Japan takes three titles in Grand Slam judo

TOKYO — World champion Yoshie Ueno won the women's 63-kilogramme title leading Japan to win three out of five classes in the Grand Slam judo tournament on Saturday.
Two-time world champion Wang Ki-Chun of South Korea and Euan Burton of Britain won the remaining two categories in the men's 73kg and 81kg.
Japan took the four semi-final places with Ueno beating Nozomi Hirai and Ikumi Tanimoto for the title, but she appeared dissatisfied with her performance as she won by a foul play in the last two matches.
"I'm not satisfied with my performances today, because I wanted to score points with my technique. I must start training from the beginning again," said Ueno.
Meanwhile, world bronze medallist Mina Watanabe claimed the 70kg title by throwing world silver medallist Anett Meszaros of Hungary for an ippon as Japan continued to win all the women's titles.
"I have mixed feelings. I'm very glad because she is an athlete I really wanted to beat... I was disappointed she scored a waza ari first to take the lead, said Watanabe, 24.
In the men's 90kg final, Takashi Ono defeated Daiki Nishiyama thanks to his opponent, who received two warnings to concede a yuko in an all-Japanese bout.
For Wang Ki-Chun, it was a third Grand Slam title, following Paris and Moscow, as he immobilised Japan's Yasuhiro Awano 3m29s into the final.
The biggest surprise came when Burton shocked Beijing Olympic silver and world bronze medallist Kim Jae-Bum of South Korea by scoring a waza ari twice for a combined ippon.
Burton said the biggest key to his victory was his "heart".
"It's against the best technical fighters from Japan and Korea. It's very difficult. I fought hard all the time," said Burton.
"This tournament was one of my targets for the season. After the world championships, this is the biggest tournament, so it was easy to train hard. I now go home and take some time off for Christmas," he added.

PICTURE: Japan's Yoshie Ueno (L) and her compatriot Ikumi Tanimoto (R)

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