Kiyomi Watanabe


Kiyomi Watanabe, is a Japanese-Filipino judoka who has represented the Philippines in international competitions.

Early life and education

She was born on August 25, 1996 in Cebu City to a Japanese father and a Filipino mother from Mandaue. She spent some part of her childhood in Cebu City and studied at St. Paul Learning Center. She moved to Japan when she was eight years old.
Watanabe entered Waseda University to obtain a degree in sports science. She is a second year student by February 2016.

Career

Philippines

She first competed for the Philippines at the 2011 Southeast Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia.
She won a gold medal for the Philippines at the 2013 Southeast Asian Games in the women's 64 kg event. She also won a bronze at the 2013 Asian Youth Judo Championship in Hainan, China.
As of December 2013, she ranks fourth in her weight division in Japan. Her mother, Irene Sarausad has assured that her daughter will continue in representing the Philippines.
Watanabe won the Philippines' first gold medal at the Asian Youth Judo Championship during the tournaments 2014 edition held in December 13–14 in Hong Kong.
In order to qualify in the 2016 Summer Olympics, Watanabe competed in the Paris Grand Slam in February 2016 and will compete at the Asian Judo Senior's Championship held in Uzbekistan on April of the same year. Watanabe ended as one of the top 16 judokas at the tournament held in Paris.
On February 12, 2017 at the Grand Slam Paris, Watanabe won a bronze medal after defeating Lucy Renshall of the United Kingdom in the under 63 kilogram event. The medal was the first for the Philippines in the IJF World Judo Tour. She later settled for silver after losing to Austrian Kathrin Unterwurzacher in the final of the same category at the 2017 European Women's Open Tournament in Austria. Watanabe breached the top 25 of the Judo world rankings which was released by the International Judo Federation in the same month. She was ranked 23.
The Philippines' first silver medal at the 2018 Asian Games was from Watanabe who lost to Nami Nabekura of Japan in the women's -63kg final.

Tournaments in Japan

Watanabe won a silver at the 2014 All Japan High School Judo Championship. She later won gold medals at the All Japan College University Championship and All Japan Teams Championship in 2015.