Auchecorne can beat anyone from anywhere and absolutely never sees herself as the underdog. World and Olympic medallist Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard (CAN) and double European champion Renata Zachova (CZE), as well as a host of Japanese names, have fallen to her in recent times. She came to Kazakhstan to find her first grand slam gold and gave herself the best chance to achieve just that, arriving in the final after a bye, two ne-waza wins and a throw against Lkhagvatogoo (MGL) in the semi-final.
Katarina Cristo (CRO) should have made her way to the final to meet the young Frenchwoman but it wasn’t to be. She was beaten by -57 kg Olympic and world champion Rafaela Silva (BRA) who went on to win the quarter-final too, setting up a semi-final with the unseeded Japanese entrant in the group, Narumi Tanioka. At the end of a 9 and a half minute fight, Tanioka managed to scrape past Silva who would be a tough adversary for whoever would be up against her for the bronze later in the day.
The first bronze medal contest was fought by Laura Vazquez Fernandez (ESP) and Enkhriilen Lkhagvatogoo (MGL), the latter opening the bidding with an ashi-waza for a yuko almost as soon as the contest began. SHe later delivered a barrage of technical possibilities on the ground while looking for an oasekomi first, but the leg was trapped, moving on to ude-garami but with too much resistence.
Lkhagvatogoo moved rapidly to another technique, finishing with a superb ude-gatame. It was an impressive sequence, one which earned her a grand slam bronze medal.
Natalia Kropska (POL) had the challenging task of facing Rafaela Silva for the second bronze medal of the category. Silva was not in the mood for games and came out with the express intention of finishing the contest quickly and concisely. She attacked and attacked, in standing and on the ground but it took some time to make anything stick. It was a sankaku entry for an impossibly tight kuzure-kami-shiho-gatame wihch eventually did the job, leaving Kropska just short of the podium.
In the final Melkia Auchecorne arrived as the more aggressive of the two but as time went on Narumi Tanioka came closer to a win in ne-waza. Tanioka suffered under the pressure of Auchecorne though and collected two penalties. In golden score the French judoka also earned a shido but it didn't seem to have an impact on her attitude or approach as she knew she was leading the fight.
Eventually the referee gave Auchecorne a second penalty but in the same moment turned and gave Tanioka her third and so Auchecorne met her goal. This is her first grand slam gold but it is not likely to be her last!
Final (-63 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-63 kg)
