Haruka Funakubo missed out on her first judo world championships gold medal Tuesday after losing by ippon to Japan-born Canadian Christa Deguchi in the women's 57-kilogram division final in Doha.
Funakubo, who came second on her tournament debut last year in Tashkent, again settled for the runner-up spot after conceding a waza-ari to Deguchi's big inner reap before going down to a body drop from the 2019 champion.
"I didn't have the resolve to be the world champion," said the 24-year-old Funakubo, who leads the race for the Paris Olympics spot in the weight class for Japan. "I'm really frustrated. I want to face judo more seriously."
Deguchi, meanwhile, was buoyed by the title after missing out on the Tokyo Olympics spot for Canada in 2021.
"I don't want to go through that frustration again," said the 27-year-old. "The 2019 (world) title was unexpected. I aimed for it this time and managed to take care of each bout."
Japan's gold medal tally remains at three in Doha after Soichi Hashimoto came third in the men's 73 kg, claiming a medal at the worlds for the third straight year. Nils Stump of Switzerland won the class after beating Manuel Lombardo of France in the final.