The Korean judo team will participate in the 2023 International Judo Federation (IJF) World Judo Championships, a prelude to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Korea, led by men’s national team coach Hwang Hee-tae and women’s national team coach Kim Mi-jung, will compete against the world’s best athletes for medals in Doha, Qatar, from the 7th to the 14th.
Korea will send a total of 18 participants, 9 in each of 6 weight classes for men and women.
They will also compete in the mixed team event on the final day of the competition.
2,000 Olympic ranking points are awarded for winning each weight class in this event, 1,400 points for a silver medal, and 1,000 points for a bronze medal.
The most points are awarded among international competitions, and depending on the results, you can step on the high ground in order to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
Korea plans to check the preparation process for the Paris Olympics through this competition.
We will also challenge to win the gold medal at the World Championships, which has been suspended since the 2018 competition.
South Korea has never played the national anthem at the World Championships since Ahn Chang-lim (men’s 73kg class) and Jo Goo-ham (men’s 100kg or more retired) won gold medals in 2018.
The most anticipated player in the men’s national team is Kim Min-jong (Yangpyeong-gun Office), the top heavyweight.
At the 2019 World Championships, while attending Boseong High School, Kim Min-jong won a bronze medal in the men’s heavyweight class, which was the exclusive property of Western players, and emerged as the top prospect of Korean judo. reconfirmed.
Kim Min-jong is determined to win his first world championship gold medal through this event.
Kim Min-jong is scheduled to compete with Tatsuru Saito, the “heavyweight newcomer in Japan,” and Teddy Riner, a French judo star.
Saito is the son of Japanese judo hero Hitoshi Saito, who won two consecutive gold medals in men’s judo at the 1984 LA Olympics and 1988 Seoul Olympics.
An Paul (Namyangju City Hall), who competes in the men’s 66kg class, is also a strong medal candidate. Paul An, a silver medalist at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, won a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics held in 2021, and won a bronze medal at the World Championships last year.
The biggest competitor is Japan’s Hifumi Abe, a gold medalist at the 2022 Tokyo Olympics.
Abe is the undisputed leader in his weight class and will be aiming for his fourth individual world championship gold medal at the event.
Uta Abe, Abe’s younger sister and gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, competes in the women’s 52kg class.
Lee Jun-hwan (Yongin Univ.), who competes in the men’s 81kg class, and Lee Ha-rim (Korea Racing Association) in the men’s 60kg class are also aiming for medals.
Lee Jun-hwan is on the rise, winning the Portuguese Grand Prix in January.
In the women’s division, 57kg class Heo Mi-mi (Gyeongbuk Sports Association) is highly anticipated.
Korean-Japanese Heo Mi-mi renounced her Japanese citizenship last year and joined the judo team of the Gyeongbuk Sports Association.
Mimi Heo, her first appearance last year wearing her Taegeuk mark, was defeated by Haruka Funakubo (Japan) in the semi-finals of the World Championships, failing to claim her medals.
She is determined to get her revenge on Funakubo for this year’s tournament.
Ha-yoon Kim (Ansan City Hall), who won the Portuguese Grand Prix and Paris Grand Slam this year, is also aiming for her medal.스포츠토토
Ha-yoon Kim was unfortunately unable to reach the podium after losing to Wakaba Tomita (Japan) in the bronze medal match at the World Championships last year.
Meanwhile, Russian and Belarusian players will participate in this competition as individuals and neutral countries.
The two countries were disqualified from participating in the international competition due to the invasion of Ukraine, but they have recently dispatched players to this competition according to the IJF’s conditional reinstatement.
In response, the Ukrainian national team withdrew from the tournament.