Ⓒ JoongAng Ilbo / JoongAng Ilbo Japanese version2021.01.13 09:36
Korean men’s judo star An Chang-rim (73 kg class) won the first international tournament in the new year.
World No. 12 An Chang-rim defeated No. 2 Soichi Hashimoto (Japan) in the 2021 Masters Men’s 73kg final held in Doha, Qatar on the 12th (Japan time). Winning this tournament has great significance. At the international competition held for the first time in 11 months since the Grand Slam in Dusseldorf, Germany in February last year, only the 36th-ranked athletes in the world participated, so it is no different from the rehearsal of the Tokyo Olympics (Olympic Games).
However, I still can’t be relieved. This is because Shohei Ono (4th), the strongest in the 73kg class, did not participate. Ohno is a judo “monster” who has both skill and power. He also won the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Hashimoto has a higher ranking than Ohno, but lost to Ohno in the Japan Olympics selection match. Ohno is called the “natural enemy” of An Chang-rim. An Chang-rim has 6 games and 6 losses against Ohno.
An Chang-rim is determined to improve his condition and beat Ohno for the rest of the period. The Tokyo Olympics have a special meaning for An Chang-rim. An Chang-rim is a third-generation resident of Japan born in Tokyo. He won the All Japan Student Championship in 2013, which was the second year of the prestigious Judo University of Tsukuba. An Chang-rim won the gold medal for the first time in the national competition at the Tokyo Budokan, where the Olympic judo is held.
An Chang-rim was recommended by the Japanese judo world to be naturalized, but the following year, he was transferred to Yongin University in South Korea. I thought, “Koreans should put the Taijitu mark.” An Chang-rim previously said in an interview with JoongAng Ilbo that he was ready for the New Year, saying, “I definitely want to win a gold medal in Tokyo.”
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