Japanese women dominate own Grand Slam in Tokyo

Two-time Paris Grand Slam bronze medallist Udaka Nae (JPN) pulled out a victory against World Championships bronze medallist Marti Malloy in the -57kg final of the Tokyo Grand Slam. Former World Judo Masters runner-up Udaka received a shido after just 15 seconds for passivity but that was insignificant in the end as the popular American Malloy was subdued by a thunderous ippon from an osoto-gari with 69 seconds remaining.

Malloy sealed a spot in the final by defeating Japanese sensation Deguchi Christa (JPN) who had defeated world number two Miryam Roper in the quarter-final. Deguchi held Malloy down with a tate-shiho-gatame for 18 seconds as the London 2012 Olympic bronze medallist escaped two seconds before ippon would have been awarded. Deguchi received a shido for a false attack and Malloy rolled the youngster over into a juji-gatame to win by ippon with three minutes left. The Japanese young gun left the tatami clutching her arm which left fans to speculate whether she would be able to return to fight in the bronze medal contest. The second semi-final was an all-Japanese affair as Udaka bested reigning Tokyo Grand Slam winner Yamamoto Anzu who had defeated world champion Rafaela SILVA (BRA) in the quarter-final. The well-matched teammates could only by separated by a single shido which was given to 19-year-old Yamamoto for a false attack with five seconds left in the contest.

The first bronze medal was won by World Teams Championships gold medallist Yamamoto who confidently defeated Beijing Olympic bronze medallist Ketleyn Quadros (BRA). The teenager was penalised with a shido for passivity in the opening minute but from there on the contest was controlled by the bullish Yamamoto who drove Quadros back as she received three shido penalties which separated the rivals after five minutes of action. The second bronze medal was won by Junior World Championships bronze medallist Deguchi Christa who somehow conjured up the energy for one more magical display as she humbled world champion SILVA. The fearless hotshot, who had already faced Miryam Roper and Marti Malloy, was not going to be denied on home soil and showed no ill-effects from her previous content as she threw the world champion with a morote-seoi-nage for a yuko score. SILVA conceded a fourth shido with 90 seconds remaining as Deguchi capped the biggest day of her burgeoning career with a richly-deserved bronze medal.