Shavdatuashvili, who holds a full set of Olympic medals with gold at London 2012, bronze at Rio 2016 and silver at Tokyo 2020, headlines Georgia’s 39-strong team.

The 30-year-old will battle it out for the men’s under-73 kilograms title where he will face opposition from Georgian team-mates Giorgi Terashvili, Giorgi Chikhelidze and Phridon Gigani.

Vazha Margvelashvili, a silver medallist in the men’s under-66kg category at Tokyo 2020, will be hoping to deliver home success.

But Moldova’s Denis Vieru - who is one of only two world ranking leaders in the field along with Shavdatuashvil - will be looking to dash Margvelashvili’s hopes.

Tato Grigalashvili, Eteri Liparteliani, Ilia Sulamanidze and Lukhumi Chkhvimiani are also among Georgia’s strong title contenders as they are seeded first in their respective divisions.

A total of 278 judoka from 36 nations across four continents are set to compete across 14 divisions at the three-day event.

Two-time Grand Slam gold medallist Shoichiro Mukai leads a small Japanese team that includes Genki Koga, Ryoma Tanaka and Ken Oyoshi.

Kazakhstan is sending the second-biggest team behind Georgia with 25 judoka, while France has a 22-member squad with Julia Tolofua and Melanie Legoux Clement top seeds in the women’s over-78kg and under-48kg classes, respectively.

Competition is due to start tomorrow and conclude on Sunday (June 5).