The under 57 kg final lasted more than 12 minutes on Monday at the World Judo Championships and Canadian Christa Deguchi delivered a remarkable performance. A third penalty ultimately took her to second place in Abu Dhabi, the fourth world medal of her career.
Five years ago, Deguchi gave Canada its first ever senior world championship gold medal. A title that she regained in 2023 and which she tried to defend in the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
The world number one under 57 kg was sparkling throughout the day. After having signed four convincing victories, only one opponent separated her from the third senior world champion title of her career, namely the South Korean Mimi Huh.
Deguchi and Mimi Huh had already received two penalties each after 1 minute and 40 seconds of fighting. With an extension of 8 minutes and 18 seconds, the two judokas will have fought for a duration equivalent to three duels in a row. Every attack attempted during this exhilarating finale was neutralized.
The more time passed, the more fatigue set in. Exhausted, Christa Deguchi was penalized for non-combativeness in overtime, which ended the face-to-face.
“The final was a very tactical fight,” described national team coach Antoine Valois-Fortier. At the very end of such a long confrontation, the slightest mistake or hesitation became fatal. The athletes want to win and try to find a solution to get there, but it was a closed fight and it was hard to find a way out. »
Belgium’s Mina Libeer, Guinea’s Mariana Esteves and Israel’s Timna Nelson Levy all found themselves in the path of the eventual silver medalist on Monday and lost in less than two minutes. Deguchi didn’t slow down in the semifinals, where she defeated Japan’s Momo Tamaoki to reach the grand final.
“Christa had a great day, she was dominant during her first three fights. In the semi-final, she controlled the fight well after her waza-ari to keep the advantage over the Japanese,” shared Valois-Fortier proudly.
For some time now, Christa Deguchi has enjoyed great success on the international scene. In the Grand Slam, she has ten consecutive podiums, the most recent of which was obtained in Kazakhstan barely eight days ago. A gold medal which set the table in anticipation of the world championships. She will now focus on the Olympic qualification process, which ends on June 23.
Klimkait also on the podium
The Canadian team was doubly represented on the podium in the under 57 kg category. Christa Deguchi was accompanied by Jessica Klimkait, bronze medalist in this category.
“I really want to salute the consistency and strength of character of the two Canadians. There was a lot of pressure today and it was impressive to see them go, said the coach. Jessica came back very strong for bronze. What strength of character! I haven’t seen this often. She had a very nice day. »
The Ontarian began her journey with a victory by waza-ari against the Dutch Julie Beurskens. She then pushed two opponents, the Polish Arleta Podolak and the Mongolian Enkhriilen Lkhagvatogoo, to receive three penalties to continue her road to the final four.
Klimkait then lost to future champion Mimi Huh. The South Korean representative scored a waza-ari after 38 seconds and the Canadian was unable to fight back.
Despite this setback, the woman who is ranked second in the world knew full well that there was still work to be done at these world championships. She did not give up and presented herself in front of the Israeli Timna Nelson Levy with great intensity.
PHOTO GIUSEPPE CACACE, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Jessica Klimkait (in blue) during her fight against Timma Nelson Levy
Quickly, Klimkait set his pace. About twenty seconds had passed when she knocked down her opponent to score a waza-ari. In the final moments of the fight, the Canadian judoka managed to control the Israeli on the ground to capture a third bronze medal in a row at the World Championships. She also won gold in 2021.
On the men’s side, Julien Frascadore took part in the first World Championships of his career. In action in the under 66 kg category, the Quebecer lost his only duel of the day against Frenchman Daikii Bouba.
Arthur Margelidon was stopped in the second round in the under 73 kg table. Victorious against the Spaniard Jorge Cano Garcia, he lost to the Japanese Tatsuki Ishihara, who concluded the tournament on the second step of the podium.
Canadians Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard (-63 kg) and François Gauthier-Drapeau (-81 kg) will fight Tuesday in Abu Dhabi.