Judo 2020 Tokyo Olympic Review

Men’s Extra Lightweight (-60kg)

Robert Mshvidobadze (Russia) was the number one seed, despite his compatriot winning the world title earlier in the year. He was given the edge due to his experience but in his first bout, he was beaten by Tornike Tsjakadoea (Netherlands). Yang Yung-wei (Taiwan) was the other seed in that quarter and took advantage to make the semi-finals. Both Francisco Garrigos (Spain) and Sharafuddin Lutfillaev (Uzbekistan) went out as seeded fighters in the second quarter, leading to a semi between Yung-wei and Luka Mkheidze (France), the Georgian refugee. Naohisa Takato (Japan) was the second seed and had no such jitters, cruising through to the semi-final where he would face 2016 medalist Yeldos Smetov (Kazakhstan). Intriguingly in the bottom half of the draw, all four seeds make the quarter-finals. Takato beat Smeldov in a golden score to come up against Yung-wei. It went to another golden score, where Takato landed an opponent to take gold. Behind him, Smetov secured his bronze against Tsjakadoea, whilst Mkheidse upset Kim Won-jin (South Korea) for the other bronze.

🥇Naohisa Takato 🇯🇵

🥈Yang Yung-wei 🇹🇼

🥉Luka Mkheidse 🇫🇷

🥉Yeldos Smetov 🇰🇿

Men’s Half Lightweight (-66kg)

Manuel Lombardo (Italy) entered as the number one seed, but the world championship silver medalist was defeated by Daniel Cargnin (Brazil). Denis Vieru (Moldova) defeated the other seed in the section Sardor Nurillaev (Uzbekistan). In the second quarter, the seeded fighters Hifumi Abe (Japan) and Yondonperenlei Baskhuu (Mongolia), made their way to the quarter-finals, where Abe defeated him. An Ba-ul (South Korea) relatively cruised through his quarter, defeating Adrian Gomboc (Slovenia) in the quarter-final. Both seeds in the fourth quarter made the way to the quarter-final, as Vazha Margvelashvili (Georgia) beat Baruch Shmailov (Israel). Abe and Margvelashvili came through the semi-finals and in the final, Abe finally got the victory in a golden score. In the repechage, Lombardo beat Baskhuu and came against the number two seed Ba-ul. Ba-ul got the victory and Cargnin beat Nurillaev to secure the other bronze.

🥇Hifumi Abe 🇯🇵

🥈Vazha Margvelashvili 🇬🇪

🥉An Ba-ul 🇰🇷

🥉Daniel Cargnin 🇧🇷

Men’s Lightweight (-73kg)

Rustam Orujov (Azerbaijan) was the number-one seed and cruised through early until he run into familiar foe Shohei Ono (Japan), who had already defeated the seeded Bilal Ciloglu (Turkey). Ono had not lost since 2013 and was only unseeded due to the infrequency he competes. Tommy Macias (Sweden) was the highest seed in the second quarter, but lost to Akil Gjakova (Kosovo), in the round of sixteen, who was then beaten by Tsend-Ochiryn Tsogtbaatar (Mongolia). Lasha Shavdatuashvili (Georgia) was the second seed and made it through his section easily. This also saw one of the controversies of the Games as Fethi Nourine (Algeria) withdrew from the competition after being drawn against Tohar Butbul (Israel) to show solidarity with Palestine. Butbul was in the fourth quarter and helped by that withdrawal, made the quarter-finals where he came up against third-seed An Chang-rim (South Korea), where he was defeated. Ono proved himself to be a undoubted great, beating both Tsogtbaatar and Shavdatuashvili. The repechage saw Orujov defeat Gjakova and come up against Chang-rim, where he was again defeated, missing out on a medal.

🥇Shohei Ono 🇯🇵

🥈Lasha Shavdatuashvili 🇬🇪

🥉An Chang-rim 🇰🇷

🥉Tsend-Ochiryn Tsogtbaatar 🇲🇳

Men’s Half Middleweight (-81kg)

Matthias Casse (Belgium) entered the tournament as world champion and cruised through his quarter, defeating Alan Khubetsov (Russia) by ippon in the quarter-final. Seeded Vedat Albayrak (Turkey) went out in his opening bout to Takanori Nagese (Japan), and he came through the quarter with a win over Dominic Ressel (Germany). Sagi Muki (Israel) was the second seed but went out to Shamil Borchashvili (Austria), continuing a poor season by his standards. Borchashvili defeated Sharofiddin Boltaboev (Uzbekistan) and went on to face Saeid Mollaei (Mongolia) in the semi-final, who had defeated number three seed Tato Grigalashvili (Georgia). Nagese beat Casse with a waza-ari in the semi-final and Mollaei won his semi by ippon. Nagase would again win by a waza-ari in the final. Both of the semi-final losers went on to win bronze.

🥇Takanori Nagese 🇯🇵

🥈Saeid Mollaei 🇲🇳

🥉Matthias Casse 🇧🇪

🥉Shamil Brochashvili 🇦🇹

Men’s Middleweight (-90kg)

Nikoloz Sherazadishvili (Spain) was the number one seed but was defeated in the quarter-final by Mikhail Igolnikov (Russia), always a tough opponent for the Spaniard. Lasha Bekauri (Georgia), only 20, came through to face Davlat Bobonov (Uzbekistan) in the quarter-finals, taking a win. Noel van’t End (Netherlands) was the two seed but came up against Mihael Zgank (Turkey), who had already upset Ivan Felipe Silva Morales (Cuba) before defeating van’t End. Krisztian Toth (Hungary) beat the Japanese entry Shoichiro Mukai (Japan) before taking on Eduard Trippel (Germany), who upset sixth seed Nemanja Majdov (Serbia) and Gwak Dong-han (South Korea) who won bronze in 2016. Trippel continued the run by defeating Toth. Both semis were won by waza-ari as Bekauri and Trippel made it through. It was another waza-ari in the final for Bekauri, who took gold. In the repechage, Toth and Bobonov came through and both managed to take the bronze.

🥇Lasha Bekauri 🇬🇪

🥈Eduard Trippel 🇩🇪

🥉Krisztian Toth 🇭🇺

🥉Davlat Bobonov 🇺🇿

Men’s Half Heavyweight (-100kg)

Varlam Liparteliani (Georgia) was the number one seed and started the tournament well, beating Shady El Nahas (Canada). Aaron Wolf (Japanese) was only the fifth seed but repeatedly shown he can win major titles when at his best. He beat Peter Paltchik (Israel) in the quarter-finals. Jorge Fonseca (Portugal), the double world champion, beat Niyaz Ilysaov (Russia) in the quarter-finals. The only top-eight seed to not make the quarter-final was Michael Korrel (Netherlands), who was beaten by Karl-Richard Frey (Germany). He was defeated in a quarter final by Cho Gu-ham (South Korea). Finally, the upsets came in the semi-finals as Gu-ham defeated Fonseca and Wolf beat Liparteliani, both by waza-ari. In the final, Wolf dominated winning with an ippon. Fonseca managed to win a bronze medal matchup, whilst Liparteliani was upset for a second time by Ilyasov.

🥇Aaron Wolf 🇯🇵

🥈Cho Gu-ham 🇰🇷

🥉Jorgé Fonseca 🇵🇹

🥉Niyaz Ilyasov 🇷🇺

Men’s Heavyweight (100kg+)

Tamerlan Bashaev (Russia) was the number one seed and was drawn to come up against Teddy Riner (France) in the quarter-finals. Riner was looking to add to his two Olympic gold medals and ten world titles. Unseeded because of lack of recent activity, the two went to a golden score where Riner fell onto his back attempting to throw his opponent, who was given credit for a waza-ari in a confusing ending. Guram Tushishvilli (Georgia) scored a victory over Rafael Silva (Brazil) to qualify for the semi-final. Japan, as ever, were strong with Hisayoshi Harasawa (Japan) taking a victory over Yakiv Khammo (Ukraine) to set up a semi-final against Lukas Krpalek (Czech Republic). The upsets finally came in the semi-final as Harasawa and Bashaev went out. In the final, it was Krpalek who won by ippon.

🥇Lukas Krpalek 🇨🇿

🥈Guram Tushishvilli 🇬🇪

🥉Teddy Riner 🇫🇷

🥉Tamerlan Bashaev 🇷🇺

Women’s Extra Lightweight (-48kg)

Distria Krasniqi (Kosovo) was the number one seed and was drawn on the easier side of the draw. She beat Gabriela Chibana (Brazil) and Lin Chen-hao (Taiwan) to make the semi-final. Julia Figueroa (Spain), so often a bronze medallist, exited earlier than that here, leaving Munkhbat Urantsetseg (Mongolia) to make the semi-final, looking to add an Olympic medal to her collection. The toughest section was the bottom half. Before the pandemic, Daria Bilodid (Ukraine) looked like a generational superstar but had not won a tournament since then. She was dealt a nice hand though as an upset came in the opening round. Shirine Boukli (France) had been one of the most in-form judokas in the world this year, but was knocked out by Milica Nikolic (Serbia). Bilodid then beat Catarina Costa (Portugal) to make the semi-finals. Up against her would be Funa Tonaki (Japan). The third seed overcame 2016 champion Paula Pareto (Argentina). Tonaki was able to defeat Bilodid, whilst Krasniqi continued her softer run to the final. It was the two semi-finalists who took bronze with wins against Costa and Shira Rishony (Israel). Krasniqi was able to take gold, defeating Tonaki in the final.

🥇Distria Krasniqi 🇽🇰

🥈Funa Tonaki 🇯🇵

🥉Daria Bilodid 🇺🇦

🥉Munkhbat Urantsetseg 🇲🇳

Women’s Half Lightweight (-52kg)

Amandine Buchard (France) cruised through her quarter, overcoming Park Da-sol (South Korea) in the quarter-final. Reigning Olympic champion Majlinda Kelmendi (Kosovo) was knocked out in the opening round by Reka Pupp (Hungary). Many would have expected Ana Perez Box (Spain) to take advantage, but she also lost in that round to Fabienne Kocher (Switzerland). Kocher went on to beat Perez in the quarter-final. Uta Abe (Japan) was one of the home nation's biggest contenders and went through her quarter, defeating Chelsie Giles (Great Britain). The seeds also made their way through to the quarter-final in the fourth quarter where Odette Giuffrida (Italy) defeated Charline Van Snick (Belgium). Buchard had a comfortable win against Kocher, whilst Abe managed to edge Giuffrida. In the final, it went to a golden score where Abe was able to score an ippon. In the repechage, Giles made her way through to take on Kocher who she defeated to take bronze. Giuffrida defeated Pupp, adding to her 2016 silver.

🥇Uta Abe 🇯🇵

🥈Amandine Buchard 🇫🇷

🥉Odette Giuffrida 🇮🇹

🥉Chelsea Giles 🇬🇧

Women’s Lightweight (-57kg)

Jessica Klimkait (Canada) was the number one seed after becoming world champion, despite compatriot Christa Deguchi being the higher rated by many, and cruised through her quarter, defeating Ivelina Ilieva (Bulgaria) and Julia Kowalczyk (Poland). Another seed came through their half in Sarah-Leonie Cysique (France). The seeds in the other half made it a full house with Tsukasa Yoshida (Japan) and Nora Gjakova (Kosovo) easing through. Cysique has earned a reputation as never the one to step on the top spot, but she mowed down Klimkait in the semi-final, to find Gjakova had also upset Yoshida. In the final, Gjakova showed Cysique that her bad luck in finals remained and it was another podium with no gold to show. As had been the pattern in this weight division the two seeds won the bronze medals matchups against Kaja Kajzer (Slovenia) and Eteri Liparteliani (Georgia).

🥇Nora Gjakova 🇽🇰

🥈Sarah-Leonie Cysique 🇫🇷

🥉Jessica Klimkait 🇨🇦

🥉Tsukasa Yoshida 🇯🇵

Women’s Half Middleweight (-63kg)

Clarisse Agbegnenou (France) was the number one seed looking to improve on her 2016 silver and came through her quarter, with a win over Juul Franssen (Netherlands). The second quarter went to seeding, as Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard (Canada) defeated Ketleyn Quadros (Brazil). Reigning Olympic champion Tina Trstenjak (Slovenia) similarly cruised through, with a quarter-final win over Anriquelis Barrios (Venezuela). The only seeding shock came as Miku Tashiro (Japan) lost to Agata Ozboda-Blach (Poland) who herself went on to lose to Maria Centracchio (Italy) in the quarter-final. The semis went as expected, setting up a rematch from 2016, as Agbegnenou took on Trstenjak. It came down to a golden score, with Agbegnenou scoring a waza-iri to take gold. Again both semi-finalists took the bronze medals.

🥇Clarisse Agbegnenou 🇫🇷

🥈Tina Trstenjak 🇸🇮

🥉Maria Centracchio 🇮🇹

🥉Catherine Beauchemin-Picard 🇨🇦

Women’s Middleweight (-70kg)

Many considered the field to be slightly depleted due to the absence of the top two in the world. Sanne Van Dijke (Netherlands) was the number one seed in their absence and cruised through her quarter. Barbara Matic (Croatia) was the fourth seed, but is always inconsistent and Michaela Polleres (Austria) took advantage. Margaux Pinot (France) was chosen ahead of Marie-Eve Gahie, but was defeated in her opening bout by Elisavet Teltsidou (Greece). Coming through that quarter was Madina Taimazova (Russia), who would have arguably been unfancied in all her bouts. Chizuru Arai (Japan) was another somewhat controversial selection but made her way through the quarter. She won her semi by ippon, the same as her other bouts and would go on to face Polleres. In that final Aria, justified her selection and won by waza-ari. Both of the semi-finalists would win bronze.

🥇Chizuru Arai 🇯🇵

🥈Michaela Polleres 🇦🇹

🥉Sanne Van Dike 🇳🇱

🥉Madina Taimazova 🇷🇺

Women’s Half Heavyweight (-78kg)

Madeleine Malonga (France) was the number one seed and cleared out her quarter easily, winning by ippon in all bouts. Natalie Powell (Great Britain) and Guusje Steenhuis (Netherlands) were both upset by Yoon Hyun-ji (South Korea). Shori Hamada (Japan) was another who won her bouts by ippon to reach the semi-final, where she set up an exciting bout with Anna-Maria Wagner (Germany). The oft-injured German finally seemed healthy, but she run into Hamada who seemed unbeatable. She won by ippon to take on Malonga, making it two finalists who had won all contests by ippon. It was Hamada who landed the ippon this time. Wagner held on for bronze, whilst Mayra Aguiar (Brazil) won her third consecutive bronze medal by beating Hyun-ji.

🥇Shori Hamada 🇯🇵

🥈Madeleine Malonga 🇫🇷

🥉Anna-Maria Wagner 🇩🇪

🥉Mayra Aguiar 🇧🇷

Women’s Heavyweight (+78kg)

Idalys Ortiz (Cuba) came through her quarter as the number one seed, defeating Xu Shiyan (China) in the quarter-final. Romane Dicko (France) won two contests by ippon, including beating Maria Suelen Altheman (Brazil) to make the semi-final. Iryna Kindzerska (Azerbaijan) managed the same in the third quarter. Akira Sone (Japan) was no doubt buoyed having watched her compatriots impress over the previous days and also won her first two bouts by ippon to make the semi-final. Ortiz won the first semi by waza-iri, halfway through the round. Sone scored an ippon to make her way to the final bout. The final was a tight affair and Sone eventually scored ippon to add to the Japanese medal tally. It was the two losing semi-finalists who went on to win the bronze medals.

🥇Akira Sone 🇯🇵

🥈Idalys Ortiz 🇨🇺

🥉Iryna Kindzerska 🇦🇿

🥉Romane Dicko 🇫🇷

Mixed Team

Japan was the number one seed, but didn’t start that well going 2-0 down against Germany with two Olympic gold medalists being defeated. They won the next four contests to progress to a semi-final with Russia. France came from 3-1 down against Japan to take a 4-3 victory, to take on the Netherlands in the semi-final. Japan took a 4-0 win against Russia, with France managing the exact same against the Netherlands to set up the desired final. In the final, Agbegnenou beat Olympic champion Arai and Clerget won to send France up 2-0. Sone won the third bout before the big clash of Wolf and Riner. Riner took the win and France sealed it in the fifth bout. In the third place playoff, the teams were tied after four bouts before Theresa Stoll and Sebastian Seidl won to take bronze for Germany

🥇France 🇫🇷

🥈Japan 🇯🇵

🥉Germany 🇩🇪