Christa Deguchi at the top of her game at Grand Slam Tokyo

Canadians Christa Deguchi and Jessica Klimkait were the favourites in advance for the title at the Grand Slam in Tokyo U57kg and sure enough, the two didn’t disappoint, each making their way to the semi-final stages.

Deguchi looked more assured than her counterpart in the preliminaries. In her round 2 match against Nairne (GBR), she managed the contest expertly and submitted her opponent using okuri-eri-jime with 1 minute left on the clock. Against a tough Takano (JPN) in her quarter-final, Deguchi never lost her cool, throwing with a crafty tomoe-nage for waza-ari with 3 seconds remaining in the contest.

“Christa was simply phenomenal today (Saturday)! She was in complete control from the first to the last bout and was never worried. It was a really brilliant performance”, summed up coach Antoine Valois-Fortier at the end of the tournament.

After back-to-back wins over Britain's Lele Nairne by ippon and Japan's Ayami Takano by waza-ari, Deguchi took her judo to the next level for her final two bouts.

Her semi-final opponent was Georgia's Eteri Liparteliani, ranked eighth in the world, whom she defeated by ippon after just 34 seconds.

Deguchi then put an exclamation mark on her day by using the same recipe in the final, where she was up against Brazil's Jessica Lima. The latter could only defend herself against the numerous attacks of the Albertan, who took just 55 seconds to complete her triumph by ippon.

“I think it's fair to say that Christa was at the top of her game today. She was particularly dominant in her last two wins, and that bodes well for the rest of the season”, added Valois-Fortier, who helped her protégée take the pressure off early in the day.

“By her own admission, Christa was a little more nervous for this tournament, confessed the coach. She had several family members and sponsors in attendance, so that added something special. I just told her to stay in the moment and use it positively. It's easy to say, but she did it well and was very proud of her performance!”

Before clashing with Deguchi in the final duel, Lima had defeated Jessica Klimkait in overtime in the category's other semi-final. However, the Ontarian world number two bounced back in fine style against Israel's Timna Nelson Levy. She won by waza-ari and earned a bronze medal a few hours later.

Though Klimkait made light work of Batsukh (UAE) in their round 1 match-up, scoring waza-ari-awasete-ippon in less than a minute, she was made to work much harder to reach the last four. She was drawn against 4-time grand slam winner Momo Tamaoki (JPN) in round 2 and survived a few scares to score waza-ari with her patented dropping shoulder throw with only 10 seconds left. An even tougher match against Lien (TPE) in the quarter-final saw the two go deep into golden score. Klimkait, however, maintained a higher attack rate and Lien picked up 3 penalties to send the Canadian through.

“Jessica had a difficult draw and it was a very demanding day for her. I think fatigue built up over the course of the bouts, which partly explains why she lost to the Brazilian, who seized her chance to score at the right moment. On the other hand, she recovered very well. It really shows her strength of character,” commented Valois-Fortier about the young Canadian, who had to face four top-20 rivals at this Grand Slam.

Deguchi faced Eteri Liparteliani (GEO) in the semi-final and she stunned the Georgian with an off-the-grip o-soto-gari in just 30 seconds. All Klimkait had to do was get past Jessica Lima (BRA) to set up a fourth grand slam final against her compatriot this year alone, but the Brazilian had other ideas. She was on scintillating form, defeating Yeung (HKG), Honda (JPN) and Cornelisse (NED) with ippon scores in her earlier matches. She set the tempo of the contest against Klimkait, throwing in the opening seconds of golden score with a fast o-uchi-gari, scoring waza-ari. There was despair for the Canadian but elation for Lima, as she had earned herself a place in her first ever grand slam final.

Unfortunately for Lima, Deguchi was a step too far and the final was a one-sided affair. The Canadian launched an unusual soto-makikomi at the end of the first minute which flattened the Brazilian and confirmed a magnificent 8th grand slam gold medal for Deguchi.

The first bronze medal contest was settled between Klimkait and Timna Nelson Levy (ISR). The Canadian landed the first blow within 20 seconds, switching from her usual seoi-nage to ko-uchi-makikomi, which scored waza-ari. The Canadian continued to dominate but this score alone was enough to earn her 6th grand slam bronze and her 16th grand slam medal overall; a great result by anyone’s standards but not enough for Klimkait. Advantage Deguchi.

Lien and Liparteliani battled to earn the second of the bronze medals. Lien managed to keep the Georgian at bay and took the first chance she got on the ground to use her favourite sankaku turnover to reverse her opponent and pin her for ippon. This 9th grand slam medal for Lien marks a return to form and is her first in almost 3 years.

“Jessica had a difficult draw and it was a very demanding day for her. I think fatigue built up over the course of the bouts, which partly explains why she lost to the Brazilian, who seized her chance to score at the right moment. On the other hand, she recovered very well. It really shows her strength of character,” commented Valois-Fortier about the young Canadian, who had to face four top-20 rivals at this Grand Slam.