The last stop on the IJF World Tour for 2018 is the Masters, this year held in Guangzhou (CHN), at the 6,063-seat Guangzhou Gymnasium. A total of 234 of the top judoka in the world, from 53 nations are gathering; the top seeds and their world rankings (* = 2018 World Champion):
Men:
∙ -60 kg: 1. Amiran Papinashvili (GEO: 3) 2. Robert Mshvidobadze (RUS: 4)
∙ -66 kg: 1. Vazha Margvelashvili (GEO: 2) 2. Tal Flicker (ISR: 3)
∙ -73 kg: 1. Soichi Hashimoto (JPN: 1) 2. Lasha Shavdatuashvili (GEO: 2)
∙ -81 kg: 1. Saeid Mollaei* (IRI: 1) 2. Frank de Wit (NED: 2)
∙ -90 kg: 1. Nikoloz Sherazadishvili* (ESP: 1) 2. Aleksandar Kukolj (SRB: 2)
∙ -100 kg: 1. Varlam Liparteliani (GEO: 1) 2. Michael Korrel (NED: 2)
∙ +100 kg: 1. Guram Tushishvili* (GEO: 1) 2. Lukas Krpalek (CZE: 2)
Women:
∙ -48 kg: 1. Urantsetseg Munkhbat (MGL: 2) 2. Paula Pareto (ARG: 4)
∙ -52 kg: 1. Amandine Buchard (FRA: 2) 2. Natalia Kuziutina (RUS: 3)
∙ -57 kg: 1. Tsukasa Yoshida* (JPN: 1) 2. Sumiya Dorjsuren (MGL: 2)
∙ -63 kg: 1. Clarissa Agbegnenou* (FRA: 1) 2. Tina Trstenjak (SRB: 2)
∙ -70 kg: 1. Marie Eve Gahie (FRA: 2) 2. Maria Portela (BRA: 3)
∙ -78 kg: 1. Guusje Steenhuis (NED: 1) 2. Ruika Sato (JPN: 2)
∙ +78 kg: 1. Idalys Ortiz (CUB: 2) 2. Larisa Ceric (BIH: 3)
There are two other 2018 Worlds winners entered; both are men who are seeded third: Chang-Rim An (KOR: 73 kg) and Gu-Ham Cho (KOR: 100 kg). That brings the total to seven in all.
Befitting the importance of the tournament, the prize money is $9,000-6,000-3,000 for the top three places (two thirds), with 20% reserved for coaches. Look for results here.
