Reigning Olympic champions Uta Abe and Hifumi Abe achieved yet another incredible siblings double by winning gold at the Judo World Championships in Tashkent on Friday.
Uta Abe beat Britain's Chelsie Giles, reigning European champion, in the -52 kg final. Her only real scare of the day came in her semi-final against Amandine Buchard of France, who came close to victory in extra time. At 22, she has thus won her third world title after 2018 and 2019.
A few minutes after her win, big brother Hifumi, 25, also won for the third time, dominating his compatriot Joshiro Maruyama in the -66 kg final.
The siblings have therefore succeeded in their incredible bet to bring back two gold medals on the same day, as they did at the Tokyo Olympics last year and at the 2018 World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan.
After two days of competition in the Uzbek capital, Japan already has four titles from four events, including wins on Thursday by Natsumi Tsunoda (-48 kg) and Naohisa Takato (-60 kg).
Results of the second day of the Tashkent World Championships are:
Men: -66 kg: 1. Hifumi Abe (Japan); 2. Joshiro Maruyama (Japan); 3. An Baul (South Korea) and Denis Vieru (Moldova).
Women: -52 kg: 1. Uta Abe (Japan); 2. Chelsie Giles (Great Britain); 3. Distria Krasniqi (Kosovo) and Amandine Buchard (France).
