Four gold medals were for the taking on day two of the ninth and final Grand Prix of the season in Jeju, South Korea. Britain’s Sally Conway defeated
ADVERTISEMENTFour gold medals were for the taking on day two of the ninth and final Grand Prix of the season in Jeju, South Korea.
Britain’s Sally Conway defeated home hope Kim Seongyeon to win the women’s -70 kilo title.
Although in control for large parts of the fight, Conway was unable to deliver a winning move.
But she eventually claimed a deserved gold when her South Korean opponent was awarded a shido penalty.
It was Conway’s third title on the IJF World Tour and second this year after the Grand Slam in Baku.
The 28-year-old now hopes she can take her winning momentum to the Tokyo Grand slam – the final event of the season – and bag a fourth career title.
‘‘It fills me with confidence just knowing that I can win these big matches against these top players, so I’ll just be going to Tokyo trying to perform to the best of my ability and come away with another medal, that would be nice to finishoff the year,’‘ said the Bristol-born judoka, who is based in Edinburgh and competed for Scotland at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Three-time world champion Clarisse Agbegnenou of France celebrated her sixth Grand Prix title of her outstanding career.
The 23-year-old beat Tashkent Grand Prix winner Edwige Gwend of Italy to reign supreme in the -63kg category.
The win stretched her head-to-head record against Gwend to a flawless 7 wins and no defeats.
World bronze medallist Changrim An thrilled the home support by successfully defending his -73 kilo crown from last year.
The 21-year-old beat Belgium’s Dirk Van Tichelt with an ippon 40 seconds from the end.
Tour newcomer Seidai Sato made a stunning start to life on the world circuit after he won the -81kg gold medal.
The Japanese youngster beat Baku Grand Slam winner Khasan Khalmurzaev of Russia in a breathless performance.
Sato also won his finale by ippon – judo’s equivalent of a knockout.