U100 kg shaken up as Matvey Kanikovskiy disappears from IJF world ranking
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The U100 kg landscape has been jolted by a surprising development: reigning world champion Matvey Kanikovskiy is no longer listed in the IJF World Ranking. With the European Championships approaching, the timing instantly turns this into a major talking point across the judo community.
Kanikovskiy has been one of the steadier names on the World Judo Tour in recent seasons, building points through big performances. The results cited include a strong run at the 2024 European Championships, as well as standout finishes at the 2024 Grand Slam in Tokyo and the 2025 Grand Slam in Tashkent. He crowned that momentum by taking the world title in Budapest in 2025.
A top-tier weight class just lost one of its reference points overnight.
His removal from the ranking is notable because such moves are often associated with irregularities connected to anti-doping regulations. At the moment, there is no official clarification given, leaving a vacuum where certainty should be—especially when rankings can influence seeding, selection dynamics, and the broader competitive narrative.
What makes the situation even more striking is that Kanikovskiy had still been competing at the highest level earlier this season. He won bronze at the Grand Slam in Tokyo, a result that underlined he was still right in the mix with the world’s elite.
On top of the ranking change, Kanikovskiy has also been withdrawn from the Russian selection for the upcoming European Championships in Tbilisi. Russia will send Niiaz Bilalov instead. Bilalov arrives with momentum of his own after taking bronze at the Paris Grand Slam and then reaching the final of the Grand Slam in Tbilisi, both in U100 kg.
Until the IJF explains, questions will keep hanging over U100 kg.
For now, the reigning world champion’s absence from both the ranking and the international selection creates uncertainty—one that the judo world is waiting to see resolved with clear information from the IJF.
Source: JudoInside