Pool A: An (KOR)
South Korea's World Champion An had a tough draw but he managed to get past all-comers rather handily. Against Zhansay Smagulov (KAZ), he did a drop morote-seoi-nage for waza-ari and then an armlock for ippon. Next, he dispatched Kilian Le Blouch (FRA), with a cross-grip drop seoi-nage for waza-ari and then a double-sleeve drop sode-tsuri-komi-goshi for ippon. He had a slightly harder time against double World Champion Sobirov but his cross grip seoi-nage caught the Uzbek player by surprise for a waza-ari score.
Pool B: Ebinuma (JPN)
Zantaraia was knocked out in the first round by Sergiu Oleinic (POR), who threw him with a drop ippon-seoi-nage for yuko. Oleinic's match against Wander Mateo (DOM) was to be but a formality but the Dominican player lasted until Golden Score where he countered Oleinic's drop seoi-nage for ippon! Japan's Ebinuma threw home favourite Charles Chibana (BRA) with osoto-gari for yuko followed by a pin for ippon. Next, Ebinuma gave Ma Duanbin (CHN) a judo lesson, throwing him with sumi-gaeshi for yuko, pinning him for waza-ari and then throwing him with drop sode-tsuri-komi-goshi for ippon. Although Mateo had done well to get to the quarter-final, Ebinuma was a bridge too far for him. The Japanese champion first threw him with drop morote-seoi-nage for waza-ari, then drop sode-tsurikomi-goshi for yuko, and finally drop morote-seoi-nage for ippon.
Pool C: Basile (ITA)
Davaadorj was the favorite here but in the quarter-final he came up against Fabio Basile (ITA), a relative unknown who was having the day of his life. The young Italian had earlier beaten Sebastian Seidl (GER), with drop sode-tsurikomi-goshi for ippon and Shikhalizada with a side takedown and strangle.
Pool D: Gomboc (SLO)
Another huge upset happened when Russia's Puliaev went up against Antoine Bouchard (CAN), who had fought a tactical match that went into Golden Score. There, Bouchard then spun Puliaev with sumi-gaeshi for yuko. Bouchard would then meet Adrian Gomboc (SLO) in the quarter-final. The Slovenian had earlier beaten Mathews Punza (ZAM) who had earlier shocked the stadium when he pinned Golan Pollock (ISR) for ippon. In their quarter-final match, Gomboc countered Bouchard's uchimata for waza-ari and then threw him with a rolling drop-seoi-nage for ippon.
Repecharge
Mateo fought the good fight against Sobirov and was actually ahead on penalties when the Uzbekh champion launched him with an uchimata for ippon. In the second repecharge, Davaadorj was the aggressor while Bouchard fought a strategic game. In the last minute, Bouchard countered Davaadorj for waza-ari. It was yet another huge upset in a day already beset with many unexpected outcomes.
Semi-Final
The An-Ebinuma match could easily have been the final. An got a shido first. Then Ebinuma got one. The match went into Golden Score. When Ebinuma attempted a drop seoi-nage, An countered for yuko. Basile meanwhile managed to get past Gomboc on penalties.
Bronze
Sobirov won his bronze with a counter for waza-ari and then a strangle for ippon against Gomboc. Ebinuma started his match against Bouchard cautiously, incurring a shido before ramping things up. A very low drop seoi-nage earned him a yuko. Not content to win with that, Ebinuma followed up with another drop seoi-nage. This time, for ippon.
Day 2: Men's -66kg
The men's -66kg division promised to be a really exciting one with many top players competing, namely An Baul (KOR), Rishod Sobirov (UZB), Georgii Zantaraia (UKR), Masashi Ebinuma (JPN), Tumurkhuleg Davaadorj (MGL), Nijat Shikhalizada (AZE) and Mikhail Puliaev (RUS). Pools A and B went largely according to expectations but there was complete turmoil in Pools C and D as many lesser-known players upset the favorites.