Lucy Renshall digests her Taskhent disappointment with Abu Dhabi gold

As Lucy Renshall disappointed in Tashkent, the number one in the ranking appeared in Abu Dhabi a week later and the question we asked ourselves was if she had chewed and digested her world championship disappointment with a gold medal. Her opponent in the final was Portuguese Barbara Timo.

It was Renshall vs. Timo and they stayed on the same level throughout the morning. The Portuguese did better in Tashkent and surely Renshall had that parameter in mind, but all those calculations evaporated when the referee called hajime. The British seemed fresher and stronger, enough to put a lot of pressure on the Portuguese, but she couldn't go further and find the definitive gap. Timo endured the downpour, as if she were in the rain without an umbrella, without a raincoat and without anything at home to prepare a hot soup. Of all her fights on the day, this was the weakest, but it is also true that her opponent was the best of the day and she showed it twelve seconds from the golden score with an unstoppable ippon. A fifth gold in a grand slam for Renshall, a well deserved title and silver and maybe pneumonia for the Portuguese.

Bronze for Joanne Van Lieshout

Van Lieshout beat an unlucky Obradovic for the bronze. The Dutch scored waza-ari and also the Serbian was injured in the action. There are such bad days and we hope that the damage is not serious. As for Lieshout, hers was a good tournament that ended happily. Her compatriot Sanne Vermeer was unlucky at the World team Championships and got injured to her knee and seems to be out for quite a long time.

Gili Sharir takes bronze

Iva Oberan went from brushing for gold to fighting for bronze against Israel's rock-solid Gili Sharir. This young Oberan is one of the best surprises of the year. She has a winning demeanor, she doesn't cringe and tries to impose her style, not to adapt to what is in front of her. Since Barbara Matic reigns in -70kg and her compatriot Lara Cvjetko has come to help her, we open our eyes wide and activate all our antennae every time a Croatian judoka enters the tatami. That is why we look at Iva Oberan, 22 years old. As she was taller than Sharir, Oberan had won the kumi-kata battle and the referees understood it that way, sanctioning the Israeli twice. But in trust, sometimes sin is hidden and the Israeli dismantled the Croat's defence with a waza-ari that made noise. It was time to see Oberan's ability to overcome adversity, knowing also that the Israeli never gives up. The damage could come from a third shido and the Croat had fifty seconds to score or earn hansoku-make. Fifty seconds can be very long or very short. For the Croatian they were few and in the end Sharir won the bronze. Oberan will have to wait.

Oberan who disposed of the Czech Renata Zachova in style, scoring waza-ari, holding her rival's attacks and waiting for the right moment to counterattack and, in this case, score another waza-ari instead of managing time. It was a victory of quality that adds another name to the list of golden nuggets for Croatian judo. Oberan shone again against the Dutch Van Lieshout, but the real test to determine her projection came later, in the quarter-finals against Renshall. What we saw was a young Croatian woman who embarrassed Renshall but ended up handing over her weapons. There is little left, just a little, to dominate this type of situation. At the moment, Renshall does it and that is why she is where she is. The category was fully European because at the bottom the Serbian Anja Obradovic played her semi-final against Barbara Timo. Timo put in her best quality and won by ippon, following in the footsteps of her excellent bronze medal in Tashkent.