On May 21, the first events of the 2026 Southeast Asian Judo Championships began.
This year, Vietnam is the host of the tournament and the entire tournament has 7 participating teams including Vietnam (host), Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Laos.
On the first day, athletes compete in kata events (performance). The tournament will compete in the championship and youth championship events. Kata competitions apply professional techniques including Nage No kata, Ju No kata, Kime No kata, Katame No kata, Kodokan Goshin Jutsu.
After the kata event, the sparring competition program will be held from May 22nd to May 24th. The competitions will take place at the Bac Ninh Provincial Multi-purpose Sports Complex.
This year, the Vietnamese judo team registered to participate in all events for the champion and junior champion systems, including kata, and sparring.
According to registration, the host team has more than 170 martial artists participating in the events. The goal of the Vietnamese judo team is to strive to win the No. 1 position overall in medal results.
In the tournament, the combat events for the championship system include 55kg, 60kg, 66kg, 73kg, 81kg, 90kg, 100kg, over 100kg for male athletes. Female athletes will participate in the weight classes of 44kg, 48kg, 52kg, 57kg, 63kg, 70kg, 78kg, over 78kg.
Athletes competing in the youth group will compete in weight classes from 55kg to over 100kg for men and from 44kg to over 78kg for women.
