Beatriz Souza was the Olympic champion in Paris but in Budapest her gold back number lost its shine. She struggled against Rodrigues (ANG) in the first round and then lost to Vukovic (CRO) on penalties in round two, clearing the way for Mao Arai (JPN) to win the pool.
Arai’s opponent in the semi-final was Marit Kamps of the Netherlands who had a great morning. She won her first two contests with a well-drilled o-uchi-gari and then won against teenager Aktas (EST) on penalties. Arai won her place in the final but not as dominantly as might have been expected, leaving predictions about the gold medal still not solidified.
On the other half of the draw, the strongest judoka of the day was Hayun Kim. She arrived as the 4th seed, an Olympic and world medallist already, and passed Japan’s Ruri Takahashi as well as her own teammate Hyeonji Lee (KOR) on her way to a semi-final with France’s sweetheart Romane Dicko.
Dicko had already sent Tavano (ITA) and Ayiman (CHN) to the locker room, plus Stevenson (NED), who she beat in the quarter-final.
In the semi-final Dicko was totally out-paced and out-attacked. Hayun Kim was first to the attack in almost every exchange and was better prepared than her French counterpart. In normal time Dicko picked up two warnings, Kim just one. 38 seconds in to golden score, Dicko, the number one seed, was given her third penalty and her exit pass.
Stevenson had a good day approaching her contests intelligently, applying good tactics against Amarsaikhan (MGL) and Ozturk (TUR) before her match with Dicko. In the repechage she lost to Hyeonji Lee but 7th place is a notable finish for the Dutch judoka.
The final block begins at 6pm local time and the last two world champions of the individual competition will be crowned. Tune in to JudoTV to keep up with all the action.
Final
Hayun Kim (KOR) vs Mao Arai (JPN)
Bronze medal contests
Hyeonji Lee (KOR) vs Marit Kamps (NED)
Emma-Melis Aktas (EST) vs Romane Dicko (FRA)