Sarah Menezes back at highest level with bronze in Tokyo

For months her fans were waiting for the return of Olympic champion, Sarah Menezes (BRA), who dropped to the 15th place on the world ranking list since her title in London in 2012. Often beaten in the preliminary rounds of tournaments she participated in, she seemed to have great difficulty in trying to return to her best level. Seeded No. 8 here in Tokyo, she looked back on form by making a perfect run to the semi-finals.

Thus she eliminated the 2013 world champion and top seeded competitor, Munkhbat Urantsetseg (MGL), with a beautiful sweeping movement for ippon. In the semi-final she was opposed to the double world medallist Asami Haruna (JPN) who, in front of her public, interrupted the comeback of the Olympic champion. After both athletes scored a waza-ari, Asami, won the match by a decisive penalty. In the finals she found her compatriot, Kondo Ami, who eliminated the stubborn Sahin Ebru (TUR) in the semi-finals.

In the first three quarters of the final, neither athlete was able to make their mark and only a few penalties were distributed, when Kondo Ami launched her right foot to catch Asami’s leg for a o-soto-gari for waza-ari that she concluded with a traditional hon-keza-gatame immobilisation for ippon. Kondo while stepping off the mat with a third victory in a Grand Slam, was hesitating between crying and smiling, both because of joy, but the smile definitely won the fight.

The first bronze medal fight of the day opposed, Nataliya Kondratyeva (RUS) and Ebru Sahin (TUR), who had to stop the fight, due to an injury, giving the victory and a fourth medal on the occasion of a grand slam to Nataliya Kondratyeva.

In the second bronze medal fight, the winner of the Tyumen Grand Slam, Julia Figueroa (ESP) faced Sarah Menezes (BRA), who scored a first waza-ari, with a ko-soto-gari. The Spanish then put a lot of pressure on Menezes, who was penalised three times for passivity or for stepping out of fighting area. But it is maybe when the Brazilian is under pressure that she delivers her best judo as with a superb combination ippon-ko-uchi-gari, she stopped Figueroa’s hopes to step on the podium. With this bronze medal, Menezes wins her 11th Grand Slam medal, which puts her as the third best Grand Slam performer in history.