Japan dominate gold medal count at IJF Osaka Grand Prix

After successful Grand Slam events in Paris, Düsseldorf, Ekaterinburg and Abu Dhabi, there was much anticipation as the IJF World Judo Tour arrived in the sport’s homeland and host nation of the next Olympiad. Japan’s Grand Slam event is always a special event and one of the most renowned events on the calendar, with this year’s renewal – the fifth and final Grand Slam of the season – being held in Osaka rather than Tokyo due to preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Held from Friday 23 to Sunday 25 November at the Maruzen Intec Arena, the host nation got off to a blistering start by claiming gold in all four weight categories on the opening day of competition.

World Championships silver medallist Funa Tonaki struck gold in the first final, the -48kg category beating former world champion Urantsetseg Munkhbat of Mongolia. The win came in less than a minute for Tonaki who earns her second Grand Slam title as well as edging ahead over Munkhbat in their head-to-head series.

In the -52kg event, world champion Uta Abe won her third Grand Slam title beating teammate and Asian Games winner Natsumi Tsunoda. The 18-year-old world champion avenged her only defeat on the IJF World Judo Tour which came in the 2016 Tokyo Grand Slam final, in doing so improving her winning run to 33 consecutive contests and her last seven events.

Japan’s men got in on the act too as Ryuju Nagayama claimed his fifth Grand Slam crown and the most important gold medal of his career in the -60kg category. The World Championships bronze medallist defeated the surprise package of the competition, European u23 Championships winner Yago Abuladze of Russia, ranked number 165 in the world, in the final by a single score.

The -66kg Final was the first of a series of all-Japanese affairs across the weekend and it was Joshiro Maruyama who stole the show by outshining two-time and reigning world champion Hifumi Abe. Hohhot Grand Prix winner Maruyama, the younger brother of -81kg international judoka Goki Maruyama, defeated the seven-time Grand Slam winner Abe in the last contest on day one in Osaka after 63 seconds of golden score.
Day 2 saw Canada manage to break the Japanese resistance but the hosts still managed to win four out of five category titles.

Jessica Klimkait produced the performance of her career to win the women’s -57kg gold.The three-time Grand Prix winner, who is locked in a battle with Canadian teammate Christa Deguchi in the race for Tokyo 2020, won her first Grand Slam crown at a crucial time in the Olympic qualification period. With the season-ending World Judo Masters two weeks away, Cancun Grand Prix silver medallist Klimkait came into the competition ranked ninth in the world but defeated three Japanese contenders en route to the Final before beating Japan’s Asian Games winner Momo Tamaoki in the final with a single score.

That defeat was to be the only blemish on the host’s record on the second day as they otherwise dominated once again.

There was an all-Japanese final in -63kg category as Masako Doi topped the podium in her first appearance as a Grand Slam finalist. The Hague Grand Prix bronze medallist beat Asian Games winner and 2017 Japan Grand Slam silver medallist Nami Nabekura in golden score after the latter was penalised for the third and final time for passivity.

Two-time and reigning world champion Chizuru Arai took gold in the -70kg category as after victory over World Judo Masters bronze medallist Anna Bernholm of Sweden. A single waza-ari score was enough for Arai to underline her standing as the runaway leader at the helm of the category and favourite for Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020. Bernholm will now break into the world’s top five after beating two Japanese judoka to get to the final and losing out in a close Final.

In the men’s competitions, two Japanese greats came together in the -73kg category Final and it was Rio 2016 Olympic champion Shohei Ono who had the measure of three-time world champion and double Olympic bronze medallist Masashi Ebinuma in one of the best contests of the weekend’s action.

The long-time teammates have been rivals since Ebinuma moved up to -73kg earlier this year and whilst Ono was flawless throughout the competition, Ebinuma by contrast had to dig deep all day long. The Final was a tense affair, however with 19 seconds left on the clock, Ono rolled over his rival for a waza-ari to win his third Grand Slam gold.

There was another all-Japanese Final as -81kg weight level and a first Grand Slam title for Japan’s Takeshi Sasaki. The Hohhot Grand Prix winner beat Budapest Grand Prix silver medallist Kenya Kohara in the final, this after the pair cancelled each other out in regulation time but Sasaki took control in golden score and held down his rival for 20 seconds and ippon.

The final day of action in Osaka saw Cuba and The Netherlands earn gold medals along with the hosts.

The women’s -78kg Final was another all-Japanese encounter, won by Ruika Sato. The Asian Games winner secured her fifth Grand Slam gold medal and registered a crucial victory in the race for Tokyo 2020 by defeating teammate and Budapest Grand Prix winner Mami Umeki.
World Championships silver medallist Idalys Ortiz of Cuba struck Grand Slam gold for the first time to win back-to-back titles on the IJF World Judo Tour. Ortiz, who won the Cancun Grand Prix in October conquered Japan’s Asian Games winner Akira Sone in the final after the latter was disqualified after her third shido.

Sunday’s men’s action saw another two home successes in the -90kg and -100kg categories.

Shoichiro Mukai won his second Grand Slam of the season after an absorbing final against former World Judo Masters bronze medallist Noel Van T End of The Netherlands. Golden score was required to produce a winner and it went in favour of the Japanese after the Dutchman received his third shido for going out of the area after 19 seconds of added time.

Former world champion Aaron Wolf won -100kg gold after a gusty performance. against world number 73 and Grand Slam debutant Shady Elnahas of Canada. The 20-year-old Canadian had defeated Japanese, Mongolian, Portuguese and Czech opposition on his way to the Final but Wolk earned himself a maiden Grand Slam title with a ko-soto for a waza-ari score and ended the final with a perfectly timed o-uchi-gari.

The Neherlands’ Henk Grol rolled back the years to win +100kg heavyweight gold in the last contest of the weekend. Grol, who went out in the first round at The Hague Grand Prix a week ago, renewed his rivalry with -100kg Olympic champion Lukas Krpalek of the Czech Republic which started in 2009 when they faced off for the first time in the -100kg category. On this occasion though it was the Dutchman who prevailed to go to the top of an IJF podium for the first time since 2014.