Kiyomi Watanabe exits Paris Olympics early after losing to Chinese foe

Kiyomi Watanabe | Screen grab from the live streaming

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Kiyomi Watanabe ended her Paris Olympics campaign with a defeat in the hands of Tang Jing of China in round 32 of the women’s judo 63-kilogram division on Tuesday, July 30, at the Champ de Mars Arena in Paris, France.

The 27-year-old Watanabe, a two-time Olympian and born in Cebu City, lost to Jing via ippon at the 3:09 mark of their round of 32 match.

Jing exerted dominance early on, almost scoring a sweep and an arm lock, while being on top of Watanabe who was forced to guard herself throughout their short-lived match.

Jing, who ranked 22nd in the world, flattened the 92nd-ranked Watanabe in the opening minute, while attempting the ippon.

The Chinese bet saw a small gap which paved her the way to execute the ippon and secure the easy win.

This was Watanabe’s second Olympic stint, following her Tokyo Olympics debut in 2021 where she also lost in the opening round.

Still, Watanabe remained one of the Philippines bemedalled judoka being a gold medalist in the Asian Junior Championships and the Asian Open Women’s Judo Championships.

ALSO READ:

Paris Olympics: Know your Cebuano Olympians

PH judoka Kiyomi Watanabe bows out of Tokyo Olympics

Paris Olympics launched by historic river parade