+78kg: Red Dragon

Sometimes you don't feel like getting up to go to work, but when you get out of bed you have to give it your all and judo is no exception. Maybe Sophio Somkhishvili wanted to hide between the pillows of her bed when she saw that the French Léa Fontaine would be her rival in the second round but the Georgian got up, put on the judogi, won her first match against Gabriella Wood from Trinidad and Tobago and she drove Fontaine crazy. It was a brilliant performance because the Frenchwoman is much heavier and also taller. It is not easy to unbalance her but Somkhishvili did it, scored waza-ari and won the fight, qualifying for the semi-finals, where she expected another test of such magnitude in person of the Portuguese and multi-medallist of all colours, Rochele Nunes. The Portuguese couldn't stop the Georgian either, who completed two masterful bouts to reach a well-deserved first grand slam final, working from the start, because Somkhishvili decided to get out of bed and do her job. In the final she fought against the Chinese Xin Su, nine years older, a veteran who despite her experience was also a first-timer in a final of this type. Su dispatched compatriot Shiyan Xu and the Dutchwoman Marit Kamps in the semi-finals. Whatever happened in the end would be news to everyone.

It was the greatest moment for Somkhishvili but the same can be said for Su and whomever says an unpublished ending says guaranteed suspense. Su struck first and did so definitively with waza-ari and osae-komi. It was a fast but fun final and both deserved all the applause in the world because they played an exceptional tournament. The two deserved the gold but the Chinese completed an exceptional day for her country adding a second gold in just a few minutes. Now you know, the red dragon has awakened, it is a female team and it is very hungry for gold.

Léa Fontaine did not have a glorious day in Abu Dhabi because she came for gold, especially in the absence of the two finalists from Tashkent, her compatriots Dicko and Tolofua. Bronze was a small prize for her ambitions but too important for the future to let go and that's what the Frenchwoman committed to, literally devouring the Dutchwoman Kamps. It was Fontaine's best fight and when she's that good, it's very difficult to beat her but you have to be that good in every fight.

The same thing happened with Nunes. She wanted the gold, she could have won it and she had to focus not to lose the bronze. The Portuguese crushed China's Xu and won her sixth grand slam medal.