It only took him a few sequences to score a first waza-ari, doubled shortly after with a sode-tsuri-komi-goshi at ground level. Hifumi Abe could let a radiant smile appear on his face.
The explosion of joy was contained though, respectful of his opponent. The feeling of a job well done predominated. Can he go even further in the future? It is too early to answer but what is certain is that once again he has demonstrated the full extent of his talent.
Hifumi Abe declared, "When my sister lost, I was shocked and I felt bitter all day. But I had to fight. I'm so glad I could get a gold medal for the sake of my sister."
Bronze medal contests
During the first bronze medal contest between Strahinja Buncic (SRB) and Gusman Kyrgyzbayev (KAZ), the latter was penalised first for grabbing under the belt with a first shido. It was then the turn of Buncic to collect a penalty for a false attack. After this first round of observation, Kyrgyzbayev took the lead and scored a waza-ari that he kept until the end to win the bronze medal, the second for the Kazakhstan delegation.
For the second bronze medal contest, Walid Khyar had all the pressure on his shoulders to win a second medal for the French men’s delegation. His opponent was the elegant Denis Vieru, who had his opportunity to upset Hifumi Abe in the semi-final but who had to settle for a possible bronze. With two different styles, it was difficult to predict who would be the winner of an intense fight, one that saw the French judoka trying to impose his power, while Vieru was waiting for the smallest mistake to score.
The game was intense and spectacular. Vieru was penalised twice, Khyar, once. Everything could happen. It was eventually Vieru who could score a waza-ari that made Khyar's dream to become an Olympic medallist fly away. This is the first medal at Olympic level for Vieru and the first ever medal for Moldova at the Games in judo.
Congratulations!
Semi-finals
The first semi-final between Gusman Kyrgyzbayev (KAZ) and Willian Lima (BRA) remained undecided for a long time. The first minutes were to the credit of Willian Lima (BRA) who pushed Gusman Kyrgyzbayev (KAZ) twice into error. With two penalties to his name, the Kazakh judoka was in a difficult position, but the match then turned and it was the Brazilian who was given two penalties for attacks that were too poorly prepared and without kuzushi (the breaking of balance). Anything could still happen until a stroke of genius from Lima who, 2 minutes and 20 seconds into golden score, with a tai-otoshi, crucified his opponent for an ippon and a ticket to the final.
During the second semi-final between Denis Vieru (MDA) and Hifumi Abe (JPN), the least we can say is that the Moldovan judoka tried very hard. After letting the storm at the start of the fight pass, where it was the Japanese who was the most dangerous, Vieru, already penalised twice, took the initiative and had more opportunities to turn the tables.
We could feel Abe was disturbed, less incisive, perhaps a little tired against a Vieru who was difficult to catch. However, it was at this precise moment, at the very start of the golden score period, when the beautiful Japanese machine seemed to seize up, that Abe executed an o-soto-gari in a circle that put an end to Vieru's hopes of joining Lima in the final.
Repechage
Unfortunately for Nurali Emomali (TJK), he could not compete in the first repechage contest, giving the victory to Buncic Strahinja (SRB), for whom the bronze medal match still remained.
The second repechage contest immediately woke the crowd as Walide Khyar (FRA) entered the field of play to the cheers of the thousands of spectators present in the Arena Champ-de-Mars. The match against Baskhuu Yondonperenlei (MGL) was expected to be tense and indecisive, as we know the roughness of the two judoka. The first four minutes were a kumi-kata battle that saw no winner, as one could expect. At the beginning of golden score, the first to lose concentration was Yondonperenlei, who could not avoid the Frenchman's seoi-otoshi and conceded a waza-ari, which meant elimination for him and qualification for the bronze medal match for Khyar.
