Cebu’s Watanabe earns automatic Olympic slot
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu’s Kiyomi Sarausad Watanabe is already assured of a slot in the judo competitions of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The 23-year-old judoka now only needs an official letter from the International Judo Federation (IJF) to Philippine Judo chief Dave Carter to be confirmed.
This was revealed by Watanabe’s mother, Irene Sarausad Watanabe, who hails from Toledo City, in southwest Cebu.
Watanabe was born in Cebu City and grew up in Mandaue City before her family opted to reside in Japan when she was just nine years old. She is a four-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist and a silver medal winner in the Asian Games.
According to Watanabe’s mother, her daughter qualified via the “Continental Quota” as she is ranked 21 in the world.
Surprisingly, Irene said they have the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) to thank for this development.
This is because Watanabe is recovering from an injury during the Dusseldorf Grand Slam held the third week of February. This made her entry to four other qualifiers this summer doubtful.
But because the World Health Organization (WHO) has elevated the COVID-19 to a pandemic, these four qualifiers have been canceled. The IJF, thus, decided to make the Dusseldorf Grand Slam as its final qualifying event instead for the Olympics.
“The thing is, I consider that we are blessed, that Kiyomi is blessed because she is currently in rehabilitation for her injury during the Grand Slam in Dusseldorf, Germany last February 24,” said Irene. “And now, they announced that all remaining qualifying events are canceled. So now, I have to be thankful to COVID-19 for the cancellation of these events because Kiyomi would not have been able to participate in those four international qualifying events,” explained Irene.
According to Irene, her daughter would have needed to join those four events to maintain her world ranking and ensure her ticket to the Olympics.
Watanabe will be the fifth Filipino to have qualified for the Tokyo Games and would be the first female judoka in the Philippines to compete in the Olympics. /RCG
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