Three-time Southeast Asian Games champion Kiyomi Watanabe failed to advance to the medal round of the prestigious 2017 World Judo Championships being held at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary. Clarisse Agbegnenou of France dominated the event after beating silver medalist Tina Trstenjak of Slovenia in the championship round of the tournament sanctioned by the International Judo Federation. Despite the setback, Watanabe is expected to earn points in the tournament to improve her International Judo Federation world ranking. To earn more ranking points, the Philippine Judo Federation will be sending Watanabe in three big tournaments in the last quarter of the year including two International Judo Federation World Tour Grand Slam events. After the Tokyo meet, Watanabe will go to Hong Kong for the Asian Judo Open Championships on December 6 to 12.

Source: Manila Times September 01, 2017 15:00 UTC