PARIS, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Japanese judokas snatched four of seven gold medals on offer as the two-day 2019 International Judo Federation (IJF) Paris Grand Slam curtained up here on Saturday.
World champion Ai Shishime beat Natsumi Tsunoda in an all-Japanese women's -52kg final. Other three crowned judokas from Japan were Ami Kondo in women's -48kg, Naohisa Takato in men's -60kg and Soichi Hashimoto in men's -73kg.
The best result that Chinese judokas registered on Saturday came from Liu Ting in women's -48kg. Liu crashed out from quarterfinals against Ganbaatar Narantsetseg of Mongolia, before losing the repechage to Frenchwomen Melodie Vaugarny for a tied seventh place.
Vaugarny's compatriot Clarisse Agbegnenou ended the day of competition in a victorious manner for the hosts. The three-time world champion snatched a waza-ari score after three minutes of golden score against defending Olympic gold medalist Tina Trstenjak of Slovenia for the win.
Canadian judokas managed a one-two finish in women's -57kg category, where Christa Deguchi overcame Jessica Klimkait in the final.
Moldova had many reasons to celebrate their first ever Grand Slam title by Denis Vieru, who beat Vazha Margvelashvili of Georgia in men's -66kg final.
Th 2019 IJF Paris Grand Slam, featuring 572 competitors from 97 countries and regions, will see the winners of remaining seven categories come out on Sunday.
