Japan’s Wakana Koga and Ryuju Nagayama placed second at the World Judo Masters in Jerusalem on Tuesday.
Koga, last year’s world runner-up, lost to Frenchwoman Shirine Boukli’s waza-ari in the final of the women’s 48 kilogram division, having won all of her previous rounds by ippon.
Nagayama also racked up ippons to reach the men’s 60kg final, but bowed out on the last step, falling to a waza-ari by South Korea’s Lee Ha Rim in overtime.
Japan’s Ryuju Nagayama (white) faces Azerbaijan’s Balabay Aghayev in the quarter-finals of the men’s 60-kilo event at the World Judo Masters in Jerusalem on December 20, 2022. (Photo courtesy of the Federation International Judo (Essonne Info)
Both judokas have a mountain to climb in their bid to take part in the world championships next May in Doha, with domestic rivals ahead of them in the race for places in their respective categories.
Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Tsukasa Yoshida finished third in the women’s 57kg category. She bounced back from her quarter-final loss to Canadian Christa Deguchi to win the repechage medal.
Deguchi, who grew up in Nagano Prefecture in Japan before changing nationality, defeated Britain’s Chelsie Giles in the title final.
Féliciane is one of the talented editors of Essonneinfo. She has written for the site since its launch, and has become a well-known figure in the industry for her skillful reporting and unique take on stories. Féliciane’s main hobby is travelling. Her passion for travel has allowed her to write in-depth articles about cultures around the world.
