Judo Day 2 Preview: Kedelashvili and Carrascosa Zardgoza ones to watch

Updated: 2008-08-09 23:27:43

(BEIJING, August 9) -- The Judo competition of the Games moves into its second day on Sunday, August 10, with judoka in the Men's 60-66kg and Women's 48-52kg weigh classes vying for Olympic glory. Here are eight athletes to look out for:

Men's 60-66kg

Zaza Kedelashvili of Georgia is ranked No. 1 in the world by the European Judo Union (EJU). Gold medal winner at the European Judo Championships in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and a three-time World Cup gold medalist, Kedelashvili hopes to add Olympic gold to his burgeoning Judo career

Challenging Kedelashvili for first place in Beijing will be EJU World No. 2 Miklós Ungvár of Hungary who won bronze at the 2007 and 2008 World Judo Championships won gold once and silver twice at the European Judo Championships.

High expectations are also on Cuban judoka Yordanis Arencibia, the bronze medalist in Athens in 2004 and the silver medalist at the 2007 World Championships in Rio de Janeiro.

Armen Nazaryan the26-year-old judoka from Armenia, also hopes to be in the medal mix. Though he finished in a disappointing seventh place at the 2008 European Judo Championships, the EJU World No. 4 is a favorite to reach the podium each time he competes. From 2003 to 2006 he earned two bronze, one gold and one silver at the European Championships and a gold medal finish at the 2008 Super World Cup in Moscow indicates he still has what it takes to compete for the top spot.

Women's 48-52kg.

Ana Carrascosa Zardgoza of Spain, ranked No.1 in the world by the EJU and the gold medalist in the 2008 European Judo Championships, will face challenges from Portuguese judoka Telma Monteiro and Chinese judoka Shi Junjie. Monteiro finished first at the 2006 and 2007 European Championships, while Shi won the 2007 World Championships and will have the full-throated support of a home crowd.

Twenty-three-year-old Anna Kharitonova of Russia should not be overlooked. The gold medalist at the 2007 European Championships won the International Junior Tournament four straight times from 2004 to 2007 and is currently tied for the World No. 4 spot with Shi and Xian Dongmei of China.