Olympics: Watanabe’s judo bid ends quickly against Chinese foe

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Kiyomi Watanabe’s Paris 2024 Olympics bout came to a quick conclusion after being overpowered by World No. 22 Tang Jing of China in the women’s -63kg event on Tuesday, July 30, at the Champs-de-Mars arena in France.

Tang immediately focused on sending Watanabe to the mat, having a hold of her collar, which she did after breaking through her defense swiftly.

Watanabe tried to get away from her grip but Tang was ready for any possible counters which eventually led to a victory via Ippon just after 51 seconds of the round of 32 to signal the end of the road for the Filipino-Japanese representative. 

Entering the tournament ranked No. 92 in the world, Watanabe was visibly stunned after both judokas met in the center of the mat. 

Tang will take on Laura Fazliu of Kosovo to secure a quarterfinals placement. 

The Filipina judoka qualified for the Paris Olympics via continental qualification. 

Despite the disappointing finish, Watanabe has been widely known in the South East Asian Games where she first made her mark for the country and in the Asian Games as well. 

Watanabe will now turn her sights to qualifying for the Los Angeles Olympics which will be held in 2028 and hopefully qualify through continental qualification just like this year’s meet.