Maki Tsukada qualified for the world judo championships after winning her eighth straight title at the national heavyweight class championships yesterday in Yokohama.
The 27-year-old Tsukada, the Athens Olympic over-78kg champion and Beijing Olympic silver medallist, threw Sae Nakazawa down for an nippon to win the final.
She also defeated world open class champion and Asian champion Mika Sugimoto in the semi-finals, avenging her loss in the over-78kg final at the nationals earlier this month.
"After the Beijing Olympics, I started from the first step. I came into this tournament with a fresh feeling," said Tsukada, who will compete in the over-78kg class at the championships.
"It was very, very disappointing that I lost the over-78kg final, but I must compete in this tournament and it made me concentrate very well. I really want to be back to the top of the world again," added Tsukada.
She joined Tomoko Fukumi (48kg), Misato Nakamura (52kg), Kaori Matsumoto (57kg), Yoshie Ueno (63kg), Mina Watanabe (70kg), and Nakazawa (78kg) at the world championships, which take place in the Netherlands in August.