In the lair of Olympics Games, all competitors have realized a great final. In female kata, Shimizu and Sanchez needed a second kata to decide the winner. With 8 gold medals, the Japan team finished 1st nation.
By Florian Fournier / Photos : Kphotos
-60 kg: Assadilov terraces Crescenzo
4th success in a row in K1 for Kazakhstan’s Darkan Assadilov. In the final, he outrageously dominated the Italian world champion, Angelo Crescenzo 6-0.
Finale : Assadilov (Kaz) vs Crescenzo (Ita), 6-0
Bronze : Samdan (Tur) b. Dulovic (Mne), 5-1 / Hassanniaideilami (Irn) b. Ortiz (Esp), 1-1
- Assadilov (Kaz)
- Crescenzo (Ita)
- Samdan (Tur) et Hassanniaideilami (Irn)
-67 kg: Gomyo, for a PremiereJapan's Gomyo defeated Turkey's Burak Uygur 2-0 to win his first K1. At home, the Japanese did not let his luck leave and scored important points for the Games.
Finale : Gomyo (Jap) vs Uygur (Tur), 2-0
Bronze : Figueira (Bra) b. Xenos (Gre), 4-2 / Nakano (Jap) b. Kozaki (Jap), 4-2
- Gomyo (Jap)
- Uygur (Tur)
- Figueira (Bra) et Nakano (Jap)
-75 kg: Nishimura wins at the flagsIn the tops’ duel of the -75kg, Ken Nishimura takes the lead again on Rafael Aghayev. Victorious at the flags, the Japanese sends a message to his opponents. On his land, he will be in shape to win the gold medal in 11 months. Iranian world champion Asgari and Ukraine’s Horuna complete the podium.
Finale : Nishimura (Jap) vs Aghayev (Aze) 0-0
Bronze : Asgari (Ira) b. Bitsch (All), 5-0 / Horuna (Ukr) b. Sekouri (Mar), 0-0
- Nishimura (Jap)
- Aghayev (Aze)
- Asgari (Ira) et Horuna (Ukr)
-84 kg: Araga, goldBack in the final, the 2016 world champion Ryutaro Araga wins (2-1) against Iran’s Poorshab and launches in the best way his coming season.
Finale : Araga (Jap) b. Poorshab (Ira), 2-1
Bronze : Mamayev (Aze) b. Chikmarev (Kaz), 3-2 / Kvesic (Cro) b. Isakau, 3-3 (Blr)
- Araga (Jap)
- Poorshab (Ira)
- Mamayev (Aze) et Kvesic (Cro)
+84 kg: Horne once moreWinner 1-0 of Iran’s Abazari, the world and European champion, Jonathan Horne shows that is the real n°1 of the category and gains confidence for the future. A confidence that also gets France’s Mehdi Filali who brilliantly wins (4-2) against Sajad Ganjzadeh for the bronze.
Finale : Horne (All) vs Abazari (Can), 1-0
Bronze : Arkania (Geo) b. Ando (Jap), 1-0 / Filali (Fra) b. Ganjzadeh (Ira), 4-2
- Horne (All)
- Abazari (Can)
- Arkania (Geo) et Filali (Fra)
Kata: Kiyuna without a doubtKiyuna is indeed the emperor of kata. He wins his final with Ohan Dai noted 28.38 against 27.02 for the Chatanyara Kushanku of Shimbaba. The 3-times world champion almost kills hopes of all his opponents to beat him during the season.
- Kiyuna (Jap)
- Shimbaba (Jap)
- Moto (Jap) et Quintero (Esp)
Female
-50 kg: Bahmanyar, a new star is bornThe young Iranian Bahmanyar won her first K1 to the detriment of Alexandra Recchia of France (5-1). She made a big impression ! Recchia is back and, even if she was surprised, the better is to com after her long injury.
Finale : Bahmanyar (Ira) b. Recchia (Fra), 5-1
Bronze : Li (Chn) b. Gu (Tpe), 5-1 / Tadano (Jap) b. Ku (Tpe), 1-0
- Bahmanyar (Ira)
- Recchia (Fra)
- Li (Chn) et Tadano (Jap)
-55 kg: Terliuga, indisputed n°1Ukraine’s Anzhelika Terliuga confirms that she is the queen of the circuit. With a fourth success over the last five K1s, the one who gets stuck at major European or world championship events does not miss herself at K1. Winner of Taipei’s Wen (3-1), she strengthened a little more her rank and opened herself a royal way to Tokyo 2020.
Finale : Terliuga (Ukr) b. Wen (Tpe), 3-1
Bronze : Nakamura (Jap) b. Warling (Lux), 2-1 / Fernandez (Esp) b. Hasani (Cro), 1-0
- Terliuga (Ukr)
- Wen (Tpe)
- Nakamura (Jap) et Fernandez (Esp)
-61 kg: Lotfy a little better than HeurtaultIn a final of very high level, Giana Lotfy takes the measure of Leila Heurtault by the smallest gap (4-3). With this success, the Egyptian, who is now fully dedicated to her athlete career, shows that she is back at the highest level. Heurtault showed she had recovered from her wounds.
Finale : Lotfy (Egy) b. Heurtault (Fra), 4-3
Bronze : Someya (Jap) b. Suchankova (Svk), 6-1 / Yin (Chn) b. Suzuki (Jap), 2-0
- Lotfy (Egy)
- Heurtault (Fra)
- Yin (Chn) et Someya (Jap)
-68 kg: Zaretska dominates AgierThe world champion Irina Zarestka of Azerbaijan defeated the European champion Alizee Agier of France (3-0) in the final. In this duel that may look like an Olympic final, confidence is set for the moment on the side of the world champion.
Finale : Zaretska (Aze) b. Agier (Fra), 3-0
Bronze : Gong (Chn) b. Semeraro (Ita), 8-6 / Buchinger (Aut) b. Kydonaki (Gre), 4-0
- Zaretska (Aze)
- Agier (Fra)
- Gong (Chn) et Buchinger (Aut)
+68 kg: Uekusa cartonneIn her Nippon Budokan hall, Ayumi Uekusa inflicted a severe 5-0 to Clio Ferracuti of Italy in the final. For her first final since the Paris Open, the Japanese did not do things by half. She is back !
Finale : Uekusa (Jap) b. Ferracuti (Ita), 5-0
Bronze : Chatziliadou (Gre) b. Garcia (Fra), 2-1 / Keinanen (Fin) b. Wasowicz (Usa), 7-1
- Uekusa (Jap)
- Ferracuti (Ita)
- Chatziliadou (Gre) et Keinanen (Fin)
Kata: Shimizu at the end of the suspenseIn this new episode of the Shimizu / Sanchez duel, they have once again offered us a breathtaking finale. If the Japanese won, the two young women had to perform an extra kata to decide the victory between them. In perfect equality with Chatanyara Kushanku (27.68), in the first round, Shimizu took the lead with the kata Oyadomari No Pasai (27.74) against Sanchez's Suparinpei (27.48) to win gold.This epic finale will surely remain in the memories.
- Shimizu (Jap)
- Sanchez (Esp)
- Iwamoto (Jap) et Bottaro (Ita)
