Top Filipino judoka Kiyomi Watanabe’s quest for a slot in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics just got a major boost.
The 20-year-old Watanabe, gold medalist in last year’s Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, nailed a bronze in the Dusseldorf Grand Slam 2018 in Germany on Sunday after sweeping all her matches in the repechage division.
She defeated Lucy Renshall of Great Britain and France’s Maelle De Cinti in the women’s 63-kilogram to march to the quarterfinals.
But Watanabe bowed to Mongolia’s Gankhai Bold and got relegated to repechage.
There she routed Prisca Awiti of Mexico and Keti Quadros of Brazil to secure the bronze along with tormentor Bold.
Andreja Leksi of Slovenia bagged the gold while Megi Tsugane of Japan secured the silver medal.
Watanabe, born in Cebu City to Filipino mother Irene and Japanese father Jinero but raised in a city near Mt. Fuji in Japan, initially took up volleyball.
She bagged gold in the SEA Games by beating all her opponents via ippon, or the equivalent of knockout in boxing. —MARC ANTHONY REYES