Konan Judo

From USA Judo:

Hundreds of Competitors from 50+ Countries face-off in Miami

July 3, 2011 – Miami, FL – US players took home a total of 13 medals today at one of the most competitive US Opens ever, riding the hurricane tailwinds of the two-day World Cup Miami that ended yesterday at the same venue, the luxurious Doral Golf Resort and Spa.

Many players who competed from more than 50 countries represented at the World Cup stayed for the US Open. But some of the hottest fights at the Open were between US judokas – Kenneth Hashimoto (San Jose, Calif.) defeated fellow American Bradford Bolen (Riverforest, Ill.) in the final round to take gold in the 66kg division.

Also winning gold for the U.S. at the Open were Harry St. Leger (81kg – Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Hannah Martin (Burnt Hills, N.Y.).

“I felt like today was redemption for yesterday,” said St. Leger, who defeated the Czech Republic’s Jaromir Musil by ippon, which is equivalent to a knock-out, in the final. “I felt like I had something to prove to myself. When we came out for the second exchange I tried to grip aggressively and was able to throw him for ippon.”

Bronze medal winners for the United States include: Men’s 60-kilogram – Aaron Kunihiro (Wakefield, Mass.) – Bronze; Men’s 90-kilogram – Jacob Larson (Colorado Springs, Colo.); Women’s 52-kilogram – Angelica Delgado (Miami, Fla.) & Amelia Fulgentes (Colorado Springs, Colo.); Women’s 57-kilogram – Hana Carmichael (Wellington, Fla.); Women’s 63-kilogram – Christal Ransom (Little Rock, Ark.); Women’s 70-kilogram – Kathleen Sell (Osh Kosh, Wisc.); Women’s 78-kilogram – Allison Clifford (San Jose, Calif.); Women’s +78-kilogram – Molly O’Rourke (El Cerrito, Calif.)

USA Judo chose to run the Open right behind the World Cup Miami, an International Judo Federation event that was sponsored by USA Judo, to build a synergy of competition.

“USA Judo has done an excellent job. Our people are happy about it. They really enjoyed coming to Doral. For many athletes this has been the first time they have come to the United States and they are fascinated with the location, in a unique place, with everything just steps away,” said Ignacio Aloise, International Judo Federation (IJF) Sports Director.

“All the members of USA Judo should be proud of what our athletes accomplished here,” said Jose H. Rodriguez, CEO of the national governing body for the sport. “Member support is essential to our athletes,” Rodriguez said. And he invited current members and those considering membership to take advantage of a membership special being offered currently that provides three years membership for the price of just two.

“It was hard to imagine that this year’s World Cup would surpass the quality of competition that the 2010 Cup had, but it did, which speaks volumes of the support the City of Doral and Miami-Dade County provided,” Rodriguez said. “It is double rewarding that our USA Team did so well in capturing two gold and two bronze medals.”

Current world 78-kilogram champion Kayla Harrison (Wakefield, Mass.) and 57-kilogram national champion Marti Malloy (San Jose, Calif.) each earned gold medals for the U.S. at the World Cup, while Angelica Delgado (52Kg – Miami, Fla.) and Shintaro Higashi (100Kg – Scarsdale, N.Y.) each earned bronze.

“We can be really proud of our athletes,” Rodriguez said.

For complete results of the World Cup Miami, click HERE.

For complete results of the US Open, click HERE.

For details on the membership special, click HERE.

— Story by Ernest Pund and Ryan John

This entry was posted on July 8, 2011 at 6:00 am and is filed under Judo News, Judo Tournaments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.