Moroccan gold for Assmaa Niang U70kg

World Championships bronze medallist Laura Vargas-Koch was one of Germany’s leading medal hopes and was in a U70kg category which is brimming with talent. Paris Grand Slam gold medallist and world number five Linda Bolder was one of the favourites but things turned differently in Dusseldorf.

African champion Assmaa Niang won the first World Judo Tour medal of her career with a commanding performance against Rome European Open bronze medallist Sally Conway of Britain. Samsun Grand Prix silver medallist Niangwho finished seventh in Paris, threw her opponent for a waza-ari score before transitioning into osaekomi-waza to earn the biggest result of her career which is on at the rise at the age of 31. 

Conway sealed her spot in the final by submitting world number 13 Iljana Marzok with a juji-gatame after two minutes of semi-final action. The German was in fine form in the earlier rounds as she delivered some ippon judo but Conway dictated the action to guarantee a medal for Great Britain in Dusseldorf. Niang secured an expected place in the final by stunning Paris Grand Slam winner Linda Bolder by ippon who got seriously injured and maybe out for a while due to a knee injury.

The first bronze medal was claimed by  world number seven Hwang Ye-Sul (KOR) as losing semi-finalist Bolder was unable to compete due to injury. The second bronze medal was destined for Japan as Tokyo Grand Slam winner and Junior World Championships bronze medallist Arai Chizuru (JPN) denied Germany and Marzok by ippon after three minutes.