Minei was up against compatriot Nami Nabekura in the decider to emphasise Japanese strength in the division and the Junior All Japan Championship winner secured gold by a yuko score as Nabekura never imposed herself,  receiving two shido penalties for passivity.

The first bronze medal match was also a one-nation affair as Katie-Jemima Yeats-Brown overcame her British compatriot Lucy Renshall, while Germany's Vivian Herrmann defeated Danielle Oliveira of Brazil.

The next final on the tatami at the Broward County Convention Center saw Croatia's Barbara Matic secure back-to-back junior world titles in the under 70kg class.

Budapest Grand Prix runner-up Matic was up against Britain's Ebony Drysdale Daley and never looked in trouble before clinching the win by hansoku-make after her opponent received four shido penalties.

Both bronze medals went the way of France as first, Marie Eve Gahie defeated Bosnian Aleksandra Samardzic before Melissa Heleine overcame Diana Brenes of Costa Rica.

Double delight for Barbara Matic of Croatia as she retained her junior world title at under 70kg ©IJF



The final of the men's under 81kg was contested by the two athletes everyone expected to be in contention as Top seed and Berlin Junior European Cup winner Rafael Macedo of Brazil took on recently crowned Summer Youth Olympic Games champion Mikhail Igolnikov of Russia.

Despite starting with a shido for a false attack, Macedo settled into his rhythm quickly and looked in good nick before throwing Igolnikov with harai-goshi and trapping the Russian in osaekomi for 20 seconds and ippon to take an impressive win.

Georgian Levan Gugava and Pape Doudou Ndiaye of France occupied the third step of the podium after wins over Dutchman Rico Harder and Sweden's Jonas Bjorktorp respectively.

Shido penalties played a crucial factor in the destination of the men's under 90kg gold medal also.

A tight and tense battle between Hungary's senior World Championship silver medal winner Krisztian Toth and Nikoloz Sherazadishvili representing Spain went the way of the Hungarian who received just one shido penalty to Sherazadishvili's two.

Once again, there was a Georgian with a bronze medal around his neck, this time it was Beka Gviniashvili who had too much for Germany's David Tekic.

An armlock with a minute left on the clock ensured Gviniashvili shared the bottom rung with Max De Vreeze of The Netherlands as he defeated Poland's Piotr Kuczera.

Rafael Macedo of Brazil white) defeated Youth Olympic Games champion Mikhail Igolnikov of Russia too take the men's under 81kg crown ©IJF



IJF sports director Daniel Lascau has been impressed by the level of competition during the first three days of the Championships.

"We have seen some very open fights and the young judoka are producing big scores in the last seconds," said the German, a World Championship gold medallist in 1991.

"I am pleased to see a lot of tachi-waza and throwing without going into makikomi.

"This gives me hope that future generations in Rio [2016 Olympic Games] and beyond will present very nice judo."

Tomorrow will see the final individual gold medals of the Championships handed out in women's under 78 and over 78kg, and men's under 100 and over 100kg categories.

Watch the latest action on Judo TV here.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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