Judoka Kajzer fifth in women's 57kg category in Tokyo
Tokyo - Slovenian judoka Kaja Kajzer finished fifth in the women's 57kg category at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday after losing the bronze medal match to Jessica Klimkait of Canada, the reigning world champion and currently the best ranked judoka in the category.
The 21-year-old stood up to the Canadian in the four minutes of regulation time. In the extra time, Klimkait defeated Kajzer with a waza-ari after one minute and eight seconds.
This is so far the best result for Slovenian judokas at the Tokyo Olympics, after Adrian Gomboc finished seventh in the men's 66kg category on Sunday.
Kajzer nevertheless felt disappointed after the loss in which she was obviously struggling with an ankle injury. "Currently I am at a loss of words. I am disappointed and sad," the Slovenian said after the match.
The loss in the bronze medal match comes after the Slovenian scored two wins, only to concede in the quarter-finals to Nora Gjakova of Kosovo, who went on to win the gold medal. "That was the toughest match," Kajzer said.
Another important day for Slovenian judokas in Tokyo comes tomorrow as Tina Trstenjak will be defending her gold medal in the women's 63kg category from the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.