-70kg: Never Ever Forget Japan!

Thus, Barbara Matic was in Türkiye because she has every intention of keeping her world crown. For the moment, she is putting all chances on her side. It is perhaps here in Antalya that things are decided. While waiting to find out more in a few weeks in Qatar, Barbara Matic was again in the final of a global event. She was opposed by the Japanese judoka Saki Niizoe, a little lonely in the absence of a large Japanese delegation but nevertheless terribly precise in her attacks during the preliminary rounds.

It is worth noting that France continues to have no real answer in this category. There is the former world champion, Marie-Eve Gahie, who continues to yo-yo between very good results and other unimpressive performances. Here in Antalya her defeat against the Chinese Yingying Feng is to be classified as a bad result for her. There is also Margaux Pinot, whose jagged results are more or less inversely proportional to those of her teammate and who in Türkiye climbed into the final block to possibly win bronze. In a year France will have to choose between these two excellent athletes. The choice promises to be difficult.

The final remained uncertain for the duration of normal time. It was only in golden score that Saki Niizoe eventually scored waza-ari to steal the medal. Congratulations! Even if Japan was not present with a big delegation in Türkiye, Niizoe managed to win.

The first bronze medal was disputed by Margaux Pinot (FRA) and Maya Goshen (ISR), whose course was almost perfect in the morning. Despite her experience at that level, Margaux Pinot made the mistake of attacking against a straight arm, earning a disqualification for that. Bronze for Maya Goshen.

For the second bronze medal it was necessary to wait for the result of the match between Michaela Polleres (AUT) and the young up-and-coming Ai Tsunoda Roustant (ESP), who only lost in the semi-finals to the world champion Matic. However, Polleres had withdrawn injured and Tsunoda Roustant accepted the medal with humility.

For photos of Antalya and all IJF events, go to ijf.org/galleries