In fact the Germans were in the same quarter due to being seeded and being close to each other on the World Ranking List. Also present in their pool was unseeded Japanese entry, Kurena Ikeda and triple world medallist Guusje Steenhuis (NED). Olek pushed Steenhuis out of the running and Ikeda dealt with Boehm but then Olek caught Ikeda with a makikomi and placed herself in the semi-final.
Sampaio did her job and arrived at the top of her pool ready to meet the German judoka, where another makikomi, perfectly timed, sent her to the bronze medal contest. 22-year-old Anna Monta Olek (GER) had made it to her first world championship final. Often overshadowed by Boehm and world champion Wagner in the past, Olek was clearly ready to take up the mantle.
On the bottom half of the draw, Bellandi proved to be far too strong for the rest. Her formula was perfectly mixed and she powered through every challenge confidently. There was a minor slip-up in the quarter-final when China’s world silver medallist Ma scored a yuko with an o-uchi-gari, but Bellandi kept her head and responded with a sode-tsuri-komi-goshi to move into the semi-final to face Metka Lobnik (SLO).
The Slovenian had a great morning session until she gripped up with the Paris gold medallist. Bellandi was just too strong and made it look like randori, throwing Lobnik for 5 separate scores, launching her at will. Bellandi looked totally unstoppable.
Final
Anna Monta Olek (GER) vs Alice Bellandi (ITA)
Bronze medal contests
Kurena Ikeda (JPN) vs Metka Lotnik (SLO)
Zhenzhao Ma (CHN) vs Patricia Sampaio (POR)
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