After 90 seconds of contest time, Zhang attacked with a poorly balanced o-uchi-gari which Lapuerta Comas was ready for. She launched Zhang with a huge counter to narrowly avoid the ippon score, a waza-ari being added to her side of the scoreboard. It was then than Zhang found a new gear and pressured the Spanish judoka to be penalised twice; just 36 seconds left on the clock.
Zhang attacked with the same o-uchi-gari which saw her get thrown earlier in the contest and again Lapuerta Comas attempted to counter but it yielded nothing for either judoka. However, with only 3 seconds left, it happened once more and this time there was a landing, the Chinese judoka getting better and better with her aim. A yuko was given and Lapuerta Comas could breathe a sigh of relief on her way to the podium.
For the second bronze medal, Rin Takeuchi (JPN) and Karina Efimova (IJF) stepped on to the tatami. The former looked in charge from the beginning and after little over a minute she backed up that assertion, countering Efimova for ippon with relative ease. This bronze medal is her first medal at grand slam level but is likely not to be her last!
Nanako Tsubone of Japan doesn’t have the CV of her opponent Ayumi Leiva Sanchez (ESP), 4 times a grand slam medallist and current European -23 champion, but she wishes to change that narrative and came out on the attack from the first second. Both competitors locked into a high-pace, Tsubone more technical and Leiva Sanchez more physical. That alluded to a possible outcome which the Japanese judoka was happy to illustrate with a fast tomoe-nage for ippon. Now Tsubone is building her CV and offers Japan a second gold medal in Tashkent.
Final (-52 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-52 kg)
