Ai Tsunoda meets the expectations and is double junior World Champion

On the third day of the Junior World Championships no one was able to defeat Ai Tsunoda Roustant of Spain, who is now a double world champion. Also she claimed gold in cadets and now even double in juniors and already a scarecrow in the senior ranks. She just won the Mediterranean Games in Algeria at the end of June and has already won three medals on the World Judo Tour. No doubt each of the other competitors entered had some hope but they were quickly disappointed.

Tsunoda Roustant stringing together victories to present herself to the Turkish Fidan Ogel in the final, whose record is not yet similar to that of her opponent. But again, in judo, anything is possible and Ai Tsunoda Roustant had to concentrate to not miss the last step.

Sometimes no other choice than the top level athlete winning the category happens. The competition is still very exciting to watch because that athlete is so dominant that you just want to see what is going to happen. This was the case with Ai Tsunoda Roustant today in Guayaquil. She was the best and she remains the best. After an incredible sode-tsuri-komi-goshi that scored a waza-ari, she concluded on the floor for ippon. Bravo champion!

It is with pleasure that we found in the first match for a bronze medal, the Cuban Idelannis Gomez Feria, from Pan America, thus demonstrating that a new generation of athletes is in training; standing against Sarah Mehlau (GER). It took more than 11 minutes for Gomez Feria to eventually put the last drop of energy she had, after a never ending golden score, into a last desperate throwing attempt to win the bronze medal.

The second German competitor in the category, Samira Bock, also had her chance to get on the podium, against Katarzyna Sobierajska (POL), bronze medallist last year in Sardinia. If the first bronze medal contest was long, very long, the second one was way shorter, as Samira Bock threw her opponent with a powerful makikomi for ippon after a little more than 1 minute.