Japan's Kayo Kitada earned the decisive point on an over-the-shoulder throw to defeat compatriot Tomoe Makabe in the 48-kg final, winning her first title at the Fukuoka international women's judo championships on Sunday.
Kitada, silver medalist at the national women's championships in Tokyo last November, claimed the victory after matching Makabe on points at Fukuoka Kokusai Center to become one of four newly named Japanese champions at the two-day competition.
Olympic and world champion Ryoko Tamura, who had been aiming for her 12th straight 48-kg title, sat out the competition due to damaged ligaments and cartilage in her right knee and announced Sunday that she will pull out of a European tour scheduled for February and March 2002 because of the lingering injury.
Meanwhile, Yuki Yokosawa, who lost in a bronze medal match at the world championships in Munich in July, outscored Aiko Sato 3-0 on a judges' decision in the 52-kg class to secure her first win in Fukuoka.
In the 57-kg class, Cuban Yurisleidis Lupetey took only 12 seconds to topple Deborah Gravenstijn of the Netherlands to earn herself an easy victory.
The open-category crown went to Midori Shintani of Tsukuba University, who managed to top Cuba's Daima Beltran in total techniques, as the heavyweight silver medalist in Munich seized her second win in the annual event.