JUDO Preview: Three reigning world champs, two Rio gold winners entered in first-ever Montreal Grand Prix

After a hiatus in June, the IJF World Tour resumes in North America – for a change – with the first-ever Montreal Grand Prix, with 249 judokas from 50 nations ready for a fight at the Maurice Richard Arena. The top seeds (with IJF world rankings):

Men

-60 kg:
1. Robert Mshvidobadze (RUS: 1)
2. Naohisa Takato (JPN: 4)
3. Eric Takabatake (BRA: 11)

-66 kg:
1. Kherlen Ganbold (MGL: 10)
2. Imad Bassou (MAR: 36)
3. Kenneth van Gansbeke (BEL: 38)

-73 kg:
1. Soichi Hashimoto (JPN: 5)
2. Arthur Margelidon (CAN: 9)
3. Victor Scvortov (UAE: 18)

-81 kg:
1. Matthias Case (BEL: 4)
2. Aslan Lappinagov (RUS: 11)
3. Antoine Valois-Fortier (CAN: 15)

-90 kg:
1. Eduard Trippel (GER: 12)
2. Rafael Macedo (BRA: 16)
3. David Klammert (CZE: 18)

-100 kg:
1. Ramadan Darwish (EGY: 7)
2. Karl-Richard Frey (GER: 17)
3. Sandy Elnahas (CAN: 19)

+100 kg:
1. Lukas Krpalek (CZE: 2)
2. David Moura (BRA: 4)
3. Hisayoshi Harasawa (JPN: 16)

Women

-48 kg:
1. Paula Pareto (ARG: 4)
2. Catarina Costa (POR: 12)
3. Shira Rishony (ISR: 14)

-52 kg:
1. Gefen Primo (ISR: 12)
2. Agata Perenc (POL: 14)
3. Angelica Delgado (USA: 15)

-57 kg:
1. Christa Deguchi (CAN: 3)
2. Jessica Klimkait (CAN: 7)
3. Timna Nelson Levy (ISR: 9)

-63 kg:
1. Catherine Beachemin-Pinard (CAN: 9)
2. Katharina Haecker (AUS: 10)
3. Kiyomi Watanabe (PHI: 22)

-70 kg:
1. Maria Perez (PUR: 8)
2. Assmaa Niang (MAR: 10)
3. Kelita Zupancic (CAN: 14)

-78 kg:
1. Shori Hamada (JPN: 5)
2. Beata Pacut (POL: 16)
3. Aleksandra Babintseva (RUS: 19)

+78 kg:
1. Sarah Asahina (JPN: 5)
2. Ivana Sutalo (CRO: 29)
3. Nina Cutro-Kelly (USA: 30)

Although Mshvidobadze (RUS: -60 kg) is the only top-ranked fighter in the tournament, Japan has three reigning World Champions entered: Takata in the men’s -60 kg division; Hamada in the women’s 78 kg class and Asahina in the +78 kg group.

Two Rio 2016 Olympic champs are also in the field, with Krpalek in the men’s +100 kg group (he won at -100 kg), and Pareto in the women’s 48 kg class.

As usual in Grand Prix events, prize money will be $3,000-2,000-1,000 for the top three place winners. Look for results here.