Who to bet on for the Grand Slam of Tokyo

Judo fans must be excited about the approaching Tokyo Grand Slam. It’s the only big judo event left in this year’s calendar and it deserves our full attention. For us, the question of who wins the event is not just a matter of prestige but also a matter of earning money through betting.

Event Overview

This year’s Grand Slam Tokyo takes place in early December. It’s a big tournament in the IJF World Tour’s calendar, which in itself is enough to follow the event. However, we are also interested in the gambling aspect of the competition.

For one, it’s easy to place wagers on judo matches. But even if you don’t have some special judo knowledge, you can still gamble while watching the tournament. Just jump over to the Playfina casino to pick one of the games from its broad game selection. Playfina excels in providing users with a friendly gambling experience, mainly thanks to its generous promotions paired with a lightning-fast payment system. With this online casino, you can gamble and watch judo matches at the same time. And there will be a lot to see in Tokyo! Here’s a quick recap of the men's event:

• Location: Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium
• Date: December 2 and 3, 2023
• Number of participants: More than 400
• Prize money: $154 thousand

• Extra-lightweight U60kg and U48kg
• Half-lightweight U66kg and U52kg
• Lightweight U73kg and U57kg
• Half-middleweight U81kg and U63kg
• Middleweight U90kg and U70kg
• Half-heavyweight U100kg and U78kg
• Heavyweight +100kg and +78kg

Who will win the Tournament on each division?

Judo competitions are divided into seven weight-based categories for both men and women, so it makes sense to do one of these two things: focus on a single weight category that you know best or place wagers matches across multiple categories. Regardless of your choice, we will breeze through every section of the tournament to present you with our top picks in male competition. The 2023 Grand Slam of Tokyo is getting closer, which makes us all very excited about the event. This post will focus on one big question: Who to bet on during the two-day event?

1.Extra-lightweight

Azerbaijan’s Aghayev Balabay is our favorite to win the tournament in the extra-lightweight category. Though he is but the third seed in the Grand Slam of Tokyo, Balabay’s recent form looks very promising. Ryuju Nagayama is always among the best.

2.Half-lightweight

Yondonperenlei Baskhuu is a 30-year-old athlete from Mongolia, which makes him one of the oldest participants. We believe that the second seeded veteran possesses a great mix of experience and judo skills to outdo every single competitor in Tokyo. It's a big field with 51 athletes which includes Olympic Champion Abe Hifumi, for sure people will look out for his style

3.Lightweight

Only one name stands out in this category, at least if you ask us: Hidayat Heydarov is a top favourite. At the age of 26, this judo fighter from Azerbaijan is in his career prime and we believe he is going to win the event with great confidence. Hashimoto is of course Japan's ace.

4.Half-middleweight

We have to go with the underdog here – our prediction is that Gauthier Drapeau Francois from Canada will surprise his opponents in Tokyo. We’ve seen some of his recent fights, and that convinced us that the 25-year-old has the skills needed to beat all of the higher-ranking fighters U81kg. Olympic Champion Nagase is among the top ranked players.

5.Middleweight

In stark contrast with the previous pick, we now choose the safe option in the middleweight category. Luka Maisuradze comes from Georgia and the winner of the World Judo Championships earlier this year in Doha. Maisuradze's consistency makes us believe that he is going to win one more event in the dusk of 2023. Perhaps Christian Parlati can surprise as well whereas Murao is likely the title candidate.

6.Half-heavyweight

Korrel Michael comes from the Netherlands, which isn’t typically considered to be a judo nation. However, Korrel had some impressive fights this year, so we suggest betting on him and he can need a success. It’s not the safest of options, but it might as well pay off. Wanna go for a safe bet, Kotsoiev who is on form or perhaps world champion Adamian.

7.Heavyweight

Alisher Yusupov the Uzbekistan judo practitioner. He is among a very few heavy favorites to win the Grand Slam in Tokyo. Yusupov achieved some pretty amazing results in 2023 and he doesn’t look like a man who’s going to lose anytime soon. The Japanese fighters though may try to impress the home crowd though. Tatsuru Saito is always in for good fun. Tasoev has to keep up his undefeated reputation. 

Conclusion

A combination of safe bets and some serious underdogs, that’s what our Tokyo Grand Slam predictions are all about. Some of these wagering suggestions could bring bettors a lot of money, but you don’t have to agree with our favorites. Do you have some other recommendations to share?