Nami Nabekura successfully defends Grand Slam title in Ulaanbaatar

Japanese top athletes Nami Nabekura captured the gold medal of the Grand Slam in Ulaanbaatar. In the final she defeated World bronze medallist Szofi Ozbas of Hungary who again outperformed.

Nabekura knew the feeling of being in the final of this specific grand slam, as she won in Ulaanbaatar last year. She was waiting for the opportunity and step by step looked more active. The final contest contest seemed quite balanced and was getting closer to the golden score period. Waza-ari for Nami Nabekura with a de-ashi-barai that Ozbas didn't see coming. In judo everything is possible until the last second.

Andreja Leski (SLO) and Renata Zachova (CZE) qualified for the first match for a bronze medal. It was four minutes into the golden score time when Andreja Leski finally found an opportunity to throw her opponent with a rolling seoi-nage for ippon.

Israel, in great shape since the beginning of the tournament, offered themselves a new medal, since their two athletes, Gili Sharir and Inbal Shemesh faced each other; a little frustrating to meet your teammate for a medal, even if this offers the certainty of a podium finish for the country. In the end the medal went to Gili Sharir after Inbal Shemesh was penalised a third time.

Number one seed Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard (CAN), who was hoping for the same outcome as her teammate from the U57kg weight division, did not expect to be defeated in the first round by the Korean Chaewon Shin, but she had to exit after being penalised a third time during golden score. It was a closed fight where neither of the two athletes managed to find a solution, the kind of contest you want to forget rapidly.

At the bottom of the draw Astana’s finalist Katharina Haecker thought she could repeat her performance from last week in Kazakhstan. Unfortunately for her, she found Renata Zachova (CZE) on her way and it was the latter who qualified for the semi-final where she faced Szofi Ozbas (HUN), who after a difficult bout won by ippon to join Nabekura in the final. The first gold medal for Japan of six in total so far after two match days.