A post by Bloody Elbow Grappling Team member and Judo bum Ananse
For this entire week (August 25th to the 31st) the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, otherwise known for dozens of dashboard videos of a meteor exploding over it, shall be hosting the 2014 Judo world championships. The order of competition shall be as below:
Monday August 25th
-60kg Men, -48kg Women
Tuesday August 25th
-66kg Men, -52kg Women
Wednesday August 27th
-73kg Men, -57kg Women
Thursday August 28th
-81kg Men, -63kg Women
Friday August 29th
-90kg Men, -70kg & -78kg Women
Saturday August 30th
-100kg & +100kg Men, -78kg Women
Sunday August 31st
World Team Championships (One man each at -66kg, -73kg, -81kg, -90kg, +90kg/ One woman each -52kg, -57kg, -63kg, -70kg, +70kg)
People to watch:
Men:
To give you an idea of how deep this division is, I'll just point out that there are two men each from Japan (Shohei Ono and Riki Nakaya), Mongolia (Nyam-Ochir Sainjargal and Khashbataar Tsagaanbataar), France (Ugo Legrand and Pierre Duprat) and Georgia (Nugzar Tatalashvilli and Lasha Shavdatuashvili) who should all be considered very credible medal threats. I'd put my money on Ono since he is the 2013 world champ and beat Nakaya in this year's All Japan Finals. Everyone on that list has a viable shot though, as do Rok Draksic of Slovenia, Belgium's Dirk Van Tickelt and The Netherlands' Dex Elmont.
For the Americans, Nick Delpopolo will be fighting and may prove to be trouble for a lot of people
Women:
Unfortunately for everyone else in this division, its queen is back on the mat. Japan's Kaori Matsumoto(London gold medalist, 2010 world champ) is back and mauling everyone in her path. I expect she will continue to do so here. Standing in her way will be a solid lineup including France's Automne Pavia, Germany's Miryam Roper, Brazil's Rafaela Silva and Austria's Sabrina Filsmoser. I also expect interesting things from Matsumoto's teammate Nae Udaka, who is this year's All Japan champ. Plus the USA has Marti Malloy on deck, she always goes for it and is capable of causing some upsets
For more Bloody Elbow coverage of all things grappling, be sure to bookmark the Bloody Elbow Grappling Hub and check out the Bloody Elbow Grappling link in the Library tab at the top of the page.
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