Kisei Akimoto and Tatsuaki Egusa won their respective weight categories for host Japan, but countryman and two-time Olympic champion Masato Uchishiba crashed out with a second-round defeat at the Kano Cup international judo meet on Friday.
Akimoto, a Tsukuba University senior, reeled off ippon wins in his first three 60-kg bouts before capping his successful campaign at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium by outpointing Choi Kwang Hyun of South Korea in the final with a combination of a leg sweep and an arm throw.
Egusa sent South Korea's Ahn Jung Hwan sprawling onto the mat with a "harai-goshi" lower-back sweep in the final of the 66-kg class, in which Athens and Beijing Olympic gold medalist Masato Uchishiba was eliminated by Tsagaanbaatar Haskhbaatar of Mongolia.
In women's action, Beijing Olympic gold medal winner Yang Xiuli of China won the 78-kg crown after an ippon win over Kumiko Horie in the final. Russian Elena Ivashchenko prevailed at over 78 kg, toppling Mika Sugimoto by ippon in the final.