Among the stars in the Turkish city are Brazilian London 2012 Olympic champion Sarah Menezes and Mongolia's 2013 World Championships gold medallist Mönkhbatyn Urantsetseg in the women's under 48 kilogram competition, and Colombian three-time world champion Yuri Alvear in the women's under 70kg.

Meanwhile, the men's field includes 2013 world champion Loïc Pietri of France in the under 81kg competition, Mongolian world silver medallist Dashdavaagiin Amartüvshin in the under 60kg and United Arab Emirates' world bronze medallists Ivan Remarenco and Victor Scvortov in the under 100kg and under 73kg respectively.

The Grand Prix at the Yaşar Doğu Sports Arena will see a total of 499 athletes - 311 men and 188 women - from 68 nations competing in what is the third IJF competition of the 2015 World Judo Tour.

The official draw, which took place today at the Serra Hotel, was led by International Judo Federation (IJF) sport director Daniel Lascau, alongside IJF head sport director Vladimir Barta, IJF general treasurer Naser Al Tamimi, Turkish Judo Federation President Fatih Uysal, Samsun youth and sport manager Güven Ozyurt and Organising Committee general coordinator Mehmet Yilmaz.

The Samsun Grand Prix is taking place at the Yaşar Doğu Sports Arena ©IJF



"On behalf of the Turkish Judo Federation, I am pleased to welcome guests, participants and spectators to this Grand Prix in Turkey," Uysal said.

"The Samsun Grand Prix 2015 will be the third major event of this season.

"Such a great tournament contributes to the development of judo in Turkey.

"Throughout the weekend, we will follow world and Olympic medallists and talented judoka, trying to get more points for their qualification to the upcoming Games in Rio 2016.

"I wish all the participants an interesting and fair tournament.

"We are happy to welcome you in Turkey."

The action is set to get underway tomorrow with the preliminaries and finals in the women's under 48kg, under 52kg and under 57kg, and the men's under 60kg and under 66kg events.

Watch the latest action on Judo TV here.

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