The tournament was inaugurated on Friday and the Iranian fighters stepped on tatami on Saturday at the International Judo Federation (IJF) Judo Grand Prix in Mongolia.
Defeating European Junior champion Serbian Nemanja Majdov, Iranian judo practitioner Saeed Malaee won his first encounter at Buyant Ukhaa Sport Complex in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar to get to the next round of the tournament in the men’s under 81 kilogram division.
Saeed Malaee had a first-round bye and wining the Serb fighter moved into the third round where he has to face the Canadian judoka Antoine Valois-Fortier who has won the bronze medal in the Men's -81 kg category at the Judo at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the Canadian National Judo Championship In 2010.
The other Judoka of Iran’s squad is Javad Mahjoub in the minus 100 class.
More than 200 judokas from 35 countries are vying for world ranking points ahead of the World Championships in Chelyabinsk, Russia, in August.
Hosts Mongolia showed their immense depth in all weight categories on the opening day of the event as a hat-trick of gold medals came the country’s way across the five weight categories, with two-time World Judo Masters winner Sumiya Dorjsuren claiming the women’s under 48 kilogram crown and Amartuvshin Dashdavaa and Tumurkhuleg Davaadorj taking the men’s under 60kg and under 66kg titles respectively.
The International Judo Federation (IJF) Judo Grand Prix opened in Ulaanbaatar on July 3 and will wrap up on July 5.
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