The Tokyo Olympics 2020 kicked off last night with a bunch of magnificent visual displays. Following that, these displays went from being in the sky to on a mat involving two athletes determined to win. With session one of judo over, let’s analyse who triumphed and who left disappointed?

Judo takes centre stage at the Tokyo Olympics 2020

The men’s 60 kg and women’s 48 kg categories unfolded and lit up the Nippon Budokan. The world’s highest ranked judokas in the men’s 60 kg and women’s 48 kg squared off to secure a playoff spot. Session one included the round of 32 and round of 16 bouts for both men and women.

From the men’s 60 kg category, we witnessed two big upsets. First, Tornike Tsjakadoea (ranked #13) pulled off a shocking win over #3 and former European Champion Robert Mshvidobaze. Second, Great Britain’s Ashley McKenzie lost to Azerbaijan’s Karamat Huseynov. Although they’re ranked #18 and #19 respectively, few expected Huseynov to trounce the Brit.

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Although Dutch judoka Tornike pulled off an upset, he fell to Chinese Taipei’s Yang Yung-wei. The winning judoka heads to the semifinal to face France’s Luka Mkheidze, the world #20. Yung-wei, the world #11 is now the favorite to take home gold in the 60kg category.

The other men’s 60 kg semifinal is Naohisa Takato of Japan vs Ukraine’s Yeldos Smetov. Ranked at #5, Naohisa can overtake Smetov (#4) in the world rankings with a win and secure either gold or silver.

Women’s 48 kg witnesses some intense bouts

Few expected the judokas from the women’s 48 kg category to bring so much fire to the opening rounds. However, they not only brought the fire but set the stage ablaze with some wonderful performances. We witnessed some dominant performances by the top ranked judokas and some medal favorites exiting the competition early.

One medal contender who exited the competition was Paula Pareto of Argentina. The Rio gold medalist triumphed over South African judoka Geronay Whitebooi and swept aside Marusa Stangar in the round of 16. Unfortunately, her chances at a medal ended in the quarterfinals when she faced Tonaki Funa, the women’s world #3.

India’s Sushila Devi crashed out after losing to her Hungarian counterpart, but women’s world #1 Distria Krasniqi bullied her way to the semifinals. She remains the hot favorite to win gold in the women’s category. The semifinals for the women’s category are:- Krasniqi vs Mongolia’s Urantsetseg Munkhbat and Daria Bilodid vs Japan’s Tonaki Funa.

Tokyo Olympics 2020 DAY 1: World Number 3 Suffers a Shock Defeat in Judo Championships