KIYOMI Watanabe absorbed a shocking loss against Cristina Cabana Perez when the Spanish judoka needed only 38 seconds to beat her Filipina opponent in the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday at the Nippon Budokan.
Perez countered the 24-year-old Watanabe’s early attack, putting her into submission hold for an ippon to conclude the match.
The Fil-Japanese judoka was visibly disappointed with the quick end to her women’s -63kg round-of-32 defeat during her Olympic debut.
Kiyomi Watanabe
Philippine Judo Federation president Dave Carter admitted the loss was a tough pill to swallow but vowed to bounce back.
“This was a very painful loss for Kiyomi and to us. Very painful indeed. We find it hard to explain to the POC and PSC,” said Carter.
“However, we are very thankful to PSC Chairman Butch (Ramirez) for all PSC's support and to POC President Cong. Bambol (Tolentino) for the trust that he bestowed Kiyomi. Maraming salamat po. Babawi kami,” he added.
Watanabe, a four-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, carried the flag during the opening ceremonies with boxer Eumir Marcial.
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