And, after sixth seed Ma overcame Japan's Misato Nakamura in the final at the Mitsubishi Electric Halle, to add to the titles she won at the Ulaanbaatar and Qingdao Grand Prix in 2014, they may just have found it.

At 30, Ma has been around for a while but she totally dominated this final, blocking all her opponent's attacks and being active enough to avoid being penalised.

Nakamura was penalised once during regular time, but it proved to be enough for Ma, who secured precious points for Rio 2016 qualification.

Top seed Andreea Chitu of Romania beat Belarus' Skrypnik Darya in the first bronze medal match, before Germany's Mareen Kraeh got the better of Israel's Gili Cohen to the delight of the home crowd.

Despite the disappointment for Nakamura, compatriots Toru Shishime and Kengo Takaichi managed to go one better in the men's under 60kg and under 66kg categories respectively.

Outsider Shishime claimed victory against Kim Won Jin of South Korea, the world number seven and winner of last year's Tokyo Grand Slam, after his opponent received three penalties.

Ma Yingnan (centre, left) clutches her gold medal ©IJF




In the under 60kg bronze medal matches, Kazakhstan's Rustam Ibrayev made short work of Georgia's world number two Amiran Papinashvili, while Spain's junior world champion Francisco Garrigos lost out to Brazil's Phelipe Pelim.

Takaichi, ranked 15th in the world, was also an underdog going into his weight category's final against top seed and 2014 Asian Games champion Tumurkhuleg Davaadorj of Mongolia, but he managed to hold his nerve to secure the win.

South Korea's An Baul got the better of France's David Larose in the second bronze medal match after Russia's Yakub Shamilov had suffered defeat at the hands of Georgia's Vazha Margvelashvili in the first.

The women's under 48kg final saw Belgium's Charline Van Snick square up against Mongolia's Munkhbat Urantsetseg, having beaten reigning world champion, Kondo Ami of Japan, in the second round.

Both athletes cancelled each other out for more than three minutes but Van Snick, stripped of a bronze medal at the 2013 World Championships following a controversial positive drugs test for cocaine, was more active and took the gold medal after Munkhbat was penalised with a single shido.

Japan's Kengo Takaichi upset the odds to take the men's under 66kg title ©IJF



South Korea's Jeong Bo Kyeong won the first bronze medal match against Romania's Monica Ungureanu before Italy's Valentina Moscatt fell to Japan's Asami Haruna.

Brazil's Rafaela Silva, the 2013 world champion, out fought Mongolia's Sumiya Dorjsuren in the women's under 57kg final, scoring an early waza-ari and completing the job with an ippon 14 seconds before the final gong.

Automne Pavia of France beat fellow countrywoman Laetitia Blot in the first bronze medal match, which was followed by success for Hungary's Hedvig Karakas against Taipei's Lien Chen-Ling.

The action is due continue tomorrow in Düsseldorf with the men's under 73kg and under 81kg categories, and the women's under 63kg and under 70kg classes. 

Watch the latest action on Judo TV here.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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