Rika Takayama prolongs Grand Slam title in Tashkent

The final for women U78kg in Tashkent was a dynamic contest with Laury Posvite doing all she could to dominate the gripping phases. She attacked well and with power but eventually Japanese Rika Takayama found the space she needed and threw with o-goshi for gold, her second executive victory in Tashkent.

This category U78kg has become one of the most hotly contested categories of recent years, several world champions from different Olympic eras coming together to present a champion of champions spectacular at every meeting.

The top elite of this class was in Tashkent. Lanir (ISR), Bellandi (ITA), Wagner (GER) and Boehm (GER) alongside many other medal potential athletes.

The first bronze medal contest was an all-German affair between Alina Boehm and Anna-Maria Wagner with very high stakes, not just practically for the sake of the Olympic Games but psychologically for these two athletes. Wagner put Boehm under so much pressure with the awkward top cross grip and dominant position. It didn’t take long for her to score either, using o-uchi-gari to put significant space between them. Boehm couldn’t respond to the pressure at all and although the gap didn’t widen on the scoreboard, there was clear disparity of performance and the bronze went home with Wagner. What that means for Olympic selection remains to be seen and perhaps it doesn’t have too much impact but time is running out for Boehm to catch her teammate if she wants a shot at the Paris Games.

The second bronze medal would go to either Bellandi (ITA) or Sampaio (POR) and it was a very close fight for the first 2 minutes, both attacking, contributing to the high pace on show. At full time Sampaio had two penalties while Bellandi still had a clean sheet and so the plan was clear for the Italian: to keep attacking without making mistakes and the win would almost certainly be hers. She didn't have an easy day but she reached the podium, adding to Lombardo's gold and Parlati's bronze for Italy.

Boehm was having an excellent morning, throwing and submitting her way to the quarter-final where it all came unstuck. Portugal’s Patricia Sampaio threw Boehm in golden score, dropping her into the repechage to face the Doha world champion. Having won that contest, her next was either to be relished as a big opportunity or perhaps completely the reverse.

Anna-Maria Wagner looked unshakable from the first ‘hajime’ of the day. She took out Shmeleva (AIN), Van Heemst (NED) and world silver medallist Zhenzhao Ma (CHN) to reach her semi-final but there she fell foul of the Japanese entrant, Rika Takayama, 5th seed. Takayama was enjoying a day of giant-slaying as she was also the reason for Bellandi’s exit from the golden race, holding her down for the full 20 seconds requirement to register her ippon.