Before the world judo championships to be held next month, the men's national team's training was shown to the press. I want to go. I will definitely win.”
The World Judo Championships will be held in Uzbekistan, Central Asia, from June 6 to 13.
The men's representatives are Tokyo Olympic gold medalists
Naohisa Takafuji in the 60-kilogram class, Hifumi
Abe in the 66-kilogram class,
Takanori Nagase in the 81-kilogram class,
and representatives of the over-100-kilogram class. A total of 12 people have been selected, including 9 people who will participate in 7 classes of individual competition, such as Saito,
and 3 people who will participate in the mixed team competition.
On the 26th, the state of the training was released to the press, and Saito was adjusting by practicing with the gold medalist of the same weight class at the Tokyo Olympics, Lukasz Krupalek of the Czech Republic.
Saito is a promising young player whose father is Hitoshi Saito, who has won two consecutive Olympic gold medals, and this will be his first appearance at the World Championships.
At the press conference after this, Saito said about Krupalek, "He's a tricky judo player, and he's good at ground fighting, and he's cautious."
He also expressed his enthusiasm, saying, "I want to cherish each and every match and go for the win. I will definitely win."
Abe also said, "The World Championships will be an important match for me to participate in the Paris Olympics. I want to become the best in the world and lead to Paris."
Takafuji said, "By winning the gold medal at the World Championships, I can see the next Paris. I think I will be thoroughly marked as a gold medalist, but I should study more than the marks around me and win in my own way." I was.
Keiji Suzuki, coach of the men's national team, said, "I want Japanese judo to reach out to the world by gaining the right to become the world champion. The Paris Olympics are one minute and one second away, so I want them to prepare with a firm determination." I talked to