Two-time Southeast Asian Games champion Kiyomi Watanabe bagged the country’s lone gold medal in the 2017 Taipei Asia Open Judo Championship held in New Taipei City, Taiwan. Watanabe bested Chika Kudo of Japan in the gold-medal match to claim the top honors in the women’s 63-kilogram category. Watanabe, 20, whose mother is from Toledo City, Cebu made it to the finals by ousting Cheng Yu Ching of Taiwan in the semifinals. She really wanted to win a third-straight gold medal in the SEA Games. Watanabe earned a silver medal in the 2017 European Open Women Championship in Oberwart, Austria and a bronze in the 2017 Grand Slam Paris in France.

Source: Manila Times July 10, 2017 10:41 UTC