Some of the stars from the 2008 Olympic Games returned to fight for the first time since Beijing, on 30-31 May in Moscow, Russia.

Absent was the Brits who didn’t field a team, but the second Grand Slam of the International Judo Federation's (IJF) 2009 calendar witnessed the return of Olympic gold medallists Min-ho Choi (KOR) and Xiuli Yang (CHN), and silver medallist Maki Tsukada (JPN).

Choi, the -60kg fighter, threw for Ippon within a minute of his first contest, but was then beaten by Russia's Evgeny Kudyakov in golden score.

Yang and Tsukada were convincing in the -78kgs and +78kgs categories respectively. Nothing stood in their way as they both won gold medals.

Ole Bischof, Germany's -81kg Olympic champion, came to the Grand Slam in good form, having won the Tunis Grand Prix three weeks before. After three preliminary victories he lost his semi-final against eventual winner Siarhei Shundzikau (BLR), and had to settle for bronze.

Korea's Olympic silver medallist Ki-chun Wang made it two Grand Slams out of two in the -73kgs, beating Belgium's Dirk van Tichelt in the final.

But, perhaps the most intriguing story was the return of Wang's Korean team-mate Hee Tae Hwang.

Hwang, the -90kg world champion in 2003, has not been on the international scene for three years. In Moscow he was back, and at -100kgs. There was not a hint of rustiness from Hwang, who won three of his preliminary contests for Ippon. In the final he threw the reigning world champion at -100kg, Luciano Correa (BRA), for Kata-guruma Waza-ari and took a deserved gold medal.

The Japanese dominated in the female weights, winning five of the seven gold medals. Alongside Tsukata on top of the podium were Tomoko Fukumi (-48kgs), Misato Nakamura (-52kgs), Kaori Matsumoto (-57kgs) and Yoriko Kunihara (-70kgs). Their one male gold came in the -90kgs with Takashi Ono.

Marielle Pruvost of France took gold in the -63kgs. In the men's lightweights Armenia's Hovhannes Davtyan (-60kgs) and Mongolia's Tsagaanbaatar Khashbaatar (-66kgs) came away with gold. The hosts, meanwhile, took just the one gold in the familiar form of Alexander Mikhaylin (RUS) at +100kgs.

The GB World Cup for Men & Women will take place on 19th & 20th September at Birmingham’s National Indoor Arena. Call 0844 3388000 for tickets.

Report by Danny Hicks from Moscow