Abe was leading against world number one Diyora Keldiyorova (UZB) having thrown her with her trademark uchi-mata but with a minute and a half to go, the Uzbek set-up and executed a perfect direct tani-otoshi for ippon. As Abe sat up, the realisation emerged across her face and the heartbreak and shock were felt throughout the Champ-de-Mars arena.
This must take nothing away from Keldiyorova who has worked painstakingly to study her opponents and to forge her solutions alongside coach Marko Spittka. It’s an incredible win but was so early in the day that there was still a lot of work ahead, work that requires focus, focus which could be easily disturbed by the reflection in such a victory.
Keldiyorova did continue to win though, beating Germany’s representative in the third round to reach the semi-final, dropping Ballhaus into the repechage. Her opponent there, with a much more open draw, was to be decided between Buchard and Pimenta. The Brazilian threw Olympic bronze medallist Giles out of the competition in the round of 16 and she was hungry for more but Amandine had no intention of leaving her crowd early. She held Pimenta for ippon and the arena erupted.
In the bottom half of the draw, the ranking was respected just as in the top half. Krasniqi powered through everyone like a katana, ready to face the current world champion in their semi-final. Giuffrida (ITA) too looks nothing but ready even after her emotional win at this year’s worlds only weeks ago. A world gold is not enough for the Italian, already the holder of two Olympic medals.
The final block is due to begin at 4pm local time, with 14 highly charged contests to decided the medal winners at -52 kg and -66 kg.