Asian Games: PH’s Watanabe gets crack at judo gold

Judoka Kiyomi Watanabe has a chance to give the Philippines its fifth gold medal after advancing to the finals of the women’s -63 kg judo competition in the 2018 Asian Games Thursday at JCC-Plenary Hall in Jakarta.

Watanabe trumped Mongolia’s Gankhaich Bold after tallying a Waza-ari in the 1:45 mark of their match, just 13 seconds after the Mongolian got called with a Shido.

The Filipino-Japanese judoka, who got a 1s1 score against Bold, will face Nami Nabekura in the final later in the day.

Watanabe got into the semifinals after a dominating performance in the quarterfinals scoring an Ippon for the full 10-0 score against Thailand’s Orapin Senatham at the 1:17 mark of the fight.

She has won gold medals in the last three editions of the Southeast Asian Games.