Hamada Shori dominates U78kg category in Montreal

There was no doubt that the reigning World Champion, Hamada Shori, was the undisputed favorite in the category. She won all her preliminary rounds by ippon, successively defeating Sophie Berger (BEL), Teresa Zenker (GER) and Vanessa Chala (ECU). In the final she was opposed to Russian Aleksandra Babintseva, bronze medalist of the last world championships.

Despite the fact that Hamada was much smaller than Babintseva, after less than a minute, she launched her first strong attack, with a uchi-mata, that went under the center of gravity of the Russian, who couldn't escape and was thrown on her back for ippon. After the landing, Babintseva was in position to armlock Hamada, but it was too late. This is the sixth gold medal for Japan.

The first bronze medal contest opposed the 2019 Pan-American bronze medallist, Nefeli Papadakis (USA) and the winner of 2018 Agadir Grand Prix Maike Ziech (GER). With one minute and 19 seconds left, the German was penalized with a first shido for blocking her opponent. It was then Papadakis' turn to be penalized for false attack. Penalized a second time in the Golden score, Papadakis had then to submit to Ziech's strangle attempt, for ippon. This is the second medal for Ziech in a Grand Prix.

The second bronze medal contest saw the bronze medallist of the 2018 The Hague Grand Prix, Samanta Soares (BRA) and two-time Pan-American bronze medallist, Vanessa Chala (ECU), competing for a place on the podium. Half way to the end of the match, nothing was scored but Soares was penalized a first time for a pistol grip. With 14 seconds left, the Brazilian was penalized a second time for false attack. It was time for Golden Score. After 42 seconds of extra-time, Chala was also penalized with a shido for passivity. A very last false attack of Soares offered the first medal in a Grand Prix to Vanessa Chala.