There were signs that Agbegnenou might not have been at 100% of her means since the morning. After an effortless first round as Szofi Ozbas (HUN) failed to appear, she was knocked off balance several times by Barbara Timo (POR) but won in that round, before winning by a waza-ari ahead of Nami Nabekura (JPN), in a match that was also rather tight.
The second Japanese in the category, Miku Takaichi, was therefore too much for Clarisse Agbegnenou but she still had a chance to win bronze.
Facing Takaichi, we found the Kosovan Laura Fazliu, who discreetly took the opportunity to slip into the final, in a quarter of the table where the seeded Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard (CAN) was eliminated prematurely.
This final was perhaps not quite the one expected at the beginning of the day but once here and seeing it unfold, it was possible to see the Kosovan as the eventual gold medallist. Tactically and physically she measured the fight. Takaichi is no pushover though and her feeling for counters and her ability to anticipate are truly elite and she was always ready for the next attack, applying her own strong left-handed gripping as preparation for something big.
With a minute to go Fazliu ignored all Japanese commands and threw with a massive hiza-guruma for waza-ari; holding the score seeming like a huge challenge. Takaichi continued to fight back, raising the pace but Fazliu absorbed the energy and used Takaichi’s movement against her perfectly to win with a second throw, a hip movement, a gold-medal-winning one!
Takaichi was second but this might look like a ticket to go to Paris as there are not many Japanese who can defeat Agbegnenou. We will have to remember this day.
The first match for a bronze medal saw Gili Sharir (ISR) take on Megumi Horikawa (JPN) battling it out for a place on the podium. After a tight contest, it took the golden score period and a last drop on the knees from Gili Sharir to award a final shido and then victory to Megumi Horikawa, her first medal at the Masters.
Renata Zachova (CZE) faced legend Clarisse Agbegnenou (FRA) for the second bronze medal. Clarisse had not quite looked at her best through the day but it is normal and to be expected. Her resurgence to the level of taking a world title after her break was already incredible and continuing to compete at that level, managing her new life is, at this stage, almost a test to see how things lie. In the bronze match against Zachova (CZE) Agbegnenou didn’t look like a loss was possible, like a true champion.
Zachova gave it her best but with one and a half minutes to go the Frenchwoman applied a well-timed sumi-gaeshi for waza-ari and then worked hard in transition to secure the ten second hold to complete the victory. Happy with the win she made the sign to the cameras symbolising her motherhood and her baby, with a huge smile. Stepping off the tatami, the French judoka was all smiles, "It was overall a good day. I felt good despite a lot to work on in the months to come. As my teammate Amandine Buchard said, now it's time for a holiday, but after that I'll come back stronger and in a year I'll be ready to have some fun in Paris.”
Final (-63 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-63 kg)
