Japan's Kosei Inoue got off to solid start yesterday, dominating the under-100kg class on the opening day of the world judo championships.
Inoue, bidding for his third straight under-100kg title, advanced to the semifinal at Osaka Jo Hall after defeating three judoka, including Georgia's Iveri Jikurauli in the final bout of the qualifying rounds.
PHOTO: AFP
Olympic gold medalist Inoue will face Canada's Nicolas Gill in the semis in a rematch of the final at the Sydney Olympics.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Gill, who took home the silver in Sydney, advanced when he defeated Brazilian Mario Sabino, who was penalized for non-combativity late in the bout.
In a major upset, European champion Ariel Zeevi of Israel was eliminated in the qualifying round by Kazakstan's Askhat Zhitkeyev.
Italy's Michele Monti and France's Ghislain Lemaire booked the other semifinal spots.
In the men's over-100kg class, pint-sized Yasuyuki Muneta of Japan defeated European heavyweight champion Tamerlan Tmenov of Russia.
Muneta also defeated Tmenov at the Jigoro Kano Cup in Tokyo in January.
Tmenov, the Sydney bronze medalist, was on the attack for most of the match but was penalized for a defensive posture with 28 seconds left to give Muneta the victory. Russia was expected to dominate the heavyweight divisions at the four-day championships and Tmenov's early exit was a clear setback.
Muneta went on to defeat Iran's Mohmoud Miranfashandi with an inside thigh throw to advance to the semifinals.
Yevgen Sotnikov of Ukraine also advanced to the over-100kg semis along with Brazil's Daniel Hernandes and Dennis Van Der Geest of the Netherlands.
In the women's under-78kg class, Japan's Noriko Anno, who is aiming for her fourth light-heavyweight title in the world championships, advanced along with Spain's Esther San Miguel, Ednanci Silva of Brazil and Cuba'a Yurisel Laborde.
Japan's Maki Tsukada booked a place in the over-78kg semifinals along with Cuba'a Daima Beltran, Germany's Sandra Koeppen and China's Sun Fuming.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later