in style, with the home team delighted their supporters. In Tashkent 364 athletes from 49 countries competed over the long weekend and in the end it was Japan who topped the medal table for the first time this year, just ahead of Uzbekistan, with 4 golds, 3 silvers and 2 bronzes.

The medals were shared between 22 countries and 30 countries achieved at least one top 8 finish. 12 players achieved their first ever grand slam medal and for half of them this was also their first ever IJF World Tour medal. They will be hoping to use these results to build momentum going forward for the upcoming events.

The home team will be delighted with their performance, taking no fewer than three golds, one silver and four bronze medals. The titles were won by Murodjon Yuldoshev, Davlat Bobonov and Alisher Yusupov. Yuldoshev was challenged repeatedly throughout the competition, but dealt with everything that was thrown at him and leads the country’s internal race for Olympic qualification at U73kg. World champion at U90kg, Bobonov began slowly but became progressively more explosive with each fight and produced one of the throws of the tournament. In the very last contest, Masters and Paris bronze medallist at +100kg, Yusupov, defeated world silver medallist Saito (JPN) with some quick thinking to close out the tournament on a high for his native country.

Aside from the host nation, there were brilliant performances from the Japanese women’s team and also from seeded players Michaela Polleres (AUT), Kim Won Jin (KOR) and Attila Ungvari (HUN). There was a return to form for Andrea Stojadinov (SRB), Varlam Liparteliani (GEO) and Anna Bernholm (SWE). And there were surprise wins from the aforementioned Emomali (TJK), Nurkhanat Serikbayev (KAZ), Giovanni Ferreira (BRA) and Giorgia Stangherlin (ITA).

The next World Tour event is the Tbilisi Grand Slam in just under 3 weeks’ time, which promises to be another great spectacle to behold. With another passionate and knowledgeable audience and more guaranteed heroics from the host nation to come.