Maysa Pardayeva, Turkmenistan’s starlet was in the draw as the number 2 seed, a ranking which carried some expectation. However, on this occasion she could not live up to it and was thrown for a waza-ari by Juhee Kim (KOR) having led by a yuko for much of the contest. She was out! Kim went right through to the semi-final but there she lost to Mokdar and had to settle for a bronze medal contest instead of one for gold.
Pauline Starke (GER), 4th seed in the group, had an uneventful morning session, winning and losing fights but she made it to a bronze medal contest after a win against Tao (CHN) by ippon in the repechage. Her claim to the bronze would depend on Kim.
Kim was no match for her though. Starke turned and held her in ne-waza for the victory. It was a bronze medal for Starke, her 5th grand slam medal to date.
The second bronze medal contest featured current continental champion Shirlen Nascimento (BRA) and Irina Zueva (IJF). The former had looked incredibly determined throughout the day and that attitude prevailed even after her loss.
She threw Zueva with an astounding ashi-waza for ippon, absolutely among the throws of the day. Shirlen Nascimento had earned a fantastic bronze medal.
In the final Faiza Mokdar, in her usual energetic style, took the fight straight to Tamaoki. Within the first 70 seconds she registered a waza-ari, rolling underneath Tamaoki with a super-fast seoi-otoshi. The Japanese judoka worked hard to get the score back but it was impossible; Mokdar was well rehearsed in every area, even managing to escape a pin in the last 30 seconds. She knew how to escape everything in Tamaoki’s arsenal; it was a masterful performance.
Final (-57 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-57 kg)
