Croatia's Iva Oberan, already the winner of five medals at grand prix events, looked increasingly convincing as the day unfolded. After opening with a victory over Kerem Primo (ISR), she ended Gaetane Deberdt's (FRA) campaign before overcoming Thauany David Capanni Dias (ITA), who had earlier accounted for Dali Liluashvili (RUS) perfectly. Awaiting her in the semi-final was Narumi Tanioka (JPN), who had emerged from a strong quarter of the draw. The Japanese judoka defeated Chaimae Taibi (MAR)first, then Ozlem Yildiz (TUR), before eliminating Olympic bronze medallist Laura Fazliu (KOS), one of the favourites for the title. Tanioka maintained her impressive momentum, bringing Oberan's excellent run to an end and becoming the first finalist.
The bottom half proved just as demanding. Jisu Kim (KOR) announced her intentions from the opening round, dispatching Ji Hye Kim (PRK) before following up with victories over Natalia Kropska (POL) and Kseniia Galitskaia (RUS). Her semi-final opponent, Yana Makretskaya (BLR), had also enjoyed an excellent day, defeating Angelika Szymanska (POL), Friederike Stolze (GER) and Louna Lumia Seikkula (FIN) to reach the last four. Their semi-final was over almost as soon as it had begun, Kim needing just 57 seconds to score ippon and secure her place alongside Tanioka in the gold medal contest.
The final brought together two of Asia's finest young talents and immediately lived up to expectations. Kim came within inches of taking the lead with a spectacular reverse seoi-otoshi in classic Korean style, only for Tanioka to escape by the narrowest of margins. Less than a minute later, however, the Korean found her breakthrough, driving home a perfectly timed o-uchi-gari to score a yuko and move ahead. Tanioka refused to panic and, with time running out, levelled the score shortly before the end of normal time to force golden score. After two minutes and thirty seconds of intense extra time, the decisive moment finally arrived. On the ground, despite Kim's fierce resistance, Tanioka secured a hold-down for the required five seconds to score another yuko and capture the first World Judo Tour gold medal of her career.
After the final, Tanioka said, "I'm incredibly happy to have won today. All the hard work I put into preparing for this event paid off on the tatami. Even after falling behind early in the contest, I knew from studying my opponent that I had the technical ability to come back, so I kept believing in myself right until the final seconds. Looking ahead, Haruka Kaju remains unbeaten, so if I want to catch up with her, I simply have to keep winning at every opportunity I get on the international stage. I'm also incredibly grateful for all the support I've received here in Qingdao. The best way I can celebrate this grand prix gold is by giving this medal to my parents. They travelled all the way from Japan to support me and this is my way of thanking them."
The first bronze medal contest featured Olympic and world medallist Laura Fazliu against Iva Oberan. Kosovo’s judoka wasted little time imposing herself, producing a magnificent sasae-tsuri-komi-ashi that came within a whisker of ippon and was rewarded with waza-ari. From there, Fazliu controlled the contest with all the assurance expected of an athlete of her calibre, adding a fifth medal from grand prix events to her collection. Already a World Judo Masters champion and an Olympic and world championship medallist, she is still searching for her first World Judo Tour title; perhaps next time.
The second bronze medal contest remained scoreless until the closing stages. Friederike Stolze (GER) received her first shido as the final minute approached, then a second shortly afterwards, leaving her under considerable pressure as the contest entered golden score. Rather than retreat, the German attacked. Timing her tani-otoshi to perfection, she scored a yuko to secure the bronze medal.
Final (-63 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-63 kg)
