Haruna Asami

Haruna Asami ( Japanese 浅見 八 瑠 奈 , Asami Haruna ; born April 12, 1988 ) is a former Japanese judoka who was world champion in 2010 and 2011 and second in the world championship in 2013 and 2015.

Athletic career

Haruna Asami competed in the super lightweight, the weight class up to 48 kilograms. In 2009 she won the World Cup tournaments in Sofia and Vienna. At the Universiade in Belgrade she defeated the Mongolin Mönchbatyn Urantsetseg in the final . The following year, at the 2010 World Championships in Tokyo , she defeated the Portuguese Leandra Freitas in the quarter-finals and the Romanian Alina Alexandra Dumitru in the semifinals . In the final, she won against defending champion Tomoko Fukumi . In 2011 Asami won the Grand Slam tournament in Paris and the Grand Slam in Rio de Janeiro . At the 2011 World Championships in Paris, she defeated the Chinese Wu Shugen in the quarter-finals and the Brazilian Sarah Menezes in the semifinals . As in the previous year, the two Japanese women met in the final and Asami won again. A quarter of a year after the World Championships, the two met in the final of the Grand Slam tournament in Tokyo , after three tournament victories by Tomoko Fukumi, Asami won this time. Haruna Asami largely missed the 2012 season, with Fukumi playing for Japan at the Olympic Games in London .

At the end of 2012 Asami won the Grand Slam in Tokyo, and in early 2013 she also won the tournament in Paris. At the 2013 World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Asami reached the final with a quarter-final victory over the Cuban Dayaris Mestre Álvarez and a semi-final victory over the Belgian Charline Van Snick , this time she was defeated by the Mongolian Mönchbatyn Urantsetseg. In 2014 Asami hardly appeared, as in 2012, at the end of the year she lost to her compatriot Ami Kondo in the final of the Tokyo Grand Slam tournament . In 2015 Asami won the Asian Championships in Kuwait, defeating Mönchbatyn Urantsetseg in the final. At the 2015 World Championships in Astana, she defeated the Mongolians in the round of 16. In the quarterfinals she won against the Ukrainian Maryna Tschernjak and in the semifinals against the Brazilian Nathalia Brigida , in the final she was defeated by the Argentinian Paula Pareto . At the end of 2015, Asami lost the final at the Grand Slam in Tokyo against Ami Kondo. In 2016, Asami's career ended without participating in the Olympics , Ami Kondo competed for Japan at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro .

Web links

• Tournament results at judoinside.com