Indonesia 2018 Asian Para Games Judo preview: Uzbekistan judokas are favourites

Uzbekistan were the surprise nation in the Judo competition at the Incheon 2014 Asian Para Games, topping the medal table with a total of 10 medals, seven of which were gold. This was a huge improvement on their performance at the 2010 Asian Para Games in Guangzhou where they were 7th on the medal table. They showed that this wasn’t a one-off when they took two Gold medals at the Rio 2016 Paralympics with Namozov Sherzod claiming top spot in the Men’s up to 60kg category and Nigmatov Utkirjon joining his countryman in topping the podium in the Men’s up to 66kg event.

They will be joined by two other Rio Paralympic Gold medallists in Jakarta: Choi Gwanggeun from KOR (Men’s up to 100kg) and Li Liqing CHN (Women’s up to 48kg).

Judokas from IRI, JPN, THA, IND and KAZ also made the podium in Incheon and will be trying to ensure that the Uzbekistan, Chinese and Korean teams don’t have things all their own way.

Overall 114 athletes from 16 countries will compete for 15 medals. The competition will take place at the JI Expo Grand Ballroom over four days.

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