Doha (AFP)
The quadruple world champion in -63 kg Clarisse Agbegnenou confirmed her impeccable post-confinement recovery by winning the Judo Masters on Tuesday in Doha, just over six months before the Tokyo Games, postponed to the summer of 2021.
In the silence of the Lusail sports complex, which hosts the prestigious competition behind closed doors, Agbegnenou (28) dropped the Japanese Nami Nabekura, world No. 4 but not selected for the Olympics-2020, in the final after more than two minutes and a half in the golden score (overtime after the regulatory four minutes of combat).
A little over a year ago, in December 2019, it was Nabekura who ended two years without defeat for Agbegnenou, already at the Masters.
Since then, the reigning Olympic vice-champion and world No.1 in -63 kg had taken a first revenge on the Japanese judoka in the final of the Grand Slam in Paris at the beginning of last February.
For her reunion with the competition after more than eight months without due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Agbegnenou had offered himself a fifth title of European champion at the end of November in Prague.
The Masters, usually contested at the end of the year, brings together the best judokas in the world - in this case the 36 best ranked - in each weight category.
© 2021 AFP