Megumi Horikawa claims Budapest gold U63kg

The final of the women’s U63kg category of the Grand Slam in Budapest was between Megumi Horikawa, better known as Megumi Tsugane and Angelika Szymanska from Poland.

The Japanese was marking waza-ari before people even knew the fight had begun. Horikawa Tsugane executed a massive ashi-waza technique which didn't get the full landing on the back. From then on, she closed like an oyster and Szymanska did not have the knife in her repertoire to open it. It was indeed total engagement from both women. For those who like statistics, Japan's four gold medals in as many finals should be highlighted.

The Japanese occupies a discreet position in the world ranking, 27, but when looking closely at her history, things change. Second in Tel Aviv, third in Baku and a host of medals in the last five years, Horikawa appeared in Hungary spearheading the Japanese team in this category. First she had the pleasure of eliminating the Dutch and ninth in the world, Sanne Vermeer. Second in line she eliminated the local legend, Hedvig Karakas. As she was on her way, she easily outclassed Australia's Katharina Haecker, before giving Britain's European champion Gemma Howell a cold shower in the semi-finals. Her four victims occupy better places in the ranking, which means that on the professional circuit everything is possible.

Angelika Szymanska also had a route full of traps. Her first round was relatively uneventful against China's Jing Tang. So, like Horikawa, she had to compete with more seasoned women and all of them were cooked by the Polish woman over a slow fire. First the Israeli Gili Sharir and then the Canadian Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard, before unceremoniously pushing the Brazilian Ketleyn Quadros out of her way.

The first bronze was South American. Venezuelan Anriquelis Barrios unhesitatingly defeated Quadros, who was still thinking about her lost semi-final. A waza-ari in the form of a ko-soto-gari that arrived very early and mismanagement of the fight cost the Brazilian the medal. The Venezuelan was better and more intelligent.

Maylin Del Toro Carvajal wanted Spanish to continue being spoken on the tatami, but for that she had to neutralise Gemma Howell, who prefers English. Del Toro was always ahead to the attack, so logically Howell was penalised three times.