Pool A: Tachimoto (JPN)
Polling was the top seed but Tachimoto (JPN) had beaten her at the 2015 Paris Grand Slam so this would not be an easy fight. Polling scored first with drop seoi-nage for yuko. Tachimoto responded with osoto-gari for yuko. The fight then went into Golden Score where Polling was thrown with osoto-gari for yuko. Tachimoto, who had earlier beaten Chao Zhou (CHN) with kosoto-gari and a pin for waza-ari-awasatte-ippon, had a tough battle against Kelita Zupancic (CAN). With no score in regular time the match went into Golden Score, where Tachimoto struck with osoto-gari for waza-ari.
Pool B: Vargas Koch (GER)
Vargas Koch had a surprisingly tough time against Antonia Moreira (ANG) and she seemed truly relieved when the Angolan player accidentally grabbed her leg, resulting in hansoku-make. Her next opponent, Bernadette Graf (AUT), was on paper a much tougher opponent but Vargas Koch was able to throw her with soto-makikomi for ippon.
Pool C: Alvear (COL)
In another incident where a top favourite had difficulty with a relative unknown, Alvear struggled in her match against Maria Perez (PUR). In the end, Alvear managed to scrape through with a penalty win in Golden Score. Interestingly, Alvear was then able to throw a much tougher opponent, World Silver Medallist Maria Bernabeu (ESP), for ippon with an osoto-kosoto combo that landed the Spaniard flat on her back.
Pool D: Conway (GBR)
Emane was the top seed in this pool but she faltered when she came up against Sally Conway (GBR). Emane scored first with a drop sode-tsuri-komi-goshi for yuko. Conway then tried a sumi-gaeshi that failed. Emane pounced on top of her and briefly pinned Conway for what looked like a sure win on the ground. Remarkably, the British player was able to turn the tables on Emane by rolling her onto her back and secure a pin for ippon. It was an astounding newaza counter that's seldom seen at top level competition. Conway then had to fight Linda Bolder (ISR) whom she threw with a sasae-tsuri-komi-ashi for ippon.
Repecharge
The repecharge match between Zupancic and Graf was an epic battle, full of drama. An ura-nage by Graf gave the Austrian a good lead of waza-ari. Zupancic then managed to catch Graf on the ground and pinned her for a good 14 seconds before Graf managed to escape, literally in the nick of time. Had Zupancic manage to hold on for just one second longer, the scores would have been even at a waza-ari each and the match would have probably gone into Golden Score. But Graf escaped that hold and as a result, won that match. The second repercharge match, between Bolder and Bernabeu was a relatively tame affair compared to the high drama of the Zupancic-Graf battle, and in the end the Spanish player won by penalties.
Semi-Final
Tachimoto showed off her throwing skills by dispatching Vargas Koch with an osoto-gari for waza-ari. In the other semi-final, Alvear had a much harder time against Conway and their match went into Golden Score. There, Conway attempted a kouchi-gake which got countered for waza-ari.
Bronze
In the first bronze medal match, a confident Conway executed a perfectly-timed counter against Graf's kouchi for yuko. It was enough to win her the match. Vargas Koch did an ouchi-gake into kouchi-gake combination against Bernabeu in Golden Score. She got a waza-ari for that. Germany had finally gotten its first bronze medal of the competition.
Day 5: Women's -70kg
There were 24 judokas competing in the -70kg division. Top contenders include Kim Polling (NED), Laura Vargas Koch (GER), Yuri Alvear (COL) and Gevrise Emane (FRA). Japan's Haruka Tachimoto was not considered a favourite going into the competition.