Russia and Japan top final Judo events

NAPOLI, 7 July – Judo competition concluded at the 30^thSummer Universiade on Sunday. This last day was dedicated to team events that played out at a filled-to-capacity Judo Hall in Mostra d’Oltremare, with spectators cheering and supporting the teams.

The Japanese women’s team beat Russia 3-0 in the final to win gold, while Germany beat Brazil 3-2 in the bronze medal contest.

 

German coach Maxime Lambert said, “This was one of the biggest team competitions we had in judo. There were 31 men’s teams and 26 women’s teams. I think It’s even bigger than the world championship, so it’s pretty nice to have so many countries.”

 

“I think the Asian teams dominated,” he continued. “It was a surprise for me that Russia won gold in the men’s event and also that the Japanese lost to the Koreans!”

 

In the men’s event, Russia beat Korea 3-2 to win the gold medal. The level of competition was high, as mentioned by Vikor Havasi, one of the referees, who stated that many top-level athletes competed here, even though it was only one week after the European Games.

 

Results

Men’s Team

1. Russia

2. Korea

3. Japan, Azerbaijan

Women’s Team

1. Japan

2. Russia

3. Germany, Korea

 

NAPOLI, 6 July – The Japanese women continued their domination on the tatami Saturdayevening thanks to triumphs by Ryoko Takeda and Maya Akiba at Mostra d’Oltremare.

 

With one day to go in the Napoli 2019 judo competition, Japan has now captured five goldmedals and one silver in six women’s events. The men’s team has also contributed with threemedals, one of each colour. 

 

In an interesting twist, the one Japanese woman who had settled for silver earlier in the tournament avenged that loss on Day 3. 

In the women’s open final, Akiba edged Han Mi-jin in extra time after the referee issued a third non-combativity warning to the South Korean, resulting in her disqualification. The two rivals had met in the +70 kg title match on Thursday, with Han prevailing by ippon. 

 

“I was feeling pressure because all my teammates had won gold medals so far, so I didn’twant to settle for second place again. I was more aggressive today and I think that was thedifference,” said the 21-year-old victor, whose opponent was also the gold medallist at +78 kgat the 2017 Universiade in Taipei. “This is definitely one of the biggest wins of my career. This is the Olympics for university athletes. I’m very happy.” 

 

Sebile Akbulut of Turkey and Brazil’s Sibilla Faccholli claimed the bronze medals.The women’s -52 kg final was also a duel between Japan and South Korea, and also required overtime.In the extra period, Takeda needed medical attention twice for a minor head injury. Mere seconds after the second timeout, she scored a waza-ari against Universiade veteran Park Da-sol, the 2017 bronze medallist at -52 kg. 

 

“I’m extremely happy,” said the 20-year-old, who claimed the junior world title in 2018. “I really wanted to participate in the Universiade and win the tournament. I’m kind of relieved, to behonest, because our team has been doing so well. I didn’t want to let my teammates down.”

 

Diyora Keldiyorova of Uzbekistan and Russia’s Daria Bobrikova also stepped on the podium.

 

In men’s action, Denis Vieru of Moldova defeated Japan’s Ranto Katsura in the -66 kg final,while Galymzhan Krikbay of Kazakhstan was crowned over France’s Hadrien Livolsi in theopen category.

The bronze medals went to Willian Lima of Brazil (-66 kg), Ismail Chasygov of Russia (-66 kg), Jur Spijkers of the Netherlands (open) and Davlat Bobonov of Uzbekistan (open).

 

Making his second straight FISU Games appearance, Vieru had experience on his side against an opponent five years his junior. The 23-year-old had already won three major international competitions earlier this year and is heading to the world championships in August.

 

The final was closely contested but Vieru finally prevailed thanks to a waza-ari midway through regulation time.

 

“I’m thrilled. It feels amazing. I’ve had a great season so far and I hope it continues,” said the champion. “It was a close-fought final, and I happy I came out on top.”

 

In the open championship match, Krikbay, 21, used his size advantage to overpower his 24- year-old rival, who suffered a leg injury early in the contest. The Kazakh won by ippon at the 2:20 mark.

 

“I’m sorry my opponent got hurt. You never want to see that,” said Krikbay, who has beencompeting on the international stage since 2015. “I’m very pleased with my performance. I was very aggressive right from the start and it paid off.”

 

Results

5 July 

NAPOLI  – The competitions in judo are taking place over four consecutive days, from 4-7 July, at Pavilion 6 of the Mostra d’Oltremare. It is a remarkable location in Naples as it offers access to numerous parks and is considered to be the largest trade fair venue in southern Italy.

 

The second competition day saw judokas fight for medals in weight categories under 57kg and 63kg among women and under 73kg and -81kg among men. The day started with preliminary round of 32 for women and round of 64 for men.

Preliminary rounds

In the men’s -81kg category, Janosch Hanfeld of Germany was able to block his opponent Romanian Razvan Bodea from the very first seconds and finished that battle in about one minute. But later, the German ran into South Korea’s Moon Jin Lee. Both athletes made numerous spirited attempts but Moon Jin Lee proved to be more powerful and moved to the finals.

 

The fight between Russia’s Evgenii Prokopchuk and South Korea’s Heoncheol Kang in the -73kg class took time before the stronger athlete emerged. After some quick and rough action, Prokopchuk triumphed. In the quarterfinals, the Russian fought against Deividas Tarulis from Lithuania and won again, advancing to the semi-finals as the leader of his pool.

 

In the women’s -57kg competition, Maria Skora of Ukraine and Korea’s Kim Jisu had an intense fight but the Korean won in the full time of four minutes.

 

Having excelled in two other preliminary fights, Czech Renata Zachova was happy with her over Finland’s Alexandra Barton in the -63kg quarterfinals as it gave her a chance to fight for the bronze medal. Geke Van den Berg of the Netherlands also moved to the semi-finals.

 

Semi-finals & Finals

In the -81kg category, Hikaru Tomokiyo from Japan won the gold medal, beating Moon Jin Lee from South Korea, and the losing semfinalists – Dorin Gotonoaga (MDA) and Tato Grigalashvili (GEO) had to be satisfied with bronze. 

 

25-year-old Russian Prokopchuk, who won a silver medal at the European Open in Rome earlier this year, won the -73kg category, beating Hidayat Heydarov of Azerbijan. Bronze was taken by Khikmatillokh Turaev of Uzbekistan and Tsogtbaatar Tsend-Ochir of Mongolia.

 

Evgeny Prokopchuk was overwhelmed with emotions after winning the gold medal and found it difficult to describe what he felt. “It is the first time I have achieved such a big result. I did work very hard. We had a great training camp in Croatia. Together with my coaches, we put in a lot of work and prepared well. Every fight today was a tough one for me,” he said.

 

Kamila Badurova, who won bronze in the -63kg category had expected better from herself. “I am a little bit disappointed because of the bronze medal,” she said. “I was hoping to advance to the final fight and get a gold medal because I am not sure if I will be able to participate in the next Universiade.”

 

Silver medallist Geke Van den Berg said she was “pretty satisfied” with her performance. “In the final, I had to fight with a Japanese athlete who I didn’t know. I think I did well as it is always tough to beat Japanese athletes. It was a tough competition and I am happy to be on the podium.”

 

The winner in the women’s weight category -57kg was also Japanese. Kana Tomizawa, also the bronze medalist of the 2018 Junior World Championships, said she, “I am happy about the medal. It is my birthday today so the gold medal is a great present for me.”

 

The woman she beat though, burst into tears. Gaetane Debert said she was aiming for a better result. “It is a big event. I am not very happy with the silver medal because I wanted to get gold. In the end, I do have a medal, and that is good.”

 

The competition continues on July 6 with individual events in the open weight category and the categories under 52kg (women) and under 66kg (men). The draw that was organized during the one-hour break between competitions on Friday defined an opponent for every athlete. July 7 will see team competitions.

 

Results:

Men, -81kg (out of 42 participants)

Gold: Hikaru Tomokiyo (JAP)

Silver: Moon Jin Lee (KOR)

Bronze: Dorin Gotonoaga (MDA)

Bronze: Tato Grigalashvili (GEO)

 

Men, -73kg (out of 37 participants)

Gold: Evgenii Prokopchuk (RUS)

Silver: Hidayat Heydarov (AZE)

Bronze: Khikmatillokh Turaev (UZB)

Bronze: Tsogtbaatar Tsend-Ochir (MGL)

 

Women, -63kg (out of 30 participants)

Gold: Nana Kota (JAP)

Silver: Geke Van den Berg (NED)

Bronze: Baasanjargal Bayarbat (MGL)

Bronze: Kamila Badurova (RUS)

 

Women, -57kg (out of 27 participants)

Gold: Kana Tomizawa (JAP)

Silver: Gaetane Deberdt (FRA)

Bronze: Natalia Golomidova (RUS)

Bronze: Jisu Kim (KOR)

 

 

4 July: Double gold for Japan in Judo

Napoli, 4 July – The first day of the Judo competition was intense. During the final rounds, seven winners were decided on Ippon, a winning move that awards the highest score. The sizeable crowd at Pavilion 6 at Mostra d’Oltremare was thrilled as team Japan emerged biggest winner of the day, with one gold medal and two silver. Japan was closely followed by Russia, with one gold, one silver and one bronze.

 

One of the most eye-catching matches was the women’s 70kg gold medal bout. Japanese athlete Shiho Tanaka (left) had to fight tough and remain aggressive throughout against her Russian Madina Taimazova. The two fought till the last moment, taking the bout into overtime. Within seconds after that, Tanaka defeated Taizamova with ippon.

 

“My goal was to win the gold medal and I am happy that I made it,” said a delighted Tanaka afterwards. She is a Universiade freshman and says she has found the atmosphere at the Universiade as very unique. Along with training she has also had a lot of fun in these days.

 

Austria’s Johannes Pacher (right) won the gold medal in the men’s 90kg category, also with ipponover Georgia’s Lasha Bekauri.

 

“It is amazing to win a gold medal for my country” he said. “I hope it can become an inspiration for others to also win and achieve what I have achieved now.”

 

For Sarah Maekelburg of Germany in the women’s competition and Gustavo Assis of Brazil in the men’s, this year’s competition was a sweet opportunity to make amends for disappointment the last time round.

 

Both of them had participated in the Taipei 2017 Summer Universiade, but had gone home without a medal. This time, they both won bronze in their respective categories.

 

“Last time, I thought it was the worse thing to go home without a medal,” said Maekelburg (below) who claimed bronze in the women’s-70kg. “This time I am happy to go home with a medal. I think this is because I developed well in training during these two years.”

 

Judo competition continues on 5 July, starting at 11:00 am, and will see finals in the women’s -57kg and -63kg, and men’s -73kg and -81kg.

 

By U-Media Reporter Jie-Yao Ma

 

Results:

Women’s -70kg

Gold: Shiho TANAKA (JPN)

Silver: Madina TAIMAZOVA (RUS)

Bronze: Sarah MAEKELBURG (GER), Hanna ANTYKALO (UKR)

 

Women’s +70kg

Gold: Mi Jin HAN (KOR)

Silver: Maya AKIBA (JPN)

Bronze: Sebile AKBULUT (TUR), Anna GUSHCHINA (RUS)

                       

Men’s -90kg

Gold: Johannes PACHER (AUT)

Silver: Lasha BEKAURI (GEO)

Bronze: Gustavo ASSIS (BRA), Krisztian Toth (HUN) 

 

Men’s +90kg

Gold: Ruslan SHAKHBAZOV (RUS)

Silver: Kanta NAKANO (JPN)

Bronze: Mukhammadkarim KHURRAMOV (UZB), Minjong KIM (KOR)