Abe Sets the Pace in Ulaanbaatar as Giuffrida Battles to Silver

Uta Abe was the defining force in the women’s -52 kg competition in Ulaanbaatar. In a category packed with seeded athletes and strong early-season form, the Japanese star stood apart and finished on top once again.

The five-time world champion and Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion looked sharp from the opening rounds. Abe moved through the preliminaries with the kind of control and precision that has made her one of the standout names in judo, showing the same mix of power, timing and technical quality that her rivals struggled to match.

By the end of the day, the gold medal was hers, and it came with another landmark. It was Abe’s twelfth Grand Slam gold, setting a new women’s record at that level.

The final itself did not unfold in the way many expected. Italy’s Odette Giuffrida reached the gold medal contest after an impressive run, but she was forced to withdraw because of injury. That left Abe with the title, while Giuffrida had to settle for silver after a determined day in difficult circumstances.

Giuffrida’s path to the final still deserved real attention. Despite struggling with an injured arm, she kept finding ways to win and produced one of the grittiest performances of the category. Among those she defeated was Hungary’s Roza Gyertyas, a world championship bronze medallist, as Giuffrida pushed through with clear determination.

Giuffrida’s silver came after a run built on resilience.

The first bronze medal contest became an all-Hungarian clash between Reka Pupp and Roza Gyertyas. With both athletes already deep into a demanding day, it was Pupp who delivered the key action, scoring Waza-ari with a superb uchi-mata to secure the medal.

That result gave Europe a place on the podium through Pupp, while Gyertyas finished fifth. It was a strong showing for the Hungarian team in a weight class filled with proven contenders.

The second bronze medal match featured Ariane Toro Soler of Spain against Khorloodoi Bishrelt of the UAE. Their contest stayed tight for a long time, with neither judoka able to break clear in regular time. In golden score, Bishrelt finally found the score she needed to take bronze.

Toro Soler finished fifth, while Bishrelt’s result followed a semi-final performance in which she had come closest to testing Abe. Even that was not enough to shift the overall picture of the category, though, because the day kept circling back to the same conclusion.

Abe was simply on another level.

After the event, Abe said she had been a little nervous because it had been about half a year since her last match. She also said the tournament helped her recover her feeling for competition and gave her a good start on the road toward the Los Angeles Olympics, with the World Judo Championships in Baku next on her schedule.

The final standings reflected both dominance and depth: Abe took gold, Giuffrida silver, and the bronze medals went to Pupp and Bishrelt. In a division full of seeds and ambitious challengers, the biggest story was still the clearest one. When Abe performs like this, the rest of the field is left chasing.

Source: IJF.org

Image source: IJF / International Judo Federation