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| Naohisa Takato of Japan celebrates after defeating Yang Yung-wei, of Taiwan in a men’s 60-kg judo gold medal match at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, July 24. AP-Yonhap |
Naohisa Takato won Japan’s first gold medal at its home Olympics, beating Taiwan’s Yang Yung-wei in the men’s 60-kilogram judo final Saturday night.
Kosovo’s Distria Krasniqi beat Japan’s Funa Tonaki in the women’s 48-kilogram final less than an hour before Takato made sure his team wouldn’t have a double heartbreak on the opening day of competition in its beloved homegrown martial art.
Takato won his final three bouts on sudden-death golden scores, but he took the final a bit anticlimactically after Yang committed too many fouls.
The charismatic Takato’s success ― and Tonaki’s heartbreaking, last-minute defeat ― could provide a much-needed jolt of excitement for a nation still feeling profoundly ambivalent about these Olympics and discouraged by the scandals and COVID-19 setbacks surrounding them. (AP)
Naohisa Takato claims Japan’s 1st Tokyo gold with judo win
Source: Buhay Kapa PH
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