Georgian judo team finished participation in Dusseldorf Grand Prix without winning medals. ¼ final matches of 81, 90, 100 and +100 kg have not finished yet and all 6 Georgians have lost their matches.

Only Varlam Liparteliani (90 kg) was close to top 3. After beating Polish Krzysztof Weglarz and French Yves Matthieu Dafreville, Liparteliani lost against Swedish Marcus Nyman in ¼ final. Liparteliani was winning with waza-ari and could not manage to keep advantage – 5 seconds before the final siren he lost by waza-ari.

After a long pause, Irakli Tsirekidze (100 kg) returned to international tatami. He held only two matches. Irakli beat Ukrainian Viacheslav Denysov by ippon but in 1/8 final, he lost against Mongolian Temuulen Battulga by ippon (two waza-aris).

Heavyweight Zviad Khanjaliashvili achieved only one victory at Grand Prix. He beat Azerbaijani Emil Tahirov. He was winning over Lithuanian Marius Paskevicius by waza-ari and yuko but then lost. Also, Nodar Metreveli wrestled in +100 kg and like Khanjaliashvili, he lost in 1/8 final. Before that, he beat two opponents – Turkish Ensar Tama and Slovenian Matjaz Ceraj. Brazilian Rafael Silva beat Metreveli.

Avtandil Chrikishvili and Levan Tsiklauri (both 81 kg) held only one match at Dusseldorf Grand Prix. Chrikishvili lost against Italian Francesco Bruyere and Tsiklauri – against Latvian Konstantin Ovchinnikov.

Otar Maglakelidze