PAMPANGA — Mariya Takahashi survived a stacked minus-70kg division in the 30th Southeast Asian Games judo championships to claim the country’s third gold, Friday at the Laus Group Events Centre in San Fernando.
The Filipino-Japanese, Thailand’s Surattana Thongsri, and Indonesia’s I Gusti Ayu Putu Guna Kakihara all ended the round-robin finale with identical 1-1 slates.
Takashi’s win via ippon (2:05) over Thongsri proved the difference, earning the team’s third gold in the biennial meet. Kakihara defeated Takahashi via wazari while Thongsri won over the Indonesian via wazari as well.
Other Filipinos bagging mints were Ryoko Salinas (bronze, +78), Carl Aseneta (bronze, -90), John Viron Ferrer (bronze, -100), and Shin Matsumura (bronze, +100).
Thailand ended up the big winners, with Ikumi Okeda (-78kg) and Thonthan Satjadet (+78) raising the country’s record to four golds.
Gede Soethama (-100kg) and I Ge Wardana (+100) gave Indonesia two more golds. Meanwhile, Le An Thai gave Vietnam its first gold by winning the -90.
Thailand shows the way in the medal tally with four gold medals, followed by Indonesia (3-1-1) and the Philippines (3-1-5).
On Saturday, the team tournament of the sport takes place, still at the same venue.
