Brazilian Clarice Ribeiro takes the cadet world title U44kg

In the U44 kg category of the Cadet Worlds in Zagreb, Clarice Ribeiro and Otgonjargal Togtbaatar were not the predicted finalists, the Brazilian arriving from 23rd place on the ranking list and the Mongolian having no ranking at all. Clarice Ribeiro had clearly decided early in the day that she would take her chance to be world champion and in the final she fought exactly as she had all day, delivering solid, confident judo. She took the gold and stood on top of the podium with a deserving smile. Ribeiro became the fifth cadet world champion for Brazil ever.

None of the top four made it to the final. Beorlegui Oses (ESP) was dropped into the repechage by unseeded Ribeiro (BRA), where she then lost again, against Haydarova, one of the new generation of Uzbek athletes coming through the country’s new system. The Spanish world number 1 took gold at the Coimbra European Cup, the cadet Europeans and EYOF all in the last 3 months, but the world medal escaped her today.

Number 2 on the sheet, Dogruyol (TUR) reached the semi-final but was placed in the bronze medal contest by Togtbaatar (MGL). Cadet Pan-American champion from both this year and last, Manuela Crespo (COL) also fell to the unknown Mongolian, an athlete without a previous record, a real giant-slayer in Zagreb.

Number 4 seed, Huidrom (IND) won golds in Hong Kong and Macau this year and in Croatia she managed the beginning of her day excellently, handling challenges from Huang (TPE) and Haydarova perfectly but in the semi-final she fell foul of the Brazilian and had to face her last contest of the day without the guarantee of a medal.

Having had a great day already, Haydarova capped it by winning a bronze medal, driving into her Turkish opponent following a failed attack, powerfully enough to secure the osaekomi.

The second bronze went to India, a second ever world medal for India after Linthoi Chanambam won gold at U57 kg in Sarajevo last year. Oliviya Devi Huidrom took less than two minutes to hold her opponent for the required 20 seconds, sending her to the podium.