Kiyomi Watanabe stands during the awards ceremony women's judo -63 kg at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta on August 30, 2018. Sonny Tumbelaka, AFP/File.
Filipino judokas endured a series of defeats in the 19th Asian Games on Monday at the Xiaoshan Linpu Gymnasium.
Kiyomi Watanabe, a silver medalist in Jakarta 2018, fell short of a semifinal appearance after Japan’s Miku Takaichi torched the 27-year-old through an ippon in only the first 12 ticks of their quarterfinal contest of the women’s 63-kilogram class.
Watanabe then suffered another loss in the repechage in the same manner against Kazakhstan’s Esmigul Kuyolova.
Rena Furukawa also fell short via ippon against Japan’s Momo Tanaoki in the Round of 16 of the women’s 57-kg event.
Ryoko Salinas outlasted Garima Choundhary of India in the Round of 16 of the women’s 70-kg class but suffered a defeat in the quarters against Japan’s Shiho Tanaka and another loss against Chinese Taipei’s Liao Wun Jung in the repechage.
In the men’s division, Keisei Nakano and John Ferrer failed to advance after losing in the men’s 73-kg and men’s 81-kg class, respectively.
Nakano was beaten by Asian Games silver medalist Behruzi Khojazoda of Tajikistan via ippon in the Round of 16, while Ferrer bowed to Bolor-Ochir Gereltuya of Mongolia in the Round of 16 after moving past Janga Bahadur Saru of Nepal in the Round of 32.
Despite the defeats, Philippine Judo Federation Secretary General Dave Carter remained optimistic while also saying that luck played a huge role in the athlete’s performances this year.
“Our athletes are in good condition, but we got unlucky in the draw. Our athletes got paired against the top seeds in Asia. We will work hard and be more prepared next time,” he said.
Still providing hope for the squad are Carl Dave Aseneta (men’s 100-kg) and Dylwynn Gimena (women’s 78-kg) who will compete in the tournament’s resumption on Tuesday.
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