The World Judo Championships will bring together the sport’s top competitors, highlighted by Olympic champions Hifumi Abe and Uta Abe alongside reigning world titleholders looking to defend their supremacy on the global stage. Official schedules and broadcast details for the international tournament underline a high-stakes meeting for the Japanese national team across multiple weight categories.
Hifumi Abe Faces Intense Field in Men’s 66kg Defense
Men’s 66kg Olympic champion Hifumi Abe enters the tournament as the athlete to beat after securing four world titles and consecutive Olympic gold medals. Opponents have heavily scouted his forward-moving pressure and signature techniques like seoi-nage and sode-tsurikomi-goshi, yet his offensive rhythm remains intact. Defending the top of the podium requires surviving a rigorous draw that includes fellow Japanese representative Takeshi Takeoka. Takeoka captured the 2025 world championship following success on the international Grand Slam circuit, bringing precise kumi-kata grip-fighting and decisive scoring ability that elevates the prospect of an intra-national final.
Uta Abe Targets Complete Resurgence in Women’s 52kg
For Uta Abe, the Women’s 52kg division carries heavy personal significance following a second-round exit at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. She rebounded by claiming the gold medal at the 2025 World Championships, reestablishing her aggressive attacking style defined by sharp uchimata, sode-tsurikomi-goshi, and fluid ne-waza transition work. The tournament places the Abe siblings on parallel tracks once again as the younger sister targets a defense of her world crown while her brother pursues his own division’s top honors.
Sanshiro Murao and Goki Tajima Lead Men’s 90kg Aspirations
Murao combines long-limbed o-uchi-gari and uchimata power with improved tactical composure in tight exchanges. He is joined in the division by Goki Tajima, who claimed the silver medal at the previous world championships. Tajima’s tenacious grip-fighting and calculated match management reinforce Japan’s depth in a weight class defined by intense internal competition.
