At -60 kg, Saudi Arabia’s Abdulrahman Alsaiari, coached by Olympic champion Ilias Iliadis, passed Augusto with a combination of speed, strength and awareness. Ranked at only 108th in the world, this win alludes to a bigger picture in which his new training programme is beginning to pay dividends.

Alsaiari went on to lose against Slovenia’s David Starkel before losing in the repechage to place seventh. That placing brings important points, hope and a trajectory that KSA can be happy with.

Starkel went on to reach the final block but not for a shot at gold. This is his 23rd Grand Prix and there hasn’t been a medal yet but his form in Zagreb suggests one could be on the horizon. He will face Maximilian Heyder (GER) for a place on the podium.

At -57 kg Croatia had high hopes of a medal with Puljiz. The world number six, always hard working, stepped into her first context with focus but didn’t allow for the high-energy tactics of Flaka Loxha (KOS). The Kosovan athlete is only just inside the top 100 in the world but in Zagreb her performance indicated a much higher level.

Just as Alsaiari did at -60 kg, Loxha lost momentum but finished her day in seventh place and showed that she is ready for the remainder of this Olympic qualification period. Her nation has a strong history at -57 kg with Olympic champion Nora Gjakova; perhaps there is a new name to watch as the Los Angeles Games creeps closer.

It was Acelya Toprak (GBR) who defeated Loxha in the repechage, placing herself in the day one final block. Toprak took her first World Judo Tour medal in Lima last year and has come close several times since. Could today be the day she doubles her tally?

Toprak was beaten by Inbal Shemesh (ISR) in their quarter-final. She looks to be in great form and made her way to the final with an unwavering commitment to the task in hand.

In the remaining three weight categories each of the top seeds sliced through their opposition to reach their respective finals. Assunta Scutto (ITA) looked unstoppable at -48 kg. She won silver at the Baku World Championships only a few weeks and now looks to be in even better form. Equally adept in tachi-waza and ne-waza, Scutto allowed no-one to come close.

Ronald Lima took just six and a half minutes to win his four contests en route to the -66 kg final. Nizami Imranov (AZE) had his own great run in the morning session but when he met Lima in their semi-final, it was only going one way. Lima registered his ippon win in just a minute and a half, a superb ko-uchi-gari.

World medallist Roza Gyertyas (HUN) dealt with her challengers at -52 kg, although she had to rely on tactics as much as positive scores in the early rounds. That changed though in her semi-final. Opposed by Paris 2024 Olympic champion Diyora Keldiyorova, Gyertyas was due a battle, but she kept her cool and logged an ippon win over Uzbekistan’s heroine. An outstanding turnover and the resulting osaekomi gave her one of the most significant contest victories of her career so far despite Keldiyorova’s only very recent return to the tatami.

With the line-up for the final block set, there is still a lot to look forward to on this first day of the grand prix. Tune in to JudoTV.com to catch all the action live from 5pm local time.