Unstoppable Shiyu Umezu leads the way with ippon judo

Umezu Shiyu defeated Bratislava European Cup winner Teresa Zenker of Germany to win U78kg World Junior gold in Zagreb. The Japanese judoka was irresistible as she won all five of her fights by ippon in the finest moment of her burgeoning career.

All Japan Junior Championships gold medallist Umezu overpowered Zenker on the ground to apply a ushiro-kuzure-kesa-gatame hold to maintain her perfect run and throw her name into the hat for a place among the Japanese team for the final Grand Slam of the season in Tokyo this December.

In the first semi-final Zenker defeated Junior European Championships bronze medallist Lea Gobec (CRO) in osaekomi as Germany’s late flourish continued and Croatia’s last remaining medal hope switched her focus to bronze. In the second semi-final Cancun Grand Prix bronze medallist Karen Leon (VEN) was trapped on the ground by Umezu for 20 seconds as the Japanese dictated the contest from start to finish.

The first bronze medal was won by Junior European Championships silver medallist Marina Bukreeva (RUS) who held down Leon for the full 20 seconds and ippon.

The second bronze medal was claimed by 18-year-old former Cadet European Championships silver medallist Patricia Sampaio (POR) as Croatia missed out on a medal at their last attempt. Neither country had medalled in Zagreb this week and the hosts were silenced when Sampaio throw their judoka for a waza-ari in golden score.