Japan's Keiji Suzuki disposed of Michael Jurack of Germany in the men's 100-kg weight class en route to reaching the semifinals Thursday at the World Judo Championships.
Japan's Keiji Suzuki attempts to throw German Michael Jurack during their second-round match in the men's 100-kg category Thursday at the 2005 World Judo Championships in Cairo. Suzuki won by "ippon."
All four of Japan's athletes in the men's and women's weight divisions reached their respective semifinals, just one year after the Japanese team claimed an unprecedented eight gold medals at the Athens Olympics.
Suzuki, the gold medalist in the over 100-kg category in Athens, won by "ippon" over Athens Olympic bronze-medalist Jurack in the second round before beating Movlud Muraliyev of Azerbaijan with a "yusei" points victory in the third round.
Maki Tsukada, the women's Olympic gold medalist in the over 78-kg weight division, also advanced along with Yasuyuki Muneta, who is aiming for his second straight title in the men's over 100-kg class.
Sae Nakazawa, who is making her debut at the worlds at 78 kg, won both of her matches to advance to the final four.