MANILA, Philippines – Filipina-Japanese judoka Kiyomi Watanabe targets a better showing after her Olympic debut three years ago ended in mere seconds.
The Philippines’ lone judo bet in the Paris Games, Watanabe begins her campaign on Tuesday, July 30, against China’s Tang Jing in the round of 32 of the women’s -63kg class at the Grand Palais Ephemere.
Watanabe hopes to redeem herself following a heartbreaking campaign in the Tokyo Olympics, where she lost to Spain’s Cristina Cabana Perez via ippon in just 38 seconds in her opening match.
But standing in her way is a formidable foe in Tang, who is ranked No. 22 in the world and won silver in the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, last year.
Watanabe also bagged an Asian Games silver in the 2018 edition, although she is tipped as the underdog ranked 70 spots lower than Tang.
Both Watanabe and Tang qualified for the Olympics by clinching the two continental quota spots allocated for Asia.
The first female to represent the Philippines in Olympic judo, Watanabe notched another feat as just the third Filipino judoka to compete in multiple editions of the Summer Games.
John Baylon and Jerry Dino were the last to achieve the feat when they donned the national colors in the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
A dominant force in the region, the 27-year-old Watanabe ruled the Southeast Asian Games for four straight editions from 2013 to 2019. – Rappler.com