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Euronews

Japan Sweeps Day 1 of Baku Grand Slam with Five Golds

The elite of the judo world have returned to Baku this weekend for one of the most established tournaments on the The World Judo Tour. The land of fire is once again ready to welcome some of the best judoka on the planet. The National Gymnastics Arena was primed and ready. Many fans filled the seats to watch their champions do battle TSUNODA Natsumi, the -48kg Olympic Champion was pitted against Olympic bronze medallist Tara BABULFATH in the final. In a close contest, TSUNODA took the win. I was happy to fight in Baku with people cheering for me. I took a long break after the Olympic Games and I felt rusty, but overall happy with today. TSUNODA Natsumi -48 kg IJF Education & Coaching Director, Mr Mohammed MERIDJA awarded her with the gold medal. It was an all Japanese affair at -60kg, NAGAYAMA Ryuju taking on NAKAMURA Taiki. Nagayama was looking to quell his young compatriot! And two waza-ari scores saw him do just that and take the Baku title. I heard 'Nagayama' calls from the crowd and I'm happy to be here. NAGAYAMA Ryuju -60 kg Mr Florin Daniel LASCAU, IJF Head Referee Director, awarded the medals. The -52 kg category saw the anticipated return of ABE Uta, for so many years unbeatable, this was a first outing since a shock defeat at the Paris olympic games. And the crowd were delighted to see her. She met Mascha BALLHAUS in the final and put on a trademark display, finishing the German with a pin to round off a successful first competition back. IJF Head Referee Director, Mr Ki-Young JEON, awarded the gold. Battling for victory in -66 kg were Japan's TAKEOKA Takeshi and current world champion TANAKA Ryoma - they were both in fine form but in a tactical final, it was TAKEOKA who triumphed, out attacking his opponent. IJF Co-ordinator for International Refereeing Seminars, Mr Juan Carlos BARCOS was on hand to award the medals TAKANO Ayami and TAMAOKI Momo were the class of the field at -57kg. The Japanese fighters contested a close final, which was eventually won by TAMAOKI, meaning Japan took all five gold medals the first day of action. Their medals were presented by Olympic Champion & 3 time World Champion, Mr Kosei INOUE.