An official Opening Ceremony marked the first IJF Grand Slam event in Düsseldorf ©IJF

Japan maintained their level of success on the second day of the inaugural International Judo Federation (IJF) Grand Slam tournament in Düsseldorf as they added two golds to the three they had won yesterday - but Slovenia and Iran also got on top of the podium.

Japan’s Olympic and double world champion Ono Shohei won for the first time since Rio 2016 to take the under 73 kilograms category, and then his namesake, Ono Yoko added another victory in the women’s under 70kg class at the ISS Dome.

Slovenian’s Olympic champion Tina Trstenjak was stunned by an early exit in the preliminaries of the women’s under 63kg category, but her fellow countrywoman Andreja Leski rose to the challenge to claim the gold medal against Japanese opposition.

Meanwhile, Iran’s growing presence on the IJF World Judo Tour was underlined as Saeid Mollaei won his first international title in the under 81kg class.

In the official opening ceremony in the atmospheric arena, IJF President Marius Vizer commented: "It’s a great honour for the IJF to be here in Germany for a Grand Slam.

"After so many years of hosting a Grand Prix here in Düsseldorf, we are pleased to host a Grand Slam in Germany."

Iran's Saeid Mollaei, second left, won his first international title in the under 81kg class ©IJF.
Iran's Saeid Mollaei, second left, won his first international title in the under 81kg class ©IJF.

Leski’s first Grand Slam victory came as she defeated Tsugane Megumi with a waza-ari score.

The bronze medals went to Mongolia’s Gankhaich Bold and Kiyomi Watanabe.

Yoko won her second IJF Grand Slam title with a resounding triumph over Croatia’s Barbara Matić, pinning her down for 20 seconds and ippon.

Sanne Van Dijke of The Netherlands and Germany’s Szaundra Diedrich took the bronze medals.

In the men’s category, Shohei was back to his brilliant best as he won all six of his contests to return to the top podium for the first time since collecting the Olympic gold medal at Rio 2016.

His final was a re-run of the Olympic final as he defeated Azerbaijan’s Rustum Orujov with an uchi-mata for ippon.

The bronze medals went to Armenia’s Ferdinand Karapetian and Israel’s Tohar Butbul.

The event in Düsseldorf is the first time Germany has hosted an IJF World Tour event ©IJF
The event in Düsseldorf is the first time Germany has hosted an IJF World Tour event ©IJF

World bronze medallist Mollaei had to work hard to overcome unfancied 21-year-old Frenchman Alpha Djalo in his final

Dominic Ressel of Germany and Aslan Lappinagov were the bronze medallists.

Tomorrow the men are due to compete in the under 90kg, under 100kg and over 100kg categories.

The women will take part in the under 78kg and over 78kg classes. 

To watch the latest action on Judo TV, click here.