Tokyo Olympics 2020 DAY 1: World Number 3 Suffers a Shock Defeat in Judo Championships

The Tokyo Olympics 2020 witnessed a slew of upsets, but none bigger than what unfolded in Nippon Budokan. Robert Mshvidobadze, former world #1 and currently #3 suffered a shocking defeat to the Netherland’s Tornike Tsjakadoea in the men’s 60 kg round of sixteen bout.

Shock defeat rocks judo world at Tokyo Olympics 2020

Representing the newly minted Russian Olympic Committee, Robert Mshvidobadze was one favorite to end up on the podium. Having won silver at the 2018 World Championships in Baku and a two-time European Champion, few doubted how far he would progress in Tokyo.

Unfortunately, his journey ended at the hands of Tornike Tsjakadoea, someone who is relatively unknown in the judo world. He qualified for the Olympics by clinching bronze at IJF World Masters, and has a gold medal from the IJF Grand Prix in 2018. The Dutch judoka rose to #13 in the IJF rankings upon Olympic qualification.

In a four-minute contest, the Dutch underdog picked up a waza-ari in the opening forty seconds. He almost blew it by picking up two penalties, but held his own to cross the line safely. The Russian also picked up a penalty, but looked unimpressive on judo’s grandest stage.

With his win over the world #3, Tornike Tsjakadoea will face Yang Yung-Wei of Chinese Taipei. If he wins, he secures a spot in the men’s 60 kg semifinal and a shot at one of the three medals.

Judo men’s 60 kg round of 32 results

Tornike Tsjakadoea opened his account at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 with a win over Mongolia’s Amartuvshin Dashdavaa. Bulgaria’s Yanislav Gerchev beat Ecuador’s Lenin Preciado and Ukraine’s Artem Lesiuk beat Guatemala’s Jose Ramos. Belgian judoka Jorre Verstraeten picked up a big win over Germany’s Moritz Plafky. The second upset of the day came when Great Britain’s McKenzie lost to Azerbaijan’s Karamat Huseynov.

Turskish judoka Mihrac Akkus beat Bhutanese judoka Ngawang Namgyel. In the last match of the round of thirty-two, Brazil’s Eric Takabatake, the world #14, beat Laos’ Soukphaxay Sithisane. Naohisa Takato of the host country, Japan, received a bye in the round of 32 and directly made it to the round of 16. He faces Belgium’s Jorre Verstraeten.

Also taking place today is the women’s 48 kg event and the likes of Paula Pareto, Yanan Li and Irina Dolgova and Daria Bilodid qualified and will compete in the round of 16. Indian judoka Sushila Devi Likmabam did not qualify after losing to Hungary’s Eva Csernoviczki.

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