Akira Sone becomes first judoka to make Japan's 2020 Olympic team
Akira Sone became Japan's first judoka for next year's Tokyo Olympics on Sunday. The All Japan Judo Federation named the 19-year-old to next year's team after she won the over-78-kg championship at the Grand Slam Osaka. The federation had announced it would hold a vote ...
Heavyweight Lukas Krpalek outmuscles Hisayoshi Harasawa in final at world championships
Czech giant Lukas Krpalek beat Hisayoshi Harasawa to capture the world heavyweight title on Saturday and fire a warning for next year's Tokyo Olympics. The hulking 28-year-old won half-heavyweight gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics and looked ominously strong after stepping up to the over-100-kg ...
Teen judoka Akira Sone captures second straight national women's title
Akira Sone remained on course for her dream of progressing toward an Olympic gold medal on Sunday as she captured her second straight Japan women's national judo championship. The 18-year-old Sone, the reigning Asian Games heavyweight champion, had her back to the wall after receiving ...
Hisayoshi Harasawa captures second title at national invitational championships
Olympic silver medalist Hisayoshi Harasawa won the men's over-100-kilogram title at the National Invitational Weight Class Championships on Saturday. Harasawa, runner-up at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and a bronze medalist at last year's worlds, triumphed at Fukuoka Kokusai Center, capturing his second championship, ...
Judoka Ruika Sato, Kentaro Iida, Akira Sone add to Japan's gold-medal haul
Japan continued to dominate the Asian Games judo competition on Friday, adding a further three gold medals to the five it had already won in Indonesia. Ruika Sato collected the nation's first gold of the day, beating South Korea's Park Yu-jin with a leg sweep ...
Teenager Akira Sone makes history at national women's judo championship
Teenager Akira Sone became the first judoka to win the national women's championship in her tournament debut on Sunday. Sone claimed an extra-period win over Wakaba Tomita at the unlimited weight-class tournament, which doubles as a qualifier for the over-78-kg division at September's world championships ...
Akari Inoue won the women's over-78 kg division on Saturday, the first day of the Kodokan Cup, one of the qualifying events for next year's judo world championships. The 20-year-old Inoue, the Universiade unlimited weight class champion, defeated last year's runner-up, Akira Sone by ippon ...
Sara Asahina defeated 16-year-old Akira Sone after an extra period in the final of the women's over-78-kg category to claim her maiden Grand Slam Tokyo crown on Sunday. In the repeat of the Kodokan Cup final three weeks ago, 20-year-old Asahina again came out on ...
