Tokyo (AFP)
Judoka Madeleine Malonga, world No. 1 in the -78 kg category, qualified Thursday for the final of the Tokyo Olympics tournament by beating South Korean Hyunji Yoon, disqualified for having received three penalties.
The Frenchwoman, already crowned world champion in 2019 and twice European champion, will try to obtain the Olympic coronation in the final against the formidable Japanese Shori Hamada.
Second in the world rankings and world champion in 2018, the Japanese was beaten by Malonga in the final of the 2019 Worlds.
Before her success against Hyunji Yoon, penalized twice for leaving the mat and once for taking the pants, Malonga had started her tournament with a controlled fight against the Austrian Bernadette Graf, beaten by ippon after a little more than one minute of combat.
Her quarter-final, however, was complicated against Cuban Kaliema Antomarchi, whom she had previously beaten three times in three fights.
Malonga quickly scored a waza-ari, but the Cuban equalized and pushed her to a tense overtime.
The 2019 world champion finally got out and won by ippon after just over a minute in extra time.
The Malonga medal, gold or silver, will be the fifth for French judo, after the gold of Clarisse Agbégnénou, the silver of Sarah-Léonie Cysique and Amandine Buchard and the bronze of Luka Mkheidze.
© 2021 AFP