Facing Nauana Silva (BRA) in the first round, she showed a completely different face and was neutralised by her opponent who won, a tactical victory. We know how difficult it can be to change weights. Despite the exploits of the Canadian champion (world champion and an Olympic medallist at -57 kg) and despite her iron will, today was an off day which will undoubtedly allow her to take stock of what she still needs to do to compete consistently in the -63 kg category.
Among a series of surprises, we can also note the poor performance of Joanne Van Lieshout (NED), reigning world champion and number one seed in the tournament, who was eliminated by ippon in the first round by Laura Vazquez Fernandez (ESP).
Obviously, all eyes were also on Clarisse Agbegnenou (FRA), who was returning to competition on the occasion of the Tbilisi Grand Slam. The six-time world champion and Olympic champion in Tokyo in 2021 was there to find her feet and rediscover her competitive skills. As she said before the start of the tournament, "I love competition, it's as simple as that." As straight forward as Clarisse, one might say.
Until the semi-finals, we were pleased to discover that the great champion still has the desire to fight and that she does it well, undoubtedly with a maturity that now allows her to prevail over less experienced judoka. In the semi-finals, once again, she dominated her opponent and not just any opponent, since it was the Canadian Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard who faced the Frenchwoman; a judoka who is always active and difficult to lay hands on. Despite her dominance, Agbegnenou was scored against with a small yuko that she couldn't recover from.
Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard was able to claim another grand slam final, the sixth of her career. It would be another Frenchwoman who would challenge her in her last fight of the day as she faced Manon Deketer (FRA) for the gold medal, Deketer having swept aside all her opponents easily.
If we had seen a hyperactive Beauchemin-Pinard against Agbegnenou, we saw a more calm and consistent Canadian agains Deketer. With a technical seoi-otoshi, she score waza-ari and controlled from there until the end of the final to take the gold medal.
The first bronze medal contest saw Laura Vazquez Fernandez (ESP) face Clarisse Agbegnenou (FRA). With no surprise, Agbegnenou dominated the contest and scored twice to take the bronze medal. It’s definitely not the medal she was aiming at but she came to see where she was with her preparation and with the new rules. The fact is that the outcome is very positive and gives Clarisse Agbegnenou some clear ideas about what she needs to work on.
Gili Sharir (ISR) and Maylin Del Toro Carvajal (CUB) faced off in the second bronze medal match. With a clever ko-uchi-gari as Sharir was counter-attacking, Del Toro Carvajal scored a waza-ari to win the bronze medal.
Final (-63 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-63 kg)
