Korean youngster Han Mi-Jin grabs gold at IJF World Tour debut

At the Grand Prix in Hohhot junior World Championships bronze medallist Han Mi Jin of Korea won her IJF World Judo Tour debut after a fascinating final against Yelyzaveta Kalanina of the Ukraine.

The Ukrainian judoka who was Baku Grand Slam bronze medallist is an accomplished youth talent herself with a silver medal at the Cadet Worlds in 2011 and bronze at the Junior World Championships in 2015. Han, 21, who stood next to her opponent as the second bronze medallist at the Worlds in 2015, was composed despite being new to the circuit and threw with a uchi-mata after 45 seconds of golden score for a match-winning waza-ari. 

In the first semi-final Kalanina threw IJF Grand Prix rookie Yamamoto Sara of Japan for a waza-ari and held down the Japanese with a ushiro-kesa-gatame for 20 seconds. In the second semi-final Han profited from the inaction of Asian Championships bronze medallist Battulga Munkhtuya (MGL) who was penalised a third time for passivity and moved down into the bronze medal equation.

The first bronze medal was won by Battulga after former Tbilisi Grand Prix bronze medallist Mariia Shekerova (RUS) tamely accumulated three shidos.    

The second bronze medal contest was all over after 41 seconds as Yamamoto threw 20-year-old Erdenebileg Gandiimaa (MGL) - who was competing at a Grand Prix outside of her homeland for the first time – with uchi-mata for a waza-ari and trapped the Mongolian in a kesa-gatame hold for 20 seconds for ippon.

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