Also in round one we found Brit Lele Nairne, a recent victor over the current Olympic champion in the category, throwing her for waza-ari with a well practised drop o-uchi-gari in Baku, up against Brazilian Jessica Lima. It was a real yo-yo of a match with Nairne starting with a high-energy, attacking style, as usual but with Lima taking control in the middle part of the contest, becoming more dangerous. Nairne, though, applied that same o-uchi-gari and it brought success again, knocking Lima off her feet for a welcome waza-ari. Right to the last second it looked tough for Nairne to hold the lead and almost on the bell Lima turned across but Nairne was ready and managed to counter to take a second score. The other Brit in the category went out first round against a WJT starlet, Mimi Huh (KOR) and so Nairne is looking strong in her domestic race already.
Nairne went on to win against Yildiz (TUR) against the run of play, after the Turkish athlete attempted to throw across a straight arm. The hansoku-make was not unexpected and both judoka left the mat a little worse for wear.
Step by step, those in full control of their preparation, their attitude, their strategy and their opponents, the medal contenders stepped forward towards the medal matches. Former world champion Yoshida (JPN) dealt with Libeer (BEL) to set up a quarter-final against Georgia’s current queen, Eteri Liparteliani. Cysique and Gjakova, with the Olympic podium already captured, awaited opponents to join them in round two, knowing that they would be each other’s likely quarter-final opposition, such is the World Judo Masters! Nelson Levy, as the category’s front-runner, was patient, observant and absolutely ready to begin her campaign to prove her ranking is not an anomaly.
Georgia and Japan could not bring two more different styles, the Liparteliani-Yoshida contest proving to be awkward and uncomfortable. Neither could quite convince the other that their way was the better way, every attack being squashed or simply annulled. Yoshida made space under the mauling of Liparteliani’s attempts to close it all down and went for her customary left-sided uchi-mata a couple of times but the Georgian’s answer was to step off the danger and re-engage even closer than before, coming close to a pick-up of her own. At full-time and with a shido apiece, they continued in the same vein but a slick moment of clear thinking earned Yoshida the win. Amid a scramble with almost no grip she tapped the back of Liparteliani’s foot and it caused a slip and a landing that although rebounded from very fast, was a landing nonetheless. Liparteliani was out and Yoshida was on course but with Deguchi next in her path.
We mentioned Huh earlier. She won gold medals in Abu Dhabi and Tbilisi this year and doesn’t seem bothered by facing the red back patch of Silva (BRA) for a place in the semi-finals. She worked non-stop, executing her plan and never once looked disturbed by the very physical style of the Brazilian. Keeping to her line, maintaining the strategy was perfect and she took the win on penalties, never looking at risk. This is quite something and dropped Silva down to become a potential nightmare for others in the repechage.
Her first repechage contest comprised more world and Olympic medals than anyone could have imagined, as Yoshida joined Silva in the bottom half having received an immaculate tomoe-nage as a gift from Deguchi (CAN).
Back to the top of the draw and Lien (TPE) was making moves, beating Perisic (SRB) first to face the world number one. Lien has always had the sankaku as her tokui-waza and it should never be underestimated. Nelson Levy wasn’t as ready as we thought and was caught cleanly and early. The number one went out and Lien looked well positioned for a possible medal. Peaking at the Masters is a serious response to the challenges of Olympic qualification and if she could win big points in Jerusalem she would almost guarantee a women’s Taipei delegation for Paris 2024. With world number 1 at -60kg, Yang (TPE), showing no signs of slowing down, the Taipei contingent at this Masters can already be satisfied with a good run in Jerusalem.
Lien continued her barrage and took out Nairne in the quarter-final with a textbook left uchi-mata. The Brit had no answer and perhaps wasn’t quite recovered from the previous match.
Let’s now really get down to business, because what we have reported so far still isn’t quite enough. The World Judo Masters quarter-final for pool B brought together the Olympic finalists from last year. In a mind-blowing match Gjakova (KOS), with her gold back patch, was thrown by Cysique at the halfway point. It was beautifully timed but just short of the criteria for a full point. The Kosovan, a professional, came back harder and harder, never losing faith. Cysique struggled with the gripping under a pressure most could not bear but in the end Cysique held her ground just enough and Gjakova had to settle for a place in the repechage.
The final between Sarah Leonie Cysique (FRA) and Christa Deguchi (CAN) concluded the day. It started with a two-minute round of observation, Cysique trying to impose her power, while Deguchi was trying to find an opening for her tomoe-nage, that was particularly efficient during the day. A sign: at the end of normal time, there was no shido on the scoreboard, there was no score either but this is a good sign of a well balanced match between two champions. During the golden score period Cysique had to surrender due to an injury, offering the victory to Deguchi, for a well deserved comeback at the top level.
The repechage was a bitter-sweet place for Gjakova, as she met Nairne, who had beaten her in Baku. In Jerusalem she made no mistake and threw the British judoka with a perfect uchi-mata for ippon. It was a strange sort of revenge, on the way to bronze and not gold but certainly a fight Gjakova needed to have, one where she showed what she is capable of.
Olympic champion, Nora Gjakova (KOS) will still have to wait a little longer though before being back at the same level she was last year in Tokyo. This time, it was Mimi Huh (KOR) who scored a waza-ari before she pinned Gjakova for ippon and a bronze medal.
Tsukasa Yoshida (JPN) and Chen-Ling Lien (TPE) faced off for the last bronze medal awarded on this first day of competition in Jerusalem. After more than two minutes of golden score, Yoshida scored with a left-handed o-soto-gari for ippon.
Final (-57 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-57 kg)
