Turkish judo shines with world title for Habibe Afyonlu

The World Championships final of the girls U63kg was a carbon copy of the U57kg one, because both the Turkish Habibe Afyonlu and the Japanese Yazawa Auri were far from being the favorites at the beginning of the day. Little by little they were winning their fights, and they did it with style and without trembling. In the semifinals the Turkish eliminated Belgium and world number one Alessia Corrao.

The Japanese did the same with Brazil and third seeded Maria Diniz. Therefore, it was difficult to predict the outcome of the final, which was explosive. In less than a minute Afyonlu executed a magnificent gold-flavored ura-nage, which raised the audience from their seats.

"It has been a dream come true," explained Afyonlu shortly after. “My favorite technique is ura-nage. Winning the world title against a Japanese judoka by executing my favorite technique has been exactly that, a dream”.

Croatian Katarina Kristo left Brazil again at the gates of the medals. The Croatian defeated Maria Diniz adding Croatia's second medal in the competition. Alessia Corrao won the first medal for Belgium by defeating the Bulgarian Lidia Brancheva in the fight for the second bronze.

Another gold medal for Turkey that won two of its three finals at this championship so far, an improvement of the 2017 edition which was the best ever. In Santiago de Chile Turkey won two bronze medals and gold. For sure Turkish Judo President Sezer Huysuz is a proud man, not even speaking about the family and friends of world champion Habibe Afyonlu.