Men’s -60kg
Hayato Kondo (JPN) does not rank high in the IJF World Rankings. At No. 22, he is far behind Ryuju Nakamura (No. 3) and Taiki Nakamura (No. 4). But he was the one who emerged tops. After winning his first two matches with waza-ari and yuko, respectively, he thrilled the crowd with a powerful uchimata that launched Luka Mkheidze (FRA) high into the air for a massive ippon landing. He topped that with an even more impressive uchimata for ippon against teammate Nakamura, in the final. Kondo had won a Grand Prix gold prior to this but this is his first Grand Slam gold.
The USA’s Kyle Tran won is first match, against Wickrama Premarathna (SRI) with a sankaku-jime but then lost to Romain Valadier Picard (FRA) who threw him with drop morote-seoi-nage for waza-ari then armlocked him for ippon.
Men’s -66kg
Japan’s superstar Hifumi Abe threw his first opponent, Adam Jazan (ISR), rather easily with a kind of sideways osoto-gari for ippon. But he had a bit of scare in his second-round match. Around the halfway mark, Kim Channyeong (KOR) threw Abe with a makikomi-like action for waza-ari. It looked like he was going to maintain that lead until the end but at the 3.53 mark, Abe suddenly did a side sacrifice throw that scored waza-ari. He immediately pinned Kim who simply submitted. It was a close shave for Abe. He also had a really tough fight against his main domestic rival Takeshi Takeoka. Their match dragged on deep into Golden Score. At 12:38, Abe finally managed to score with tewaza action for waza-ari. His final was against another Japanese, Kairi Kentoku, a relative newcomer. Kentoku took Abe into Golden Score. After about two minutes, Abe scored ippon with an underhook tai-otoshi that had Kentoku flat on his back. Once again, Abe proved that he is the dominant force in the -66kg division.
The USA’s Jacob Yang lost his first-round match to Julien Frascadore (CAN) after he was thrown with a cross-grip tai-otoshi for waza-ari and immediately armlocked for ippon.
Men’s -73kg
It was yet another All-Japan final here. After defeating Abubakar Iusupov (RUS) and Lasha Shavdatuashvili (GEO), Ryuga Tanaka defeated Yudai Tanaka through penalties in Golden Score. His final match was also won in Golden Score but here, he managed to throw teammate Keito Kihara with sode-tsurikomi-goshi for waza-ari.
The USA’s Jack Yonezuka did well to defeat former Olympic Champion Fabio Basile (ITA), throwing him with ouch-gari for waza-ari. He then lost to eventual finalist Kihara, who threw him with ouchi-gari for ippon in Golden Score. Yonezuka lost in the repechage to Uranbayar Odgeral (MGL), who threw him with kouchi-gari for yuko in Golden Score. The other American in this category was Cole Chandler who threw Chamara Repiyallage (SRI) with a side takedown for waza-ari. He then lost to Ankhzaya Lavjargal (MGL) who threw him with seoi-nage for yuko in Golden Score.
Men’s -81kg
We had the fourth All-Japan final in the row here. Yuhei Oino (JPN). He made quick work of Valentin Houinato (BEN) throwing him for yuko with ouchi-gari then ippon with osoto-gari. He took less than a minute to throw Ramon Hernandez Jr (USA) with uchimata for ippon. He threw former World Champion Matthias Casse (BEL) with de-ashi-barai for yuko in the first 30 seconds of their match and then held on to that lead until the end. He threw teammate Yoshito Hojo with sode-tsurikomi-goshi for ippon. That brought him up against the very experienced Sotaro Fujiwara, who he threw with ouchi-gari for yuko in the final minute of their match.
The USA’s Tomo Naito defeated Aris Zaragkas (GRE) by pinning him for yuko in Golden Score. He then lost to Fujiwara who threw him with a very low tai-otoshi for yuko.
Women’s -70kg
World Champion Shiho Tanaka continued to assert her dominance in this category. She threw Kim Jijeong (KOR) with a Georgian-style wrong-leg tani-otoshi for waza-ari, in the opening seconds of their match and then threw her with a cross-grip osoto-gari for waza-ari-awasete-ippon. She had a harder time wit Irene Pedrotti (ITA) and had to rely on a penalty win in Golden Score. She threw Katarzyna Sobierajska (POL) with uchimata for yuko then finished her off with osoto-gari for ippon. Her final match was against the very tough Russian player Madina Taimazova whom she caught on the ground with a wrestling-style turnover which had the Russian player pinned for seven seconds, which meant a yuko score. It was enough to win the match. This was Tanaka’s fourth IJF World Tour gold.
The USA’s Melissa Myers lost to Barbara Timo (POR) through a pair of drop seoi-nage throws for waza-ari-awasete-ippon.
Women’s -78kg
Newaza specialist Kurena Ikeda (JPN) her first two opponents, Wang Chieh-His (TPE) and Coralie Godbout (CAN) with a hold-down. Against her teammate Mami Umeki, she won by penalties. But in the final, it was once again a hold-down that won her the match. Patricia Sampaio (POR) scored first with a sasae yuko but Ikeda fired back with tomoe-nage for yuko. She then pinned Sampaio after delivering a series of slick newaza moves.
Women’s +78kg
So many times we saw an All-Japan final but in the women’s heavyweight category, it was an All-Korean final. Lee Yeonji defeated Tulika Mann (IND) with ouchi-gari for ippon. Then she threw and pinned Wakaba Tomita (JPN). It was over in about a minute. She defeated another Japanese, Mao Arai by penalties. This thrusted her into the final, against her teammate, World Champion Kim Hayun, whom she defeated with a strangle in the dying seconds of their match. This is 18-year old Lee Yeonji’s third IJF World Tour gold medal this year.
The USA’s Anna Atkinson was thrown by Japan’s Arai with a very low and slow uchimata which scored ippon.
