FILIPINO-Japanese judoka Kiyomi Watanabe is inching closer to her Tokyo 2020 Olympic dreams after she climbed one step higher in the world rankings.
Despite managing to win only her first match in the recently concluded World Judo Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, Watanabe climbed a notch higher from 15th place to 14th with an accumulated 2,400 points.
According to her mother, Irene Sarausad, who hails from Toledo City, Cebu, Watanabe was able to get more points because it was the World Judo Championships and she also did well in her fight.
Only the top 12 in the world rankings will be able to qualify for the Olympics.
After the Asian Games last August wherein she bagged a silver medal, Watanabe had climbed from 19th to 15th place.
Watanabe is currently competing in the All Japan Judo Championships in Fukuoka.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
