At -60 kg the USA’s Jonathan Yang had a great morning despite not having things easy. In round two he was a waza-ari down from Datashvili’s (GEO) tomoe-nage bit pulled it back, throwing for ippon with what is fast becoming his trademark, a left seoi-otoshi. Seeded, it shouldn’t have been a surprise but seeding and reality on the day aren’t always aligned. Today was his day and he went from that first contest right through to the final, beating the number one seed in the semi-final in golden score, again with the seoi-otoshi.
In the bottom half of the draw, Varnicic (SRB) looked set to hold his rank as he progressed to the quarter-final but he met the unseeded Japanese judoka there who threw him with o-uchi-gari to finish the debate. It was Yamamoto’s only win in tachi-waza, two further wins with shime-waza and one with an osae-komi. His ne-waza is on another level from most and will be a big risk for Yang in the final.
At -48 kg Jamsran of Mongolia delivered a resilient performance. She looked strong in the early rounds but in the semi-final she was pushed almost to her limits by Barbara Twarowska (POL). However, after 8 minutes of contest time, Jamsran threw her opponent for ippon, much to the delight of her coach, Mongolia’s first ever senior world champion, Tsagbaataar Khashbaatar.
The two Brazilians took car of the other season de of the draw. They were 2nd and 3rd in the rankings respectively and respected that completely with Ribeiro, the higher ranked of the two, beating her teammate in the semi-final. Therefore Brazil will fight for two medals in the final block, potentially gold and a bronze at stake.
At -66 kg, Telmanov (UZB) suprised the Japanese entrant early with a first exchange sumi-otoshi for waza-ari which he held positively until the end of the 4 minutes. It was an incredibly confident performance from the Uzbek, putting a target on his back for the rest of the category. Georgian judoka Gamezardashvili capitalised on the now more open draw and beat the Uzbek in the quarter-final but couldn’t get past Parchiev (IJF) for a place in the final.
Givishvili (GEO), a bronze medallist in the 2023 edition, secured himself a finish on a higher step than the previous year but whether it would be gold or silver was a discussion to be had between him and Parchiev. Givishvili logged a very good record though, winnng every contest of the morning session with a positive score, consistent ippon judo.
Rafaela Rodrigues (BRA) led the charge at -52 kg. The cadet world number 1 has already begun her transition to the junior ranks winning gold at the Panamerican and Oceania Championsips Juniors this year. Therefore her route to the final was no shock to anyone. She won the semi-final on penalties but it was dominant, a barrage of attacks from the beginning.
Iroha Oi (JPN) was ready to meet Rodrigues in the final having struggled to find her cleanest form, managing to throw for 6 waza-ari scores among her 4 contests en route to the last contest of the day.
The final block begins at 4pm local time. Tune in to JudoTV to see all the action as it unfolds.