| CONTENTS |
| Latest News
& Stories Judo Links Back Issues Contact TWOJ Editor's Message |
| NEWS & PHOTO GALLERY |
| View Judo Gallery IJF Pic of the Month |
| TWOJ SHOP |
| Photo
Enquiries Subscriptions Koga Video |
| PLAYER PROFILES |
| Karen
Roberts Hilary Wolf |
 |
 All Japan University Team Championships 2003 Amagasaki City, Japan By: Ian Gutherie |
| The standard of Judo as expected was extremely high, however I was disappointed
with the refereeing. When I questioned some of the decisions, I was told that because of the
weight categories international rules were being used. In one contest two -73kg players were
disqualified for passivity! Suzuki, -100kg, seemed to be struggling, but some of the Ippons awarded to him left a great deal to be desired. Certainly not Suzuki's fault but if he had sneezed I reckon he would have been awarded Waza-ari. Inoue has now graduated from Tokai University and was no longer eligible to fight for the University. I asked Yamashita if he thought Inoue's absence would make a difference to the team, "Not really" he said, "I have prepared our team both mentally and physically and I expect them to win". The early part of the day was fairly slow until Tenri University fan club arrived. If the Tenri clubs job was to motivate the team they did it with a vengeance, within two minutes the place was buzzing. The atmosphere was great, the noise of the clubs chanting followed by a huge cheer for any strong attacks. This motivated the opposition too, which led to some really exciting contests. The refereeing left a great deal to be desired, in one fight the referee gave an Ippon, one corner judge gave Waza-ari while the other gave Koka. In one of the contests, with the heavy weights both in excess of 25 stone, one scored with a huge Harai-makikomi (they shouldn't really be allowed). I almost dropped my camera, the noise was unreal. For a country, which suffers from earthquakes, they should be more careful. There was a lull in the process when I was approached by a gentleman who introduced himself and said he used to teach at the Budokwai in London before Watanabe's time. It transpired that it was none other than Saburo Matsushita. I said "Of course I've heard of you." He said the Budokwai held fond memories for many Japanese coaches who taught there. « back |
|
| TWOJ GUESTBOOK | |
| Sign
Our Guestbook View Our Guestbook |
| Paris Tournament 2003 |
|
MEN -60kg FALLON, Craig (GBR) -66kg BENBOUDAOUD, Larbi (FRA) -73kg TAKAMATSU, Masahiro (JPN) -81kg NAKAMURA, Kenzo (JPN) -90kg DESPAIGNE, Yosvane (CUB) -100kg SUZUKI, Kenji (JPN) +100kg MUNETA, Yasuyuki (JPN) WOMEN -48kg JOSSINET, Frederique (FRA) -52kg LEE, Eun Hee (KOR) -57kg LUPETEY, Yurisleidis (CUB) -63kg VAN DECAVEYE, Gella (BEL) -70kg BOSCH, Edith (NED) -78kg ANNO, Noriko (JPN) +78kg JIA, Xueying (CHN) |