Australian judoka Aoife Coughlan has been profiled as one of the prime chances for gold in the upcoming Tashkent Grand Slam, starting this coming weekend in Uzbekistan.
Aoife, contesting the Womens U70kg division, is joined by Tinka Easton in the U52kg and Maria Swan in the U78kg in an all-female run for Australian judo. Some 320 competitors from 40 countries will contest the Grand Slam event.
Currently IJF-ranked as the world number 2 after a phenomenal run at the 2025 World Championships, Aoife will be hoping to pin down a third Grand Slam win and is the top-ranked seed in a division that also includes Germany’s Miriam Butkereit, Italy’s Irene Pedrotti and Giorgia Stangherlin, and Greece’s Elisavet Teltsidou to round out the top five.
Tinka’s U52 division includes highly-ranked players such as Mascha Ballhaus of Germany, Oddette Giuffrida of italy and Japan’s Kokoro Fujishiro, ensuring a steep climb to the top; similarly, Maria Swan faces the likes of Anna Monta Olek from Germany, Zhenzhao Ma from China, and Kaila Issoufi of France.
Aoife features in Part 2 of the IJF’s three part preview of the Tashkent Grand Slam – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. We wish all the competitors – but particularly Aoife, Tinka and Maria – clean ippons and decisive battles. Hajime!
