Filipino-Japanese Judoka Kiyomi Watanabe

Philippine Judoka suffers a heartbreaking loss right in the opening seconds of the first round.

Kiyomi Watanabe’s journey in the Tokyo Olympics was cut short after losing to her Spanish oppenent

By Edward Era Barbacena

Judoka Kiyomi Watanabe of the Philippines bids farewell to the hopes of getting an olympic medal after losing the first round of 32 to Spain bet Cristina Cabaña in the women's 63kg Judo. She lost to an ippon made by Cabaña just a few second into the first round. 

The Filipino-Japanese Watanabe bowed out of contention via an ippon decision with just barely a minute into her clash with Cristina Cabana Perez of Spain in the Round of 32 of women's -63 kg.

Both judokas Cristina Cabana Perez and Kiyomi Watanabe were aggressive right off the bat as both tried to set up their attacks, and it was the Filipino-Japanese who had a slight upper hand to do so.

Watanabe got caught by surprise with a sweep as she bowed out of the  Tokyo Olympics with a loss against Spanish opponent. Both judokas were aggressive right off the bat as both tried to set up their attacks, and it was the Filipino-Japanese who had a slight upper hand to do so.

However, as Watanabe was going for a sacrifice technique, Perez caught Watanabe’s leg, which threw the 30th Southeast Asian Games gold medalist on her back. 

The throw was given a waza-ari at first, stopping the clock at the 3:34 mark of the bout. However, after a review of the proceedings, the jury decided that it was an ippon and eventually gave the win to Spain.

Boasting a silver medal in the 2018 Asian Games and a gold medal for judo in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, Watanabe stood at a world rank of 41 upon entry into the Tokyo Olympics. Meanwhile, her Spanish foe won the silver medal in the European Seniors Championships in 2020 and is currently ranked 37 in the world. 

The bout between the two judokas lasted 38 seconds, as Perez was able to notch a game-ending ippon at Watanabe’s expense. Following the match, Perez moves on to the Round of 16, while the Filipino-Japanese Watanabe ends her stint in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

She was thrown to the corner of the mat by her Spanish foe, prompting the referee to award the first waza-ari to the opponent. Then it was later upgraded to an ippon, ultimately putting an end to Watanabe's Olympic campaign.

Kiyomi Watanabe’s journey in the Tokyo Olympics was cut short after losing to Perez  in the preliminary match of the 63-kilogram judo competition on Monday at the Nippon Budokan Arena,  but she loses in the next, by Ippon against Tina Trstenjak of Slovenia who won the silver. 

Believing that there is still more to come for Kiyomi Watanabe.  She is just 24 years old, but she has achieved so much. Olympic glory takes time as we have seen, so her moment will come.