Alice Bellandi takes the momentum once more

For the final U78kg in Tel Aviv, Alice Bellandi and Madeleine Malonga walked into the arena at very different paces. Malonga strode to the mat with confidence and determination while the Italian took her time and seemed to be concentrating on good breathing and pinpoint focus.

The first score came from Bellandi from a combination of osoto-gari and ni-dan-ko-soto-gari. Things became difficult for her from there with the French world champion dominating the gripping more and more. With 45 seconds left and shido La recorded for both athletes, Bellandi re-found her pace and caught ten ends of Malinga’s sleeves, facilitating a barrage of seoi-otoshi attacks. By the end it wasn’t so beautiful but it was powerful and clever and enjoyable. Bellandi won and added another gold medal to her rapidly increasing account.

Alice Bellandi had a bye in the first round, as is often the way for a seeded athlete; number 2 in Israel but we have the distinct impression she’s chasing the number one slot. If she keeps going the way she is, she might just get there.

In her first match, a round two contest against Otgonbayar (MGL), she looked like she was drilling her technique, gripping both sleeves and rolling through a perfect, unhindered seoi-otoshi after only 14 seconds. No resistance, no other option, just a clear win and she left the tatami again.

It took Bellandi one minute to dispatch Posvite (FRA) in the quarter-final, to walk into a semi-final against home favourite Lanir (ISR). The other semi-final brought Umeki (JPN) and Malonga (FRA) together, world champion against world champion, each of them arriving unscathed with only minor hurdles to jump along the way. The 4 semi-finalists were, quite frankly, leagues above the rest, even with the likes of Sampaio (POR), Powell (GBR) and another world champion, Wagner (GER), to contend with.

Bellandi’s semi-final was exactly that, her semi-final! A minute and 20 seconds is all it took to throw and hold to meet the Frenchwoman in the final. Malonga threw Umeki for waza-ari and held her ground, not an easy thing to do but this was the hardest either finalist had to work today.

The second bronze medal match, fought between Posvite (FRA), who won the World Judo Masters in 2019, and 2015 world champion Umeki (JPN), also began at a pace. Posvite’s heavy right hand made things difficult for Umeki but her answer was good, to re-impose her heavy left hand in the next exchange. Right vs left and European vs Asian made for an exciting match, both attacking and committing to the essence of competitive judo.

With a minute to go and there being a shido on the French side and two beside Umeki’s name, the latter attempted an enormous ashi-guruma but just dropped the grips at the last second, allowing Posvite to escape. Into golden score and right away the French judoka attacked again but without impetus, leaving herself vulnerable on the floor and Umeki capitalised, turning her over and holding for 20 seconds to earn ippon.