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Ai Tsunoda regains Paris gold

Ai Tsunoda regains Paris gold

3 Feb 2025 13:05
IJF Media team by Jo Crowley
Klaus Müller / Watch: https://km-pics.de/

The final of the -70 kg women’s category between the current Tokyo Grand Slam winner, Mayu Honda (JPN) and the 2023 Paris Grand Slam gold medallist, Ai Tsunoda Roustant, began with a fight for the sleeves, both wanting to work in two ways at the same time: cancelling their opponents best grips and securing their own.

The normal 4 minutes was filled with attacks from both, on the ground and standing. There was danger everywhere. It wasn’t until 40 seconds into golden score that Ai Tsunoda Roustant was able to find her desired space and launch Honda with a seoi-otoshi for ippon. She let out an enormous roar and then worked hard to maintain her composure, always a judoka who displays the highest level of respect for her opponents. The Spanish judoka now had her second Paris title and not many judoka ever get to claim that accolade! Ai Tsunoda can also throw seoi-nage to the left. In these examples, you see her doing it with a left cross grip. In the first contest, she does it standing. In the second, which was the final, she did it as a drop, and it won her the -70kg gold at the 2025 Paris Grand Slam.

The first bronze medal was already guaranteed to stay in France as Marie-Eve Gahie, shocked earlier in the day by the Japanese starlet Mayu Honda, faced Lucie Jarrot under the watchful eyes of the thousands of spectators gathered in the Accor Arena. Gahie looked a different level, notching up a yuko and then a waza-ari before finishing the job with a low osoto-gari for another waza-ari. The two French women embraced in appreciation of what the moment meant to each of them. 

The second bronze medal contest, also all-European but not French, was disputed by Irene Pedrotti (ITA) and Margit De Voogd (NED). After a failed seoi-otoshi attempt from the Italian, De Voogd wasted no time in finding her balance on the ground and she worked her way into a textbook juji-gatame position, winning by ippon.

 

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