She won on penalties against an Austrian first. Deguchi barely blinked in her second contest, throwing with osoto-gari in the first exchange and with only a minute passed she doubled the score with an almost-gentle o-uchi-gari. She dealt with Juhee Kim in 2 minutes and in the semi-final she avenged her Paris loss, throwing Mokdar (FRA) for two waza-ari scores in just over a minute.
Mokdar had reached that semi-final after again defying the hierarchy, beating the Italian at the top of pool B in round 3 and then knocking out the young athlete from Turkmenistan who had dispatched Starke to get to that quarter-final.
The round of 16 contest between seeded Starke (GER) and 19 year old giant slayer Pardayeva (TKM) was hard fought, the youngster taking the win in golden score by countering for ippon. More and more it becomes necessary to prepare throws well. The skill level among the countering experts goes up and up and simply attacking is no longer a guarantee of safety. Every element of kumi-kata and tai-sabaki must be considered.
Deguchi may have been expecting to meet the number two seed, Rafaela Silva, in the final but a surprise defeat at the hands of Tihea Topolovec (CRO) put paid to that. The Croatian has only a 7th place logged on the World Judo Tour, from Zagreb two years ago. She worked hard against the Olympic champion, unfazed, methodical and calm, eventually countering a casual attack and holding for the double waza-ari win right on the final bell. Silva was out! Topolovec then lost to Podolak (POL) who then lost to Cai (CHN), meaning it was the 7th seed and not the 2nd reaching that all-important semi-final.
However, the flag was right! Deguchi was all set up for a fight against a Brazilian for gold and that is exactly what she had after Jessica Lima powered through Jimenez (PAN), Capanni Dias (ITA) and Ballhaus (GER) before throwing the Chinese athlete with a seoi-otoshi to ensure she would stand on the podium at the end of the day.
The first bronze medal contest was to pit Pardayeva and Cai against each other. Turkmenistan’s 19 year old judoka has been competing and training, on tour constantly for many months, working patiently and seriously towards a sign that there is tangible progress. Today she received that sign, at her 16th grand slam, winning the bronze medal, the first ever medal for a woman from her country. This is a huge step forward both for her and for Turkmenistan.
The second bronze would go to either Ballhaus or Mokdar. A rough contest from the beginning, it was not easy to see who might come out on top but a seoi-otoshi from Mokdar sealed the win despite it being given a waza-ari which was difficult to protect for the remainder of the contest. She did, though and walked away with the medal, proving that her almost unbelievable win in Paris in February was not a singular occurrence.
The all Pan American final was not fast but it was very controlled from both sides. Well executed techniques, cautious and capable defence, and clear knowledge of all rules were consistent throughout. Eventually, just inside the last minute, Deguchi applied her well known o-uchi-gari and scored ippon. Lima was an excellent silver medallist in Antalya too and so the Americas continue to dominate the category.
Final (-57 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-57 kg)
Final Results (-57 kg)
