A riotous crowd cheered as South Korea defeated Team USA in the men's team kendo competition in the final round of the 13th World Kendo Championship in Taipei on Sunday.
It was a historic moment, as Japan, the spiritual home of kendo, failed to take top honors for the first time in the tournament's 36-year history. South Korea, on the other hand, finally escaped second place, where it had languished for the past six tournaments.
The one-day team kendo competition was a round-robin affair, with each team offering five competitors, gaining either one point through victory or no points for draws.
Team USA turned in the most remarkable performance, besting Japan 3-2 in a semi-final match that came down to the final competitor.
In the finals, however, USA's luck ran out as South Korea captain Kim Jeong-guk delivered a decisive head strike against Marvin Kawasaki. Team USA lost the match 2-0.
USA coach Yuji Onitsuka said he wasn't surprised by his team's strong performance.
"That's what we came here to do," he said before the final match.
Many members of Team USA are second and third-generation Japanese living in the US, and had become accustomed to third place performances, such as in the previous World Kendo Championship in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2003.
Unlike other tournaments, kendo does not include a third-place consolation match, preferring to award two "third place" finishes, a reflection of the sport's oft-described origins as "the way of the samurai."
Taiwan turned in a strong performance, reaching the semi-finals before being defeated by Korea 5-0. They shared third place with Japan.
In women's team competition, Japan took first and was followed by South Korea with Germany and Canada sharing third place.
This year's tournament was notable for the presence of new, up-and-coming teams from Eastern Europe such as Poland and Bulgaria. A total of 39 teams took part in the men's team competition.
In singles competition held on Saturday, it was an all-Japan final with M. Hojo defeating T. Tanaka. A pair of Korean competitors, S. Kang and G. Oh, shared third place.
M. Hojo is a police officer from a prefecture outside Tokyo. In the championship match he showed remarkable skill, ending the match with an oh, a point scored by striking the opponent's abdomen.
His opponent, T. Tanaka, was gracious in defeat, and benefited from a very short semi-final match that required much less than the allotted five minutes to overcome his Korean opponent.
"I want to do beautiful kendo," Tanaka said after the match, adding that it was the first time he had fought against fellow countryman Hojo, who he described as a worthy opponent with great spirit.
In women's singles competition, it was an all-Japan sweep. First place went to S. Sugimoto, with K. Komuro taking second, while E. Inagaki and M. Shimokawa shared third place.
Throughout the weekend competition, a near-capacity crowd was on hand at the National Taiwan University Gymnasium showing considerable spirit and cheering loudly, as well as snapping up kendo equipment and souvenirs sold at the venue.
Taro Ariga, the CEO of an online kendo shop, says a basic set of equipment including helmet and pads can run anywhere from US$300 to US$10,000.
The shinai (bamboo sword) used in competition can be had for as little as US$50 or as much as US$200, with higher-end swords made from Japanese bamboo.
For one Taipei-area police officer who regularly practices kendo, the tournament was well worth the price of admission, as he was able to choose from a wide array of equipment for sale as well as observe world-class competition.
He said it takes an average of 10 years to gain the skills necessary to compete in world-class competition, with most local practitioners, or kendoka, simply appreciative of the exercise and conditioning, which he compared to boxing.
At the awards ceremony, teams from 49 countries gathered together one last time, celebrating the comraderie of teammates and fellow competitors, no doubt looking forward to the 14th World Kendo Championship in three years.
MEDVEDEV AWAITS: The world No. 1 Spainiard said that he is ‘finding the right shots’ as he pushed his record so far this year to 16 victories and no losses Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday extended his unbeaten season and got revenge over Cameron Norrie to reach the semi-finals at Indian Wells for a fifth straight year. The world No. 1 from Spain emerged from a see-saw battle with 29th-ranked Norrie with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. In the semis tomorrow, he faces Russian Daniil Medvedev, who pushed his own ATP winning streak to eight matches with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over defending champion Jack Draper. World No. 2 Jannik Sinner powered past Learner Tien 6-1, 6-2 to line up a semi-final with fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Arthur Fils. Alcaraz, 22, became
Thanks to Italy beating Mexico on Wednesday, the US get another chance in the World Baseball Classic (WBC). What looked like a potentially disastrous early exit for US manager Mark DeRosa and his team turned out to be nothing more than substantial worry and significant embarrassment for about 24 hours. It remains to be seen whether the US really want to win badly enough for the reprieve to matter, as if it is just a switch they can flick, but there is little reason for their fans to be optimistic. The team’s attitude and behavior have been all over the place when
Ollie Watkins’ second-half header on Thursday gave Aston Villa a 1-0 win over Lille OSC in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League round-of-16 tie. Just past the hour mark, Ezri Konsa sent a deep pass that Emi Buendia headed to Watkins in the home team’s box. The England forward noticed goalkeeper Berke Ozer was off his line before sending a looping header over him and into the net. Minutes later, Watkins wasted a chance to double the advantage when he failed to score in a one-on-one with the ’keeper. Nottingham Forest were stunned 1-0 by Danish club Midtjylland, with substitute Cho
Brice Turang and Pete Crow-Armstrong’s consecutive RBI singles proved to be the difference in the US’ 5-3 win over Canada in a World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarterfinal on Friday night in Houston. The US faces the Dominican Republic, which crushed South Korea 10-0 in seven innings in its quarter-final, in a semifinal Sunday in Miami for a spot in Tuesday’s championship. The Dominican team has won all five games in this WBC by a combined margin of 51-10. It appeared the US squad was headed toward a cozy victory when it built a 5-0 lead by the sixth inning. A first-inning RBI groundout
RSS