Japan’s 17-year-old wonderkid Abe Uta wins her first Grand Slam
Junior world champion Abe Uta won her first Grand Slam gold medal as she improved on her silver medal from a year ago. Abe faced Sofia European Open silver medallist Tatsukawa Rina (JPN) in the U52kg final and emerged triumphant after just 46 seconds with an ippon seoi-nage earning the maximum score as the Abe siblings proved to be unstoppable on home soil.
In the first semi-final teenage ace Abe bested Ekaterinburg Grand Slam bronze medallist Amandine Buchard (FRA) by two waza-ari scores. In the second semi-final 21-year-old Tatsukawa held down Abu Dhabi Grand Slam bronze medallist Gili Cohen (ISR) for ippon.
The first bronze medal contest saw world champion Shishime Ai (JPN) capture a place on the medal podium by pinning down Cohen for ippon with a ruthless display of ne-waza.
In the second bronze medal contest Buchard recorded one of the most important wins of her career as she conquered Abu Dhabi Grand Slam bronze medallist Alexandra-Larisa Florian (ROU). France’s world number 11 was in tears as she left the mat after catching Romania’s world number six with an osoto-gari in golden score and is now line to move into the world’s top eight in the new IJF World Ranking List next week.
Result | City | Date |
---|---|---|
2 | Paris | 30 Jul |
1 | Abu Dhabi | 21 May |
1 | Zagreb | 26 Apr |
3 | Belgrade | 2023 |
2 | Montpellier | 2023 |