Olympian judoka Watanabe to miss Hanoi SEA Games

MANILA, Philippines – The country will be without Tokyo Olympian judoka Kiyomi Watanabe in the Hanoi Southeast Asian Games slated May 12 to 23.

Philippine Judo Federation secretary-general Dave Carter bared the bad news Tuesday as the 25-year-old’s absence would mean one less gold medal for the country. This since the Filipino-Japanese is a favorite after she delivered one of the three mints the Filipinos won in the last SEA Games two years ago.

Carter, however, said Watanabe has recovered fully from the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury she sustained from years of practice and competition and is back to training by doing drills, running and form practice.

There is optimism though that Watanabe would make it to the Hangzhou Asian Games set September 10 to 25 where she is one of the favorites to strike gold.

Watanabe fought for the gold in the 2018 Jakarta Asiad in the women’s 63-kilogram finals but lost to Japanese Nami Nabekura.