In the women’s 78kg class, the Tokyo Olympic champion Naori Hamada (Japan Self-Defense Forces) lost to Elizaveta Litvinenko (Ukraine) by one round in the third-place match, missing out on a medal. She was chasing her second win since 2018, but she lost in the quarterfinals to Olympian third-placed Maira Aguiar. This is the first time that a Japanese woman has missed the podium.

Kentaro Iida (Asahi Kasei) in the men’s 100-kilogram class was eliminated in the second round. He lost to Boyan Doshen (Serbia) by ippon with an inner thigh watermark. He hasn’t performed well following last year’s third-round exit. Muzaffarbek Tsuloboyev (Uzbekistan) won, and Kyle Reyes (Canada) from Nihon University came in second. In the women’s 78 kg class, Aguiar won the title for the third time since 2017.

After completing the 6 weight classes for both men and women, Japan has so far won 5 gold medals, 3 for women and 2 for men. He failed to win the 78kg class for three consecutive tournaments and the 100kg class for four consecutive tournaments. (Joint)