HANOI, Vietnam — Judo rumbled its way to a second gold medal in the 31st Southeast Asian (SEA) Games at the Hoai Duc Gymnasium.

A day after Rena Furukawa struck in the -57 kg, veteran Shugen Nakano took the spotlight and snatched the gold in the -66 kg category.

Nakano, the reigning SEA Games titleholder, broke the hearts of those in attendance with a waza-ari over Hoang Phuc Truong.

A reverse throw by Nakano, a veteran of four stints in the world championships, gave him the point.

Sensing the gold was slowly slipping away, the hometown bet made a last-ditch effort to steal a win but an arm bar wasn’t credited since there was not enough time to earn an ippon.

Dave Carter, who heads the Philippine Judo Federation, swears Nakano was being set up to lose as time had already expired and the Phuong was still trying to force Nakano to give up.

In the end, Carter had to intervene and convince everyone that the fight had already ended.

Khrizzie Pabulayan, another judoka fighting for gold, was beaten by a Vietnamese opponent in the 52 kg while Bryn Quillotes got the bronze in the 60 kg.

Nakano, 25, won his first gold in the Games in 2019 in Manila, beating Indonesian Budi Prasetiyo. He has likewise taken part in 19 Grand Slams and six continental championships.

Competitions in judo will last until Sunday.

 

Date: May 21, 2022 | By: Nick Giongco | Newspaper: Tribune | Source: https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2022/05/21/filipino-japanese-defends-judo-title/?fbclid=IwAR3xTVOMxf5LRj9lwk1Z3J7CvVbolFDrvQPSJ0Ugqf8YPCh7HhW_OVNZ1Kk