Asian Games Judo 2010 China Canton

ASIAN GAMES

Takahashi wins men's open category gold in judo

Tuesday 16th November, 06:50 PM JST

GUANGZHOU, China —

Kazuhiko Takahashi bagged Japan’s seventh judo gold of the Asian Games by winning the open category title on Tuesday, while Hiroaki Hiraoka and Tomoko Fukumi settled for silver in bitter defeats in the men’s 60 kilograms and women’s 48 kg, respectively.
Takahashi, the national champion who scored an ippon win over Ulan Ryskul of Kazakhstan in the semifinal, deployed an uchimata leg sweep against Mohammad Reza Rodaki of Iran to seal victory at Huagong Stadium.
‘‘As I have been chosen to compete here, I had to produce no matter what,’’ Takahashi said. ‘‘Today’s win is huge as I had to overcome many challenges.’‘
Takahashi, despite having slipped to seventh at the open class in the world championships, said the national title he holds gives him encouragement, and vowed to defend it next year.
In the 60 kg, Hiraoka heaved Amartuvshin Dashdavaa of Mongolia down with a shoulder throw in the semifinals, but surrendered on an ippon loss to top-ranked and world champion Rishod Sobirov of Uzbekistan after suffering a right-knee injury in the final.
In the 48 kg, world silver medalist Tomoko Fukumi looked the aggressor with her mat techniques and leg maneuvers, but lost the judges’ decision 2-1 against her Chinese opponent Wu Shugen after a three-minute scoreless overtime.
‘‘I didn’t think I was losing, but I think I have to throw my opponent to win a match,’’ said Fukumi, who had used her leg techniques to prevail over Bat Erdene Baljinnyam of Mongolia on points in the semifinals.
‘‘I’m not satisfied with my matches today. It also made me realize that I didn’t improve from the world championships.’‘
In the women’s open field, Megumi Tachimoto pinned North Korea’s Sol Kyong, the women’s 70-kg silver medalist here, in the repechage before salvaging a bronze by tripping up Thailand’s Bunduang Thonthan just 11 seconds into the medals match.
‘‘I’m frustrated at myself. I couldn’t do anything against her (Liu Huanyuan),’’ Tachimoto said, referring to her quarterfinal loss against the Chinese 2006 Asian Games champion and the eventual winner in the open.
‘‘I want to be able to deploy my techniques even against opponents larger than me.’‘
Japan finished its judo campaign with seven gold, four silver and four bronze medals in four days. South Korea had six golds, three silvers and five bronzes.