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 Pan-American Games Judo Competition Santo Domingo: August 9 - 12, 2003 Day 2 By Barnaby Chesterman |
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| While Cuba totally dominated the first day of the judo competition
in Santo Domingo, Brazil hit back with a vengeance on the second. Cuba's women still proved
to be in a class of their own, but in two Cuba-Brazil men's finals, it was the South Americans
who prevailed. And a healthy following of fellow Games' athletes helped spur them on to greater
efforts as Brazil struck back. Women's under 57kg
The Argentine was causing her many problems but Lupety showed her class by dealing with those, moving ahead with two scores of her own and then winning with two excellently executed throws, each for Waza-ari. The first was a dropping Seoi-nage and the second a rudimentary Morote-gari. Canada's Michelle Buckingham seemed to freeze a little against her in the semi-final after producing some powerful judo to that point. She was beaten and then Venezuela's Rudymar Fleming was throw for a clean Ippon in the final after a lively opening. Fleming had caused a major upset by knocking out Brazil's Tania Ferreira in the quarter-final and then edging past Ellen Wilson of USA in the semi-final. But both those opponents left the competition in high spirits after securing places on the podium. Wilson produced a brilliant Uchi-mata as a counter to De-ashi-barai against Rodriguez to score Ippon. Ferreira also won by Ippon with a crouching Seoi-nage to beat Buckingham. Women's under 63kg
Gonzalez's toughest fight was undoubtedly her semi-final against Argentine Daniela Krukower. It was tit-for-tat all the way through as first Krukower registered Yuko and then so too did Gonzalez. But two more such scores from the Cuban forced Krukower to come forward in search of a big and decisive throw, thus exposing herself to greater risk. She was eventually rewarded when she came back to claim a bronze medal by armlocking Mexican Miriam Ruiz with Juji-gatame having already thrown her for Waza-ari. The other bronze medal contest was hugely entertaining as the extreme left grip of Ecuador's Diana Maza came up against the extreme right of Canada's Isabelle Pearson. She has come on in leaps and bounds since a year ago when she looked out of her depth at this level in the Pan-American championship. She drew first blood with an Uchi-mata-maki-komi for Waza-ari and then played a waiting game to counter Maza's frequent Uchi-mata attacks. It worked as she countered her for Ippon and a well-deserved bronze medal. Men's under 73kg
That was as absorbing a contest as had been seen in the tiny atmospheric judo hall in Santo Domingo. Neither fighter could muster a score but there was enough fully committed attacks and fighters drawn onto their tip-toes scrambling desperately for balance, to make this a tense and exciting affair. It swung decisively when Camilo was harshly penalised for passivity with little more than a minute left. Martinez did not rest on his laurels and continued to attack Camilo as time flickered away. It was getting desperately late but Camilo did not panic. He waited for an opening and when it came, stepped purposefully to his left, drew Martinez onto his right foot and swept him onto his back with a rugged Hiza-guruma. The referee indicated Yuko, the clock counted down, two, one, and the buzzer - Camilo was champion. It was remarkable and a healthy Brazilian contingent erupted. Camilo paid tribute to a brilliant foe by raising his arm aloft and judo was a resounding winner. There were shocks aplenty in this category, not least Martinez knocking out the twice Pan-American tournament champion Chuck Jefferson of USA in the semi-final. The American was a little fortunate to last into golden score but then lost it when he became caught underneath the Cuban in his own counter-attack pick-up. Jefferson landed on his back from a move Martinez initiated and the Cuban scored Ippon. There was worse to follow for the American who was dumped for a spectacular Ippon in the bronze medal contest when Canada's Jean Marceau wrapped him up expertly in anticipation of a thumping Uchi-mata. Ernst Laraque of Haiti won a popular bronze medal with an Ippon victory against Lucenti. The score was a little fortunate but Laraque deserved it for a determined and explosive Osoto-gari. Men's under 81kg The second day of competition ended with a puff rather than a bang as the under 81kg final developed into a scrappy and tactical affair. Brazil's Flavio Canto stifled and thwarted the previously explosive and dynamic Cuban Gabriel Arteaga. Canto is an experienced campaigner and one of Pan-America's finest and few genuine medal contenders on the world level. And he mustered all his cunning and guile to suffocate Arteaga to the extent that he simply ran out of ideas and was wound up to Hansoku-make. It was a disappointing end for the Cuban who had been such a breath of fresh air earlier in the tournament with a massive Koga-style one-handed Sode-tsuri-komi-goshi to beat Argentina's Ariel Scanga and then a brilliant leg-grab Ouchi-gari to flatten USA's Aaron Cohen. But he could not repeat the heroics in the final against one as wily as Canto. Scanga fought back from his disappointment to win bronze in a tough battle against Uruguayan Alvaro Paseyro. The French trained Paseyro was brilliant beaten in the semi-final by Canto and then forced to settle for more heart-ache as he was edged out by Scanga.
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| Pan Am Games 2003 |
| MEN -60kg GOMEZ, Angelo (USA) -66kg ARENCIBIA, Yordanis (CUB) -73kg CAMILO, Luiz (BRA) -81kg CANTO, Flavio (BRA) -90kg OLSON, Brian (USA) -100kg SABNIMO, Mario (BRA) +100kg HERNANDEZ, Daniel (BRA) WOMEN -48kg CARRION, Danieska (CUB) -52kg MELO, Neyla (COL) -57kg LUPETEY, Yurisleidis (CUB) -63kg GONZALEZ, Driulis (CUB) -70kg ZULETA, Regla (CUB) -78kg SILVA, Edinanci (BRA) +78kg BELTRAN, Daima (CUB) |