We also announced that in this very competitive context, the two ultimate favourites were the two top seeds, Jessica Klimkait (CAN) and Sarah Leonie Cysique (FRA). It was therefore not surprising to find them in the final for what was sure to be a high-intensity contest.
Between these two, Olympic stories intersect. For the French judoka, already selected for the Paris 2024 Games, there are ranking position points to be sought. For the Canadian world number two, there is still uncertainty over her possible qualification given that ahead of her in the world rankings is her teammate Christa Deguchi. In the absence of the latter, Klimkait therefore has a chance to play in Dushanbe, knowing that next week in Kazakhstan, the roles will be reversed between the two, before they both participate in the Abu Dhabi World Championships.
We must also not forget that Cysique beat Klimkait in the semi-final of the Tokyo Olympic Games three years ago, while the Canadian champion has won all her fights against Cysique since.
On the way to the final and after a first round bye, Klimkait eliminated Yamini Mourya (IND) with a beautiful sankaku in ground work, concluded with an unstoppable immobilisation. In the next round, she eliminated Maysa Pardayeva (TKM) thanks to a tactical victory, before winning with a waza-ari against Enkhriilen Lkhagvatogoo (MGL).
For her part Sarah Leonie Cysique, also after a first round bye, scored waza-ari with ko-uchi-gari against Ozlem Yildiz (TUR) before concluding with an armlock. She then pinned Mina Libeer (BEL), despite her good defence and annihilated Toniolo's hopes of a final a little later.
We could therefore not hope for a tougher and more indecisive final between Klimkait and Cysique and it was actually a very close final. Cysique seemed to be more powerful and more in control but, despite that pressure, Klimkait was more precise and she was definitely attacking more than her opponent who was logically penalised, the third one coming in golden score, offering a very precious victory to the Canadian judoka. Next week it will be Deguchi's turn to be on the tatami, in Kazakhstan. These two are so close and so we will have to wait a little longer before we know who will go to the Games.
Once the colours of the final were announced, it remained to be seen who else could come out with a medal and precious qualifying points. The first contest for a bronze medal was between Maysa Pardayeva (TKM) and Veronica Toniolo (ITA). After a very balanced match which saw only one shido given to Pardayeva, Toniolo scored a waza-ari with just two seconds left on the clock. The bronze medal was assigned to Italy!
To complete the podium, we had to wait for the result of the contest between Mina Libeer (BEL) and Enkhriilen Lkhagvatogoo (MGL). It went all the way to golden score and was decided by a third penalty being given to Libeer after a last strong attack from Lkhagvatogoo. This bronze medal was for team Mongolia.
Final (-57 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-57 kg)
