In these competitions though, where all points count, the ranking can sometimes be confusing. It was thus Lima who qualified for the next round, after an expeditious turnover on the ground which allowed her to pin her opponent before applying an arm lock for ippon. It was a job well done!
In the next round, Lima could not repeat her feat and lost to Galiya Tynbayeva (KAZ) on a waza-ari from a counter. Once again this victory did not guarantee the next, since in the semi-final Tynbayeva was defeated by Hyekyeong Lee (KOR). The Korean athlete had until then demonstrated the full extent of her judo, after a quick first round won against Asmita Dey (IND) with a superb ura-nage, she won against Edna Carrillo (ITA) after the latter was disqualified, and against Zongying Gua (CNH) she used a powerful te-waza counter for ippon. It was with this momentum that Lee qualified for the final.
France expected a lot from Melanie Legoux Clément but it was ultimately her teammate, Laura Espadinha, who had the strongest effect, passing each round showing great determination and above all great technical and tactical mastery. Being one of the outsiders this morning, Espadinha did not tremble in front of anyone and took advantage of her reach to dominate the guard of each of her opponents.
It was therefore a final between Hyekyeong Lee and Laura Espadinha that was offered to us. Both judoka had a great run-through and it was kind of difficult to make any prediction on who would be the winner. With their respective styles, Lee and Espadinha were totally opposed, Espadinha being right-handed and Lee left-handed. This produced a strange position but this is exactly what Lee used to propel the French judoka flat on her back with a powerful ura-nage mixed with a yoko-gake. It was well executed by Lee and a nice gold medal was her reward.
Zongying Guo (CHN) and Khalimajon Kurbonova (UZB) had a chance to reach the podium in the first match for a bronze medal but as Kurbonova was unable to compete, the medal went to China and Zongying Guo.
Despite Laura Martinez Abelenda's disappointment, Spain still had a medal chance thanks to Mireia Lapuerta Comas (ESP) who qualified to compete against Galiya Tynbayeva (KAZ) to complete the podium. To be honest, the Kazakh judoka was not the favourite but with a superb change of direction and a brilliant ko-soto-gake she threw her opponent flat on her back for ippon and a first medal in a grand slam.
Final (-48 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-48 kg)
