The look of today's final block gives us an idea of what is at stake at the moment. Last week Audrey Tcheumeo was lined up during the Tbilisi Grand Slam. Placing only 5th, she missed out on gaining a further competitive edge just a little. It remained to be seen whether Malonga could take advantage of this situation to gain the upper hand.
From the beginning, we discovered a conquering and precise Malonga, leaving no chance to Migle Julija Dudenaite (LTU). After some powerful work with sankaku-jime, the Frenchwoman pinned her opponent for ippon. Against Antonina Shmeleva (AIN), Malonga did not have to force her talent and was content with a victory by penalties after showing great tactical mastery. In the next round she was opposed by Patricia Sampaio (POR) who could give her problems but in only 43 seconds she used her long legs to hook the o-uchi-gari and drive Sampaio to the ground for an indisputable ippon.
It was undoubtedly the semi-final that interested us most, since Malonga found herself facing Anna-Maria Wagner. The contest was fierce and engaged, both wanting and absolutely having to win. It was ultimately the French judoka who obtained her ticket to the final by scoring an authoritarian waza-ari.
Malonga in the final, Wagner up for the bronze medal match, what Boehm did in the other half of the draw remained to be seen. The two semi-finals took place at the same time and perhaps Wagner saw that Boehm had won. We couldn’t be sure, given the intensity of the fight against Malonga. Whatever she did or did not see, we were guided to a final between Malonga who, even before the final result, seems to have made a good choice in Antalya towards participation this summer in Paris, and Boehm who is approaching Wagner in the world ranking in a serious way. Everything is not yet decided but we will soon know more.
Both finalists entered the venue showing their extreme motivation. Neither was ready to give anything away and the contest started with attacks from both sides, giving the impression that it could go either way. After receiving a penalty for stepping out, Malonga remained concentrated and engaged her leg to go either for o-uchi-gari or uchi-mata. Catching the belt with her left hand, she kept pushing to conclude with the o-uchi and an ippon. We could feel that this win was liberating for the French athlete. This might be the turning point of her Olympic qualification, a decision which is now in the hands of France Judo.
The first contest for a bronze medal was between Emma Reid (GBR), who put up a good performance in the morning, and Zhenzhao Ma (CHN) who did not do poorly either. Emma Reid was never really in a position to threaten Ma, who controlled the contest, head and shoulders above. The waza-ari she scored and a bit of tactical play were enough to win the bronze medal.
The second bronze medal was contested between Giorgia Stangherlin (ITA) and Anna-Maria Wagner (GER). This was the most tactical contest so far. It ended with Wagner's victory after Stangherlin was penalised a third time just before the end of normal time.
Final (-78 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-78 kg)
