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| December 04, 2006 | Monday | Ziqa'ad 12, 1427 |
Misery for Japanese men at Games judo
DOHA, Dec 3: Japan suffered a double dose of Asian Games misery on Sunday with defeats for world middleweight champion Hiroshi Izumi and world light-middleweight bronze medallist Takashi Ono.
Izumi lost to Kazakhstan outsider Maxim Rakov in the 90kg first round while Ono was also beaten on points in the 81kg second round by Mongolian Nyamkhuu Damdinsuren, who was third at the last 2002 Asian Games.
They were major setbacks for Japan's comeback campaign in their native martial art after they won one gold each for men and women on the first day of the four-day contest.
Japan are trying to make up for their failure to defend the men's and women's titles at the world team championships in Paris last September.
On Saturday, Japan's world women's open-class champion Midori Shintani lost her first match to South Korea's up-and-coming Kim Na-Young in the women's over-78kg heavyweight.
Izumi, 24, who also won the silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, lacked his usual speed and power as he tried hard to grapple Rakov.—AFP
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