Stunning Babulfath smells Olympic medal on the horizon

The women's U48kg category on the first day of the Olympic Games brought together the best athletes for the quarter-finals, which were filled with intense matches and unexpected outcomes. French fan favorite Shirine Boukli faced a setback, losing to Japan's Natsumi Tsunoda. While this defeat wasn't a complete surprise given Tsunoda's prowess, it was still a significant disappointment for the home crowd. In another upset, Sweden's Tara Babulfath defeated the Italian favorite Assunta Scutto, setting up a repechage match between Boukli and Scutto.

As the final block of matches continued, Babulfath was set to face Tsunoda, and World Champion Baasankhuu Bavuudorj of Mongolia was up against Spain's Laura Martinez Abelenda.

Earlier in the competition, Babulfath showcased her skills by defeating South Korea's Lee Hyekyeong with a Sankaku hold-down. Tsunoda, displaying her technical mastery, overcame Brazil's Natasha Ferreira by first throwing her with a tomoe-nage for waza-ari and then securing an armlock for ippon.

Boukli advanced initially by defeating Turkey's Tugce Beder with a sumi-gaeshi for waza-ari followed by a pin. Bavuudorj, in dominant fashion, threw Malta's Katryna Esposito twice with sumi-gaeshi off the ground.

Kazakhstan's Abiba Abuzhakynova secured her place in the quarter-finals by countering Israel's Shira Rishony with a tewaza move against a bear-hug kosoto. Scutto of Italy progressed by holding down Maria Celia Laborde from the USA for ippon.

Tsunoda continued her winning streak by taking down South Africa's Geronay Whitebooi with a tomoe-nage for waza-ari, followed by an armlock for ippon. Boukli, meanwhile, defeated Tunisia's Oumaima Bedioui with a slick kouchi-gari for ippon.

One of the day's biggest upsets occurred when Portugal's Catarina Costa, ranked 7th in the world, was thrown for ippon by Paraguay's Gabriela Narvaez, ranked 60th, with a hikikomi-gaeshi. Abuzhakynova also delivered a strong performance, defeating Taiwan's Lin Chen-Hao with a massive side takedown for ippon.

Babulfath continued her impressive run by upsetting Scutto. She threw the Italian with a kouchi-gari and then pinned her after a failed sumi-gaeshi attempt. Tsunoda then beat Boukli with her signature tomoe-nage, much to the disappointment of the French supporters.

Narvaez put up a tough fight against Bavuudorj but eventually succumbed to the Mongolian's armlock. Martinez Abelenda of Spain also caused an upset by catching Abuzhakynova with a very low drop seoi-nage for ippon.

As the competition moved forward, the unexpected victories and the intense matches set a thrilling tone for the rest of the judo events at the Olympic Games.