Like a katana, Uta Abe sliced through the opposition all the way to the final. Only Buchard gave her any resistance, forcing her to win with strategy instead of her usual decisive throws. The bottom line is that Buchard was out!
Abe’s quarter-final was against Kelly Deguchi whom she met at the Games too ahead of her shock defeat against Keldiyorova. The Abe-Deguchi result was the same again, a fast win for the Japanese, but Deguchi had already secured her top-8 placing after strong wins against Primo (ISR) and Rivas (PER).
Ballhaus (GER) and Krasniqi (KOS) held their seeding perfectly in pools B and C but in pool D, Giuffrida did not, losing to Toro Soler (ESP) in ne-waza in the round of 16. The 2024 world champion was out and the Spanish judoka then beat Omori (JPN) too, to ensure there would be no all-Japanese final.
-52 kg Final
Uta ABe (JPN) vs Distria Krasniqi (KOS)
Bronze medal contests
Roza Gyertyas (HUN) vs Ariane Toro Soler (ESP)
Kisumi Omori (JPN) vs Mascha Ballhaus (GER)
In the men’s category of the day, there were more massive moments. The biggest of them all came when Obid Dzhebov (TJK) countered Hifumi Abe’s (JPN) uchi-mata. It wasn’t a slow or badly prepared technique; there wasn’t a mistake with the footwork or an issue of bad timing. The simple truth was that Dzhebov felt it, anticipated it and had his counter more than ready. He changed the trajectory of the movement, controlled well with his hands and planted Abe on the tatami. The referee called ‘waza-ari’ but a few tense seconds later changed it, waving off the original score to replace it with a call of ‘ippon.’ The whole arena fell silent. The 4-time world champion and double Olympic champion had been thrown for ippon and would not claim his fifth world title, not this year.
Sadly for Dzhebov, he lost his semi-final to his teammate, Nurali Emomali (TJK) and dropped into a bronze medal contest. Can you imagine the highs and lows for him? The self-control required for Dzhebov to regulate his day must be immeasurable; beat Abe, lost to Emomali, no gold medal. Incredible!
On the other half of the draw it was Orlando Polanco of Cuba who really impressed, arriving unseeded but well prepared. He threw Buncic (SRB) for a yuko in the second round and then Murad Chopanov (IJF), the number 4 seed, for ippon in just 16 seconds with a stunning tai-otoshi.
He would go on to meet Abe’s number two, the Japanese second pick in the category, Takeshi Takeoka, in their semi-final.
-66 kg Final
Takeshi Takeoka (JPN) vs Nurali Emomali (TJK)
Bronze medal contests
Walide Khyar (FRA) vs Obid Dzhebov (TJK)
Hifumi Abe (JPN) vs Orlando Polanco (CUB)
The final block begins at 18:00 local time.