Yoko Ono class on her own in Doha

Unchosen Yoko Ono was clear in her ambition to show she belongs to the top of the world. Ono won all her matches convincingly. The surprise in the final was Russian Madina Taimazova resisted well during normal time, but the golden score period was too much for the young Russian, who had to suffer a defeat by hold down in less than two minutes of golden score.

Kim Polling lost to Aussie Aiofe Coughlan in the quarter final but came back in the repechage. Polling then faced her compatriot Sanne Van Dijke for the bronze. The very experienced Polling, who with today's medal has won five medals at the Masters (4 gold and one bronze), defeated Van Dijke to again climb on to the podium; a World Judo Tour rostrum finish for the 22nd time in her career. Van Dijke though was not rewarded for today’s efforts. She reached the semi final and had a close match with Yoko but in the end got caught on the ground, but escaped afterall. Not much longer she got penalised and Ono won the semi final. Van Dijke had to fight her nemesis Polling.

To complete the podium it was necessary to count on Giovanna Scoccimarro (GER) or Aoife Coughlan (AUS). 42 seconds into golden score, Scoccimarro scored a waza-ari with a wide hip movement that gave her first medal on the occasion of the World Judo Masters. It has to be noted that Coughlan’s performance was unexpectedly strong, beating Polling along the way. She’s made huge strides in recent times and is knocking at the door of some impressive future medals.

Marie Eve Gahie (FRA) was expected to do well in the U70kg category after her brilliant world title in Tokyo in 2019. However, things did not go as planned for the Frenchwoman who bowed out at the hands of future finalist Madina Taimazova (RUS), in the quarterfinals. The latter therefore entered in the final, to face a regular at major world events, the Japanese judoka Ono Yoko (JPN). The World Champion still had work to do for the possibility of getting on the podium, but lost in her repechage match to Kim Polling and finished seventh.