Kiyomi Watanabe falls to Spanish foe in Tokyo Olympics judo

Kiyomi Watanabe had a shock exit from the Tokyo Olympics judo event.

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA—The Philippine team to the Tokyo Olympics did not go off to a good start one day after Hidilyn Diaz's historic weightlifting gold as Kiyomi Watanabe lost to Cristina Cabana of Spain in their women's under-63-kilogram judo first round clash at the Nippon Budokan Center in the Japanese capital.

In a shocker of a result on Tuesday, Cabana only needed 38 seconds to force an ippon on Watanabe, who had been training in Japan prior to the games.

Watanabe was actually on track of edging Cabana even as they went aggressive to start the match.

But Cabana landed a sweep that sent Watanabe down, setting up the finish.

Initially ruled as a waza-ari, Cabana's deciding move was later upgraded to an ippon after a review.

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