Japinay judoka wins silver in Euro Open

CEBU, Philippines - Success keeps on coming in the way of Japanese-Filipina judoka Kiyomi Watanabe.

A week after grabbing bronze in the Grand Slam Paris 2017, Watanabe muscled her way to a silver-medal finish in the women's -63 kgs. category of the Oberwart European Continental Open in Austria yesterday.

Watanabe, a two-time gold medallist in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games representing the Philippines, opened her bid with a rousing win over Italian Francesca Busto under pool D. She then proceeded with a convincing victory over Austria’s bet Magdalena Krssakova.

In the semifinal round, Watanabe, whose mother Irish Sarausad-Watanabe hails from Toledo City south of Cebu, outsmarted Japan’s Aimi Nouchi to set up a championship showdown with another Austrian bet, Kathrin Unterwurzacher.

Watanabe, however, fumbled in her attempt to take home the coveted gold medal after bowing to Unterwurzacher.

Last February 12, Watanabe etched her name in stone for becoming the first Southeast Asian athlete to medal in the Grand Slam Paris, a pretigious event second only to the World Championships.

Up next for the 21-year-old Watanabe is the Dusseldorf Grand Prix in Germany next week.— EBV with Caecent No-ot Magsumbol