Abe Uta’s “Revenge” to reach the top in L.A. has begun!

He came back even stronger.

The final move he chose was neither his signature Uchimata nor Sode Tsurikomi Koshi, but rather the Ouchigari.

Eight months after her lamentation at the Paris Olympics, Abe Uta, 24, made her return to Japan, winning the All-Japan Selected Weight Class Championships in the 52kg division for the first time.

Abe won the “Judo Grand Slam Baku 2025″ in Azerbaijan this past February, but had not competed in any domestic competitions. In the final, he faced Kisumi Omori, 24, a competitor of the same age who has won international competitions, and the match went into overtime, but Abe won the deadly battle with a powerful ouchigari. Based on this result, Abe and Omori were selected to represent Japan at the World Championships to be held in Hungary in June,” said a sports newspaper desk reporter.

Maki Tsukada, 43, the coach of the Japanese women’s team, commented on the performance, “I felt her determination. I was emotionally shaken,” he exclaimed. Tenri University Judo Club coach Takamasa Anai said, “I felt a little different evidence of growth in their game at this tournament.

Unlike his older brother Hifumi (27), who calmly constructs his tactics, Poetry used to be an “instinctive” judoka, trusting his instincts and throwing his techniques. This time, however, he showed a fighting style in which he carefully constructed his matches.

The symbolic moment was the semifinal against Suzu Takeuchi (27). Takeuchi is a player who excels at the hugging game (close combat), which is similar to Diyora Keldiyorova (26, Uzbekistan), who defeated Poi in Paris. In the past, Poetry would have chosen a fighting style in which she would forcefully twist her opponent into a hugging contest, but this time, she calmly carried the match by following kumite procedures and emphasizing the importance of the timing.

In the final, he won by Ippon with an Ouchigari using his “throwing instinct” and momentum, which are his strengths. He showed his ability to be flexible, using his old self and his new self in different ways.

I think I will win the World Championships in June if I do judo like I did this time. I don’t know yet if Keldiyorova will compete, but if she does, she will get her revenge. This is because Poetry is in search of not repeating the same mistakes.

Poetry’s judo has already reached a height in terms of technique and tactics. From now on, he can grow even more by expanding his “width,” not in terms of “height,” but in terms of the number of techniques he can draw from. If she does so, she should be able to gain revenge at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2008.

The queen has come back stronger than ever after the humiliation in Paris.

From the April 25-May 2, 2025 issue of “FRIDAY