Tessie Savelkouls of the Netherlands competes with Iryna Kindzerska (L) of Azerbaijan during the women's +78kg final match at the 2019 IJF World Judo Tour Qingdao Masters in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, Dec. 14, 2019 (Xinhua/Li Ziheng)
Japan tops medal tally, China takes a bronze at 2019 World Judo Masters.
QINGDAO, China, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Judo powerhouse Japan led the medal standings with five golds at the 2019 World Judo Masters in Qingdao here on Saturday, while host China only took one bronze and two fifth places.
The Netherlands won two gold medals on the final day of the 2019 season to secure second place in the medal table behind Japan. Georgia and France also tasted gold on Saturday.
China's Judoka Chen Fei competes in the women's -78kg category at the World Judo Masters 2019 in Qingdao, China on Dec. 14, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Ziheng)
China's Chen Fei secured China's first medal in the women's -78kg category. Yoon Hynji of South Korea was below-par as she picked up her third shido for passivity to gift a place on the podium to the Chinese judoka.
"We made the tactics before the bronze medal contest," said Chen. "I am happy with the bronze, which makes me more confident to prepare for the 2020 Olympic Games."
Osaka Grand Slam bronze medallist Fanny Estelle Posvite of France won the gold with an irresistible display. Posvite, who only moved up from -70kg to -78kg in March, now has eight medals from nine events at -78kg and defeated former world champion, her teammate Audrey Tcheumeo to seal her first Masters title.
In the women's +78kg category, Tessie Savelkouls of the Netherlands, who ranked 25th in the world, won her first IJF title of the year.
Dutch judoka also won the men's -100kg category by World bronze medallist Michael Korrel, who produced the performance of his career to beat former world champion Wolf Aaron of Japan with a thunderous ippon after 27 seconds of golden score to claim his first Masters title.
Georgia tasted gold in the men's -90kg category as Junior World Championships gold medallist Lasha Bekauri defeated world No. 1 Nikoloz Sherazadishvili of Spain in golden score. The 19-year-old Bekauri directed his opponent backward for ippon and a remarkable victory.
In the men's +100kg category, Japan's Olympic silver medallist Harasawa Hisayoshi won a lucky title as Olympic and world champion Lukas Krpalek of Czech Republic was ruled out due to back pain. ■
