JERUSALEM, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) — The worldwide Tel Aviv Grand Slam judo match began on Thursday, with 398 judokas from 52 nations and areas collaborating.
The competitors, held on the Shlomo Group Arena within the Israeli coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv, is a part of the International Judo Federation (IJF) World Tour and the second within the Grand Slam sequence in 2023 following the Paris match.
Among the opponents are reigning 63kg class Olympic champion Clarisse Agbegnenou of France and Cuba’s Idalys Ortiz, who received 4 consecutive Olympic medals within the +78kg class, together with a gold medal at London 2012.
Also collaborating are Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medalists Vazha Margvelashvili of Georgia, Germany’s Eduard Trippel and Madeleine Malonga of France, and Rio 2016 gold medalists Fabio Basile of Italy and Brazil’s Rafaela Silva.
The Israeli staff is the most important, with 41 judokas, whereas Brazil and Germany have 22 judokas every.