Japan’s first family of judo are planning an Olympic takeover on Sunday — and it would not be the first time that sibling rivalry has spurred Hifumi and Uta Abe to success.
Twice-world champion Uta Abe is aiming to begin a golden day for her family at the Tokyo Games by winning the women’s under-52kg competition at the Nippon Budokan.
That would set the scene nicely for her big brother, Hifumi Abe, a twice world champion who is competing in the men’s under-66kg event later the same day.
Photo: AFP
Japan’s sparring siblings say that they are ready to take the Games by storm when they make their Olympic debut, but they might never have got this far without their friendly family rivalry.
“We’re both rooting for each other,” Uta Abe told Tokyo 2020’s official Web site this year. “We don’t talk about it directly, but even without words we both feel it.”
Hifumi Abe took up judo at the age of six and it was not long before his little sister, three years his junior, wanted to try it, too.
Photo: AFP
Their firefighter father, Koji Abe, thought that playing the piano would be a more suitable hobby for his daughter, but Uta Abe was determined, and she soon began to show even more promise on the mat than her brother.
Both tore through the judo youth circuit, racking up a glut of titles before making their senior debuts.
Hifumi Abe won his first world title in Budapest in 2017 and Uta Abe joined him a year later in Azerbaijan, making it a golden double for the family in Baku.
“My target, more than winning consecutive titles, was for us to win as brother and sister,” Hifumi Abe said after defending his world crown in 2018. “Once my younger sister won, I went into my final even more determined to win.”
However, he was not able to match Uta Abe’s achievement a year later, settling for world championship bronze as his sister retained her title.
Now they’ve got their sights set on winning Olympic gold on home soil, although Hifumi Abe needed a Herculean effort just to get to Tokyo.
He came through an unprecedented one-off playoff against world champion Joshiro Maruyama in December last year, booking his spot after an epic 24-minute bout.
The match went so deep into extra time that the terrestrial TV broadcast ended before the bout had finished, but Hifumi Abe was happy to join his sister at the Games when he came out the winner.
“I kept her waiting — now we can say we’ll go for gold together,” he told reporters. “I want to make it a stage where I display my absolute best. This isn’t my goal yet — I’ll roll up my sleeves again and strive to win.”
Uta Abe had already locked up her place at the Games before they were postponed last year.
After chasing her brother’s shadow for most of her early life, she is now the one leading the way.
She has established herself as one of judo’s most dominant athletes and at one point racked up 48 consecutive wins against non-Japanese opponents.
However, she says she has her brother to thank for the part he has played in her career.
“I couldn’t have made it this far without my older brother,” she told the Tokyo 2020 Web site. “It’s impossible to know if I would have even started learning judo without him.”
Now the siblings are hoping to turn that partnership into Olympic success, and Sunday might be a day the Abe family remembers forever.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care