Today officially opened to Abu Dhabi the four-daylast seasonal Grand Slam for the 2021 Judo World Tour with the draw ceremony of the scoreboards in all fourteen individual categories on the program. Starting from tomorrow (until Sunday 28), however, the attention will be entirely turned to the tatami mats of the Grand Millennium Al Wahda, in which 225 athletes from 41 countries will be on stage.
Headlights aimed at Italy on Assunta Scutto, the only blue judoka registered in the Emirate event, who will try to emerge in the -48 kg at the end of a season as a great protagonist at a youth level (and not only). The 19-year-old Neapolitan arrives in Abu Dhabi for her third career tournament on the major circuit as reigning world junior champion with the” goal to perform well even on a high profile stage against some of the strongest international athletes in its category (first the French Boukli and Legoux Clement).
Scutto was included in the Pool D and will have to face in the first round the affordable Chilean Mary Vargas Ley (reigning Pan-American champion) with on the horizon a possible quarter-final against the strong Israeli Shira Rishony (n.3 of the seeding, fifth classified at the last Tokyo Olympics). In any case, there is the concrete possibility of guaranteeing at least the repechage and a second chance to target a difficult but not impossible podium.
It is worth noting the presence in the competition in Abu Dhabi of five number 1s in the world and thirty athletes placed in the top 10 of the IJF ranking in their respective categories. Great curiosity in the women’s 52 kg for the return to the race of the Frenchwoman Amandine Buchard after the silver in Tokyo 2021 and the European gold in Lisbon ahead of Odette Giuffrida.
Photo: IJF
