|
|
Wednesday, September 20
Huizinga beats surprise Brazilian in final
SYDNEY, Australia -- Reigning world champion Hidehiko
Yoshida went down in a heap, opening the door for Mark Huizinga to
become a gold medalist
Yoshida of Japan was defeated by Brazil's Carlos Honorato in a
preliminary match of the men's 90-kilogram event Wednesday night
and was taken to a hospital after apparently breaking his right
elbow.
Honorato advanced all the way to the title match where he was
defeated by Huizinga of the Netherlands. Frederic Demontfaucon of
France and Ruslan Mashurenko of the Ukraine shared the bronze
medal.
Sibelis Veranes of Cuba defeated Kate Howey of Britain to win
the women's 70-kilogram. Cho Min-sun of South Korea and Ylenia
Scapin of Italy shared the bronze medal.
Huizinga won by ippon 3:22 into the final match.
"I just felt very cool," Huizinga said. "I waited for the
moment and dived in. I didn't expect that the Brazilian would
qualify for the Olympics."
Yoshida, the 1999 world champion and a former Olympic gold
medalist, was injured just 43 seconds into the third-round bout. He
fell awkwardly, landing on his right arm, and had to be assisted
from the mat.
Japan team official Tsuneharu Kida said Yoshida was taken to a
hospital, but was later released.
Kida said no further details were available.
Yoshida, who won in a lighter division at the 1992 Barcelona
Games, was considered one of Japan's main contenders for gold at
Sydney.
Huizinga almost didn't get very far, facing a tough second-round
match against Cuba's Yosvane Oreidys Despaigne.
"My first match was the most difficult, because he was the
strongest opponent," Huizinga said.
|  | |
ALSO SEE
Japan wins the first two medals in judo
|
