DUSSELDORF, Germany -- Shohei Ono has booked a spot on the Japanese men's judo team at the Tokyo Olympics this year, thanks to his win in the men's 73-kilogram class at the Dusseldorf Grand Slam tournament in Germany on Saturday.
Despite winning with a top-notch performance, Ono's expression did not relax. "I was only able to perform at the minimum level. I wouldn't say it was rain, but it was cloudy," Ono said.
He may be headed for the Olympics, but he is certainly not suffering from a swelled head.
The techniques Ono repeatedly displayed at the tournament in Dusseldorf overwhelmed his opponents. He won by ippon in five matches to reach the final, including nailing a splendid uchimata leg throw in the second round.
The different level of his skills was also visible in the final bout against former world champion An Changrim of South Korea, whom Ono defeated in an epic battle at the final of the Asian Games in 2018. On Saturday, Ono secured a waza-ari with an uchimata to take the Dusseldorf gold.
"Change is progress. The accumulation of small things that only I'm aware of has a big impact in the matches," Ono has said in the past.
Ono did not attend the Osaka Grand Slam tournament last November due to an injured index finger on his left hand. "Those were fretful days," he said. However, he trained intensely at his alma mater of Tenri University and elsewhere, and showed overwhelming strength in Dusseldorf. It was his first return to competition after an about six-month break following the world championships in Tokyo last summer.
"He figures out how to compete as he's battling each opponent," said Japanese men's coach Kosei Inoue, expressing his enormous trust in Ono.
Ono has won every tournament he has participated in from the 2018 Asian Games on. He expressed his pride as the No. 1 judoka in his division, saying: "I feel like every other athlete in the 73-kilogram division is after my neck. Since the Rio Games, I've wanted to compete at a level that ordinary judoka can't."
Seeking a repeat victory at the Olympics, this gold medalist is breaking new ground.
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