2008 Olympic Judo Day Three: Women’s 57 kg, Men’s 73kg
Posted by Kendall Shields on August 11th, 2008
OK, now Japan can start losing it. Three days and six divisions into this tournament, and only one gold? Add in the two bronze, which gives Japan the medal lead, and it’s not as bad as it could be, but at this point this has the makings of a minor national disaster. Both Japanese athletes were out of the main draw and into the repechage early, while some slightly obscure judo nations came out on top.
The Men
The men’s -73 kg tournament really couldn’t have started out any worse from a spectator’s perspective, as Nicholas Tritton (CAN) and Joao Pina (POR) combined for one of the least watchable judo matches you’re likely to see at the sport’s highest level. I am slighting neither the effort nor abilities of either athlete, but this match was pretty lousy, with both men being penalized three times for their reluctance to engage in earnest. And those penalties were the only scoring in regulation time, before Pina managed a yuko in the golden score period to move on.
Fortunately, that match didn’t set the tone for the rest of the day. There was absolutely beautiful judo on display in the -73 kg tournament, much of it from gold medal winner Elnur Mammadli of Azerbaijan. Mammadli, European champion and world silver medalist, won four of his five matches by ippon, displaying an impressive range of technique. Whether it was the kata guruma he used early on in the day, the seoi otoshi he used to get past the tough Iranian Ali Malomat (which you can see here), or the lighting fast pick up against world champion Korean phenom Ki Chun Wang (which you can see here), Mammadli was sensational, a delight to watch.
Bronze medals went to Rasul Boqiev of Tajikistan, who edged out Dirk van Tichelt (BEL) in a tightly contested match, and Leandro Guilheiro of Brazil, who caught the Iranian Ali Malomat with an enomrous seoi nage (see it here).
Earlier in the day, Malomat eliminated the Japanese Yusuke Kanamaru with a no-less impressive harai goshi, seemingly to his own surprise. Video of that match hasn’t surfaced yet, but it’s one to watch for. Another bout worth mentioning is the Mongolian Dasdavaa Gantumur’s win over Ryan Reser (USA) with an impressive counter technique. At the last possible moment, Gantumur took control of Reser and twisted him around his body. The referee initially scored the exchange an ippon for Reser, but after discussion with the judges and the head table, awarded a waza ari to Gantumur instead, which definitely looked like the right call to me. That’s another video to watch out for. I found myself rooting for the Mongolian in all of his matches — he didn’t seem superior to any of his opponent’s in any respect, but he just kept coming.
Results:
1. Elnur Mammadli (AZE)
2. Wang Ki-Chun (KOR)
3. Rasul Boqiev (TJK)
3. Leandro Guilheiro (BRA)
5. Dir Van Tichelt (BEL)
5. Ali Malomat (IRI)
7. Yusuke Kanamaru (JPN)
7. Gennadiy Bilodid (UKR)
The Women
Lanky Italian Giulia Quintavalle narrowly defeated Deborah Gravenstijn of the Netherlands in the gold medal match — a fine osoto gari for yuko was the difference (see it here). The home crowd favourite throughout the day, Yan Xu, also showed the effectiveness of osoto as a counter (to osoto, no less) by burying France’s Barabara Harel on her way to bronze (see that here). Xu also scored one of the most impressive ippons of the tournament so far with a technically perfect ouchi gari against Algerian Lila Latrous. The other bronze went to Brazil’s Ketleyn Quadros who had a tough road, defeating Kang Sin-Yong (KOR) before losing to silver medalist Gravenstijn in the main draw, then beating Isabel Frenandez (ESP), Aiko Sato (JPN), and finally Maria Pekli (AUS) for the medal.
Results:
1. Giulia Quintavalle (ITA)
2. Deborah Gravenstijn (NED)
3. Ketleyn Quadros (BRA)
3. Yan Xu (CHN)
5. Maria Pekli (AUS)
5. Barbara Harel (FRA)
7. Aiko Sato (JPN)
7. Bernadett Baczko (HUN)
August 12th, 2008 at 3:02 am
I thought Guilheiro’s Ippon for the Bronze was like –the– throw of the night. That shit had me jump out of my seat.
Mammadli looked awesome the whole time.
August 12th, 2008 at 11:24 am
I am with you on both of those points.
August 12th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Yup… Guilheiro’s throw was good stuff.
Really disappointed with Tiago Camilo, but can’t put blame on this guy. He fought with a sore hand… and didn’t make excuses because of it.
August 13th, 2008 at 2:07 am
Tiago was my pick! I was disappointed, too. But he fought well in difficult circumstances, and we can be sure he’ll be back to fight another day.
August 13th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Re: 73 kg. match Can. vs. Por Actually the guys did “engage” just the ref’s decided that there was not enough action and went overboard with shidos - come on, 6 penalties before the match was over with some given only for what appeared to be two fighters struggling to come to grips, ea. having mirror image styles…. it was a tough match up for both and you do them a disservice by calling it the way you did. When was the last time you fought at that level with that pressure and with any such measure of skill?…
Had the refs in that match and many other contests on day three done thier jobs there would have been many diff. results…..horrible reffing! Apparently they were directed at the outset of the week to be more actively engaged in the matches… if they want to be responsible for the score maybe they should compete again (if they ever did) I think that the refs calls made that fight what it was and resulted in the posturing that you saw…..
August 13th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
As I said as clearly as I could, “I am slighting neither the effort nor abilities of either athlete.” I meant that. Obviously the point is not that I can compete “at that level with that pressure and with any such measure of skill,” as you demand — that’s a self-evidently absurd standard for commentary (if you tell me you didn’t like a movie, I’m not going to ask you “well when was the last time you produced a film?”). The point is that by the standards of the tournament in which these athletes were competing, their match, unfortunately, was poor. Clearly it was a tough match for both, as you say. It was grueling. It was also, from the perspective of this spectator, the worst match I’ve seen in the Olympics thus far.
Thanks for reading, John.
September 1st, 2008 at 1:26 am
Hey man.. it was a tough match.. and well, we both had the same style.. but if you think that match was the worst match of the tournament you didnt watch very much of it lol.. anyways love your comments.. I guess because im not very good, that would mean, me beating Guilheiro at the world championships in Brazil was shit, and me losing in overtime to the olympic champ at the wrolds also in brazil was shit too.. lol your a joke
September 1st, 2008 at 6:57 pm
I don’t think Kendall ever said you sucked, he actually said no slight to your ability or effort, but that you just canceled each other out. I know that Kendall is a proud Canadian and was pulling for you, so I’m sure you can obviously understand his disappointment.
September 2nd, 2008 at 2:54 am
Nick,
Where did I say anything like you’re “not very good” or that your accomplishments are “shit,” as you’ve implied I have? I didn’t say anything even close to that. I know your record. I know you’re a world class player. You obviously deserved to be there, and you fought hard. How much clearer could I have been when I wrote “I am slighting neither the effort nor abilities of either athlete”? Your match with Pina was clearly grueling, and a tough match-up stylistically, but pretty much *any* match with six penalties is going to be a lousy match for the spectators, regardless of how tough the match itself was. I know you’re not fighting for the spectators, you’re fighting for you, but I’m writing here from the perspective of a viewer. That was the extent of my comment on your match, and if you conclude from anything I wrote there that I think you’re “not very good” or that anything you’ve done “is shit,” then you’re drawing conclusions that simply aren’t there. Those are all *your* words, not mine. You’re defending yourself against accusations nobody has made.
If I HAD said either of those things you’d implied, I’d understand you being bent out of shape here, but you’re reading way too much into a comment on a single match.
I wish you well with your training and continued success in the future.
Best,
KS