World Champion Nils Stump back to fuel confidence

After shoulder surgery and 5 months out of competition, the 2023 world champion at -73kg Nils Stump (SUI) made his highly anticipated return at the Antalya Grand Slam 2024, where he suffered an early exit in round 2. Despite this, the Swiss man arrives in Dushanbe as the top seed and will be hoping to get back to his best and move closer to a seeded position in the Olympic rankings.

In the pool stages Stump may have to get past the host nation’s Abubakr Sherov who was the silver medallist at the Baku Grand Slam 2024. Should he reach the final, there could be a fascinating match-up with another home favourite in the form of the number two seed Behruzi Khojazoda who picked up silver here last year and defeated Stump in their previous encounter, at the Hungary Masters 2023.

With the remaining athletes ranked outside the world’s top 20, who will occupy the medal spots is anyone’s guess. 5-time grand slam medallist Igor Wandtke (GER) is seeded sixth and Tbilisi Grand Slam 2023 winner Erdenebayar Batzaya (MGL) seventh. The remaining seeded players are all former grand slam medallists too, with the exception of third seed Jack Yonezuka (USA), who recently won his first World Judo Tour medal at the Upper Austria Grand Prix 2024. Eighth seed Benjamin Axus (FRA) took bronze at last year’s event.

Outside the top seeds, Türkiye’s former world medallist Bilal Ciloglu is a potential threat. Also worth keeping an eye on is Karen Galstian (AIN) who took silver in his first ever World Judo Tour event back in March at the Tbilisi Grand Slam 2024. Can you predict the medallists?