Highlight gold for Baldorj Mungunchimeg in Ulaanbaatar

Mongolian Baldorj Mungunchimeg won Grand Prix gold in Ulaanbaatar for the first time as she saw off teammate Bold Gankhaich. Bold, 21, and Baldorj, 22, are the future of the category for Mongolia and could compete over the next four years for the Tokyo 2020 slot at this weight. As teammates who train together on a daily basis, there was little to separate the judoka as a shido for passivity against Bold settled the scoreless contest.

In the first semi-final 19-year-old former Junior European Cup silver medallist Yonezawa Kaho of Japan fell to Bold despite initially leading by a yuko. Bold by name and bold by nature, the Mongolian fought her way back to progress into the final by ippon. In the second semi-final Baldorj dismissed former Asian Championships silver medallist Nishikawa Maho (JPN) on shido penalties. The Japanese fighter was penalised twice which was once more than her opponent and that determined the finalist as Baldorj guaranteed a medal for her country.

The first bronze medal was won by Nishikawa who defeated former Jeju Grand Prix silver medallist Kim Seulgi (KOR) on shido penalties 1:2 as both judoka failed to threaten the scoreboard. The second bronze medal was claimed by Yonezawa who surpassed 19-year-old Bayarbat Baasanjargal (MGL) who was fifth at the Junior World Championships last year. The Mongolian fighter took the lead with a yuko from a drop seoi-nage which earned a huge reaction but Nishikawa responded with a waza-ari from a seoi-otoshi and then trapped her opponent with a yoko-shiho-gatame for her first medal at this level.