The composition of the Kazakhstan national team for the World Judo Championship has been announced

The Kazakhstan national team will take part in this competition in its entirety, Liter.kz reports.

Since this is an Olympic year, the dates for the ranking tournaments are very close. And the coaching staff had to make a difficult choice.

In May, our athletes were preparing for three important competitions in a row. Previously, based on the results of the Asian Championship and Grand Slam competitions, a team was formed that will take part in the World Championship.

Among the participants there are both experienced athletes and young ones just entering the adult category. But there is the lightest men’s weight category, where as many as 3 high-class judokas competed for 2 places in the lineup.

As for the weight category up to 60 kg, Nurkanat Serikbaev became the first on the list of participants in this category without any discussion, since he is higher than his teammates in the world rankings, said head coach of the Kazakhstan men’s team Nurbol Suleimenov.

The winner of the second ticket to the World Championship was discussed at a joint meeting of the executive committee and the coaching staff of the Federation at the end of the Qazaqstan Barysy Grand Slam 2024 tournament.

The second participant had to decide after the Grand Slam tournament in Astana and therefore Eldos Smetov and Magzhan Shamshadin were given the same opportunity. As you know, Magzhan Shamshadin finished the tournament in the first round. Eldos Smetov was among the winners and won a bronze medal. We can say that the Grand Slam tournament in Astana was important and decisive for both of them, since Magzhan had not competed in international competitions for a long time, and Eldos had not won medals in major competitions for a long time. This result will allow Eldos to take part in the World Championship,” noted the Federation’s executive director Aibek Imashev.

Let us remind you that on the capital tatami of the Qazaqstan Barysy Grand Slam tournament, Galia Tynbaeva (-48kg) became the champion, and Eldos Smetov (-60kg), Bakytzhan Abdurakhmanov (-73kg) and Abylaykhan Zhubanazar (-81kg) won bronze medals.

Since we entered two athletes in three weight categories, athletes weighing up to 90 kg will only participate in mixed team competitions. It is worth noting that in order to participate in the World Championship, judokas must be in the TOP-100 list of the Olympic rankings. Unfortunately, our young athletes have only just begun to join this list,” added Nurbol Suleimenov.

The composition of the Kazakhstan national team is as follows:

Men
-60 kg: Nurkanat Serikbaev, Yeldos Smetov
-66 kg: Gusman Kyrgyzbaev, Janarys Rakhmetkali
-73 kg: Daniyar Shamshaev, Bakytzhan Abdurakhmanov
-73 kg: Darkhan Koibagar (Mixed team)
-81 kg: Abylaikhan Zhubanazar
-90 kg: Aidar Arapov (Mixed team)
-100 kg: Nurlykhan Sharkhan
+100 kg: Erasyl Kazhibaev

Women
-48 kg: Abiba Abujakynova, Galiya Tynbaeva
-57 kg: Bakyt Kusakbaeva
-63 kg: Esmigul Kuyulova
-70 kg: Ekaterina Tokareva
-78 kg: Aruna Zhangeldina
+78 kg: Camila Berlikash

It is worth noting that the World Championship will be the last tournament giving points to the Olympic rankings for judokas. More than 600 tatami masters from 103 countries will take part in the World Championship.