Uta Abe grabs third world title with moments of resistance

Japan started great with four out of four weight categories and in fact the second day of the World Championships delivered two expected World Champions in the siblings Abe Uta and Abe Hifumi. The same couple climbed on the highest step of the Olympic podium on the same day one year ago in Tokyo.

It could have been different with two strong opponents for both. In the women’s U52kg class Uta Abe saw Chelsie Giles (GBR) qualifying for the final, the first British in U52kg since Sharon Rendle took silver in 1991, more than 30 years ago. The last British who was in the final was Nekoda Davis in 2018. European Champion Chelsie Giles proved once more to be part of the happy few in this category.

It was Uta Abe who took the final victory, again. To say that her journey was easy is not quite true because she had to stay focused all day to finally win in the semi-finals against her favourite enemy, the Frenchwoman Amandine Buchard, and in the final against Giles. Abe claimed her third world title, at only 22 years old.

There we’re not so many surprises in the U52kg women’s category, with Abe in the final and three out of the top four seeds in the final block. The Olympic Games last year provided a big boost for Great Britain’s Chelsie Giles, leading her to be more confident. She never minds who is in front of her, she will fight them all and always with the same determination. She really has found consistency. She has great ne-waza now starting to worry other top athletes too. Her kumi-kata and ground work are really world class and so she surprised Olympic U48kg champion Distria Krasniqi in ne-waza.

In the other semi-final it was impressive how Buchard could earn the score against Uta Abe, proving progress. With Paris 2024 in two years’ time, there are always chances for Buchard.

Bronze for Buchard and Krasniqi

Last year’s bronze medallist Gefen Primo (ISR) went to the repechage but we are seeing her getting better on the ground, perhaps with the influence of the new Brazilian coach, Charles Chibana. Her gripping is also so much improved. Her quarter-final almost brought a throw against Abe. Both Primo and Abe are young and have time on their side. Krasniqi won against Olympic medallist Odette Giuffrida in the third round and Krasniqi defeated Primo for bronze and Buchard bested Khorloodoi Bishrelt of Mongolia in their last match. The tiny Mongolian was the winner against second ranked Reka Pupp of Hungary in her first contest.