The judo has been an explosive mix of well-drilled, precision ne-waza and a range of tachi-waza that truly respects the principle of action, reaction. The old feeling of judo from before March 2020 appears to be back and in so many contests judo fans are unable to predict what will happen, with the dynamic to and fro exchanges that are almost theatrical and certainly always entertaining. It’s a wonderful championship so far and the coming days are an exciting prospect for officials and audience alike.
At the end of the day, two new names were added to the World Championships records, SHISHIME Ai (JPN) and MARUYAMA Joshiro (JPN). This second day was really the day of the twos: two titles for SHISHIME and MARUYAMA and two titles for Japan on the same day. Tomorrow two new categories will be in action with the women's -57kg and the men's -73kg, starting at 10:00 local time, with the final block at 17:00.
-52kg: Consistency for Spain and Japan and a Second Gold for SHISHIME The first final of the day saw, without any surprise, SHISHIME Ai (JPN), already the holder of medals of all metals, facing Ana PEREZ BOX (ESP). SHISHIME, in pure Japanese style, produced some really nice ne-waza during the morning session as well as simple but well executed tachi-waza techniques, while Ana PEREZ BOX was especially efficient during all her matches.
The first little ashi-waza to make her opponent react, offered a first opportunity to SHISHIME to conclude on the ground, but PEREZ BOX was vigilant. After one minute and the first storm, PEREZ BOX seemed to have a better understanding of what was happening on the mat and started to regain control with better gripping patterns to match SHISHIME. Both were penalised with a first shido, followed with a second one for the Spanish finalist a little later. With 50 seconds remaining, SHISHIME suddenly unleashed the kind of uchi-mata that we love and want to see in a final of a world championships. The execution was almost perfect, with PEREZ BOX landing on her side for an almost perfect score, but SHISHIME was already there to catch her and pin her down for Ippon. This is nothing less than a second world title for her and the fourth medal at that level of competition. Impressive.
SHISHIME Ai declared, "I knew there was a lot of expectation for me to win and this meant a lot of pressure, but in the end I always manage to get medals. The funny thing is that I won my first world medal here in Badapest and now again, so that makes this city like my lucky place."
In the first bronze medal contest, Joana RAMOS (POR), who so far had a fifth place at the World Championships two years ago in Tokyo, as her best result, stepped on to the tatami against Fabienne KOCHER (SUI). In Astana in 2015 she earned her best result: a seventh place. When the match started, RAMOS knew she had to be careful not to go to the floor too, with KOCHER having shown great skills during the morning session. However, the Swiss fighter had to watch RAMOS' maki -komi, which was particularly strong earlier in the day. With a ko-soto-gake and a counterattack for no score, RAMOS was immediately dangerous, despite the apparent superior power of KOCHER, who was close to scoring with RAMOS' special technique, the maki-komi, but the Portuguese athlete, knowing perfectly how to apply them, also knew how to escape. No score!
With only one shido to their names, RAMOS and KOCHER reached the golden score period, where everything remained possible, but RAMOS was penalised early with a second shido and then a third, when she blocked her opponent under the belt, which is forbidden. This third shido was synonymous with victory for Fabienne KOCHER, who gave a long and true hug to RAMOS, before leaving the mat to jump into her coach's arms.
Third at the European Championships just a few weeks ago, Gefen PRIMO (ISR) is definitely one of those young competitors, at 21 years old, raising their level at every event on the circuit. This time she had the opportunity to add a medal at the world level, as she faced Diyora KELDIYOROVA (UZB), winner of the Antalya Grand Slam this season. PRIMO, who exploited every single opportunity during the first rounds, was facing a specialist of precise drop seoi-nage techniques, who scored from both sides and with traditional or reverse versions, at the beginning of the day. The match started without any kind of observation phase, both competitors immediately imposing a crazy rhythm that only top athletes can withstand. After a little more than two minutes, KELDIYOROVA was penalised with a first shido for a false attack and with one minute remaining she received a second penalty for the same reason. KELDIYOROVA seemed to lose a little control of the situation. A third shido came less than thirty seconds later, offering a well deserved bronze medal to the young Gefen PRIMO, who had an immense smile at the end of the bronze medal contest.
The -52kg weight category was one of the two categories of this edition of the world championships, that did not have its world number one present, but world number 3 SHISHIME Ai (JPN) confirmed her position as top seed. In the second round she defeated Soumiya IRAOUI of Morocco, who in the first round defeated double world silver medallist, Andreea CHITU (ROU).
SHISHIME also ruined a first good medal hope for the host country by beating PUPP Reka (HUN), before winning against Joana RAMOS (POR).
Even if Ana PEREZ BOX (ESP) was among the top seeded athletes of the category, she was not one of the top favourites, but at twelfth place on the World Ranking List and winning a bronze medal in Kazan a few weeks ago, the Spanish athlete had what one calls 'a perfect day at the office,’ with wins against Katelyn JARRELL (USA), Anastasia POLIKARPOVA (RJF), LKHAGVASUREN Sosorbaram (MGL) and then Fabienne KOCHER (SUI) in the semi-final. PEREZ BOX's preliminary phase was successful, but more broadly it was also nice to see that work pays off. The 25 year old judoka, whose preferred technique is uchi-mata, finished at the foot of the podium in April at the European Championships, but this time, this is the world level and a final already means so much. Her silver medal is special.
Final SHISHIME, Ai (JPN) vs. PEREZ BOX, Ana (ESP)
Bronze Medal Contests RAMOS, Joana (POR) vs. KOCHER, Fabienne (SUI) PRIMO, Gefen (ISR) vs. KELDIYOROVA, Diyora (UZB)
Final Results 1. SHISHIME, Ai (JPN) 2. PEREZ BOX, Ana (ESP) 3. KOCHER, Fabienne (SUI) 3. PRIMO, Gefen (ISR) 5. KELDIYOROVA, Diyora (UZB) 5. RAMOS, Joana (POR) 7. LKHAGVASUREN, Sosorbaram (MGL) 7. RYHEUL, Amber (BEL)
-66kg: MARUYAMA Doubles for Himself and for Japan on Day Two It is interesting to note that both finalists spent quite a lot of time on the tatami during the preliminary rounds, as each had to compete for more than 15 minutes, including normal time and golden score periods, the first consequence being that neither could take advantage of being more fresh than the other.
After 30 seconds, both champions had already tried at least one their favorite technique, uchi-mata for MARUYAMA, kata-guruma for LOMBARDO, for not score. A first shido was awarded to MARUYAMA for stepping out of the tatami, and then one to LOMBARDO for passivity. It is a total opposition of style that we witnessed, the Japanese reigning world champion trying the embark LOMBARDO in his ample moves and the latter trying to fix his opponent to launch his tokui-waza or a drop-seoi-nage. At this little game, the first to score was MARUYAMA with a stylish yoko-tomoe-nage for waza-ari. He then just had to control until the last seconds to win his second consecutive world title. It is only at the very end, when both men joined to congratulate themselves, that we started to see a shy smile on MARUYAMA's face, who after a long and difficult day under the spotlights of the Laszlo Papp Arena had the right to be finally happy.
MARUYAMA Joshiro reflected, "I am so happy about my second world title, but I can not be happy with the content of my judo today. It was far from being my best. I am aware that everyone wants to defeat me. When I saw my level today, I can assure you that when I arrive back in Tokyo, I will work even harder."
Earlier during the day. In the first round, top seed Manuel LOMBARDO defeated Sebastian SEIDL (GER), before he fought and won against Orlando POLANCO (CUB), Yakub SHAMILOV (RJF) and then Yeldos ZHUMAKANOV (KAZ) in the semi-final.
On the second half of the draw, all eyes were on MARUYAMA Joshiro (JPN), probably one of the most spectacular and stylish judoka on the circuit, despite his non-selection for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. During the first round, MARUYAMA once again showed that he's one of those competitors who really 'feels' rather than 'thinks' when it's the right moment to attack. In this way, the Japanese 2019 world champion is one of the most impressive athletes on the World Judo Tour. Today was maybe not his best day in terms of preparation. If his attacks were perfectly launched, he was lacking a bit of finish and polish, which pushed him into golden score several times. This is the signature of great champions though, that when the day is tough, they still have the ressources to do the job, which MARUYAMA did for the second World Championships in a row.
Third in Kazan this year and second here in Budapest for the restart of the season after the Covid break, Yakub SHAMILOV (RJF) was up against two-time world medallist Orkhan SAFAROV (AZE) for a place on the so prestigious world championship podium. Both being great counterattackers the bronze medal contest promised to be animated. With unorthodox kumikata and moves, SAFAROV and SHAMILOV seemed capable to throw at any time. It's very interesting to watch them, because in the middle of those unorthodox moves and gripping there are traditional judo techniques, such as kata-guruma, yoko-tomoe-nage, but totally revisited. This is the magic of judo that can adapt to any type of morphology and attitude. But first thing to appear on the scoreboard was a shido for SAFAROV though, for a kumikata infringement. Eventually it was time for the golden score. It took a little more than a minute of extra time for SHAMILOV to finally score a waza-ari with a low counterattack and win a first medal in a world championship for the representative of the Russian Judo Federation.
In the second bronze medal contest, Baskhuu YONDONPERENLEI (MGL), who produced a massive effort against MARUYAMA during the first phase of the competition, before he was defeated, faced Yeldos ZHUMAKANOV (KAZ), a World Judo Masters silver medallist. Due to an injury, Yeldos ZHUMAKANOV could not compete and the bronze medal went to Baskhuu YONDONPERENLEI (MGL).
Final LOMBARDO, Manuel (ITA) vs. MARUYAMA, Joshiro (JPN)
Bronze Medal Contests SHAMILOV, Yakub (RJF) vs. SAFAROV, Orkhan (AZE) YONDONPERENLEI, Baskhuu (MGL) vs. ZHUMAKANOV, Yeldos (KAZ)
Final Results 1. MARUYAMA, Joshiro (JPN) 2. LOMBARDO, Manuel (ITA) 3. SHAMILOV, Yakub (RJF) 3. YONDONPERENLEI, Baskhuu (MGL) 5. SAFAROV, Orkhan (AZE) 5. ZHUMAKANOV, Yeldos (KAZ) 7. LE BLOUCH, Kilian (FRA) 7. MINKOU, Dzmitry (BLR)