Natsumi Tsunoda and Naohisa Takato made their nation shine in Tashkent.
Japan achieved a golden double on the first day of the World Judo Championships in Tashkent, thanks to the victories of Natsumi Tsunoda, defending champion in -48 kg, and Olympic champion in -60 kg Naohisa Takato.
In the final, her longest fight of the day, Tsunoda won by ippon after 2 min 16 sec against Germany’s Katharina Menz, who was playing her first international final in a major championship.
Abiba Abuzhakynova, who had beaten the French world No.1 Shirine Boukli in the third round, went for bronze, benefiting from the support of noisy Kazakh supporters who came in large numbers to their Uzbek neighbors. The other bronze medal went to Italian Assunta Scutto, 20, junior world champion in 2021.
For men, Tokyo Olympic champion Naohisa Takato won his fourth world title in -60 kg after those of 2013, 2017 and 2018.
Against Mongolian Ariunbold Enkhtaivan, the 29-year-old Japanese scored a first waza-ari after twenty seconds before repeating just over two minutes later.
The runner-up to Takato at the Olympics, the Taiwanese Yang Yung-wei, won the bronze, as did the Kazakh Yeldos Smetov.
Results of the first day of the Tashkent World Championships:
Women:
-48 kg
1. Natsumi Tsunoda (JPN)
2. Katharina Menz (GER)
3. Assunta Scutto (ITA)
3. Abiba Abuzhakynova (KAZ)
Men:
-60 kg
1. Naohisa Takato (JPN)
2. Ariunbold Enkhtaivan (MON)
3. Yeldos Smetov (KAZ)
3. Yang Yung-wei (TPE)
