And the Russian is the victor, and now the semis are set. The Russian fighter takes on reigning world champ Kim of Korea, while the American Stevens will take on defending Olympic champion Ole Bischoft of Germany.
On the women's side, the Korean Jong takes on Lili Xu of China, while Mongolian Tsedevsuren takes on the Slovanien Urska. Interestingly, the World #1 and #2 in France's Ename and Japan's Ueno have both been knocked out in the quarter finals of the women's competition. Urska is the highest ranked of the remaining competitors at #5 in the world, but she faces a Mongolian who has looked spectacular all day and is fresh off her defeat of the #1 ranked fighter from France. I haven't had a chance to see the Korean and Chinese competitors as I've been watching a feed of mat 2. Based on their bout results, there is not a lot to separate them, aside from the Korean knocking off world #2 Ueno in her last bout. The Chinese fighter has a slightly higher world ranking at #7, the Korean is #11, but this is rather insignificant. Expect a competitive fight, based on the available data.
On the other side, both fighters have looked great. The Slovenian is considerably more experienced in the international circuit, and holds a higher world ranking at #5, and is also the 4th seeded fighter (and the only remaining seeded fighter). The Mongolian has looked on point all tournament however. I expect a competitive fight, but I would not go against the Mongolian.
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