12 Judoka earned their first ever Grand Slam Medal with half of them earning their first medal on the IJF World Tour.
364 athletes from 49 countries gathered in Tashkent, Uzbekistan at the Yunusobod Sport Complex for the 2023 Tashkent Grand Slam which was an absolutely spectacular weekend of Judo! Medals were shared between 22 countries and we saw 30 countries have at least one top 8 finish. Japan topped the medal count for the first time in 2023 and the host country of Uzbekistan finished second in that category. The highlight of the event has to be the 12 Judoka who earned their first ever Grand Slam Medal and half of those Judoka earned their first ever medal on the IJF World Tour.
The Japanese woman had an outstanding performance in Tashkent. Four women took home gold medals for Japan; Momo Tamaoki (-57 kg), Megumi Horikawa (-63 kg), Rika Takayama (-78 kg), and Wakaba Tomita (+78 kg). Additionally, Ai Shishime grabbed Silver in the -52 kg division and Akari Omori took home Bronze at -57 kg for Japan. In total, the Japanese traveled home with an outstanding 9 Medals!
The host country also had a spectacular weekend of Judo for themselves. Uzbekistan kept 8 medals at home at the conclusion of the event. Gold Medals were won by Murodjon Yuldoshev (-73 kg), Davlat Bobonov (-90 kg), Alisher Yusupov (+100 kg). Sardor Nurillaev (-66 kg) took the silver medal for the Uzbeks with a solid performance. Bronze Medals were won by Doston Ruziev (-60 kg), Mukhriddin Tilovov (-66 kg), Muso Sobirov (-81 kg), and Gulnoza Matniyazova (-70kg). Matniyazova and Tilovov took their first and second World Tour medals of 2023.
2023 Tashkent Grand Slam Medal Count
- Japan - 4 Gold, 3 Silver, 2 Bronze
- Uzbekistan - 3 Gold, 1 Silver, 4 Bronze
- Austria - 1 Gold, 2 Silver
- Georgia - 1 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze
2023 Tashkent Grand Slam Results:
Mens Divisions
-60 kg
- Won Jin Kim (KOR)
- Nurkanat Serikbayev (KAZ)
- Ahmad Yusifov (AZE)
- Doston Ruziev (UZB)
-66 kg
- Nurali Emomali (TJK)
- Sardor Nurillaev (UZB)
- Walide Khyar (FRA)
- Mukhriddin Tilovov (UZB)
-73 kg
- Murodjon Yuldoshev (UZB)
- Daniyar Shamshayev (KAZ)
- Nils Stump (SUI)
- Magdiel Estrada (CUB)
-81 kg
- Attila Ungvari (HUN)
- Shamil Borchasvili (AUT)
- Somon Makhmadbekov
- Muso Sobirov (UZB)
-90 kg
- Davlat Bobonov (UZB)
- Murao Sanshiro (JPN)
- Giovani Ferreira (BRA)
- Krisztian Toth (HUN)
-100 kg
- Varlam Liparteliani (GEO)
- Aaron Fara (AUT)
- Kotaro Ueoka (JPN)
- Dzhafar Kostoev (UAE)
+100 kg
- Alisher Yusupov (UZB)
- Tatsuru Saito (JPN)
- Andy Granda (CUB)
- Gela Zaalishvili (GEO)
Women's Divisions
-48 kg
- Andrea Stojadinov (SRB)
- Catarina Costa (POR)
- Tugce Beder (TUR)
- Zongying Guo (CHN)
-52 kg
- Mascha Ballhaus (GER)
- Ai Shishime (JPN)
- Ana Perez Box (ESP)
- Reka Pupp (HUN)
-57 kg
- Momo Tamaoki (JPN)
- Eteri Liparteliani (GEO)
- Akari Omori (JPN)
- Pauline Starke (GER)
-63 kg
- Megumi Horikawa (JPN)
- Prisca Awiti Alcaraz (MEX)
- Florentina Ivanescu (ROU)
- Szofi Ozbas (HUN)
-70 kg
- Polleres Michaela (AUT)
- Barbara Matic (CRO)
- Gulnoza Matniyazova (UZB)
- Anna Bernholm (SWE)
-78 kg
- Rika Takaya (JPN)
- Giorgia Stangherlin (ITA)
- Sampaio Patrícia (POR)
- Zhenzhao Ma (CHN)
+78 kg
- Wakaba Tomita (JPN)
- Xu Shiyan (CHN)
- Hilal Ozturk (TUR)
- Xin Su (CHN)
As everyone knows, March is a busy month in the world of Judo. The American Judo System has a few more events on our radar for March; the Rome European Open, Nymburk EJU OTC, Tbilisi Grand Slam, and the Antalya Grand Slam. Stay tuned for more updates!
