Two-time defending champion Kosei Inoue beat his archrival Keiji Suzuki with an "ippon" complete win in the final to capture the All-Japan judo championship for the third straight time on Tuesday at Tokyo's Nippon Budokan.
The 24-year-old Sydney Olympics 100-kg gold medalist, who lost to Suzuki in the 100-kg final in the weight-category national championships earlier this month, has become the fourth judoka to win the All-Japan title for the third straight time following Yasuhiro Yamashita, Naoya Ogawa and Shinichi Shinohara.
The end came 3 minutes, 5 seconds into the six-minute match when Inoue unleashed his vaunted "uchimata" inner thigh throw, sending Suzuki spinning down on the mat.
"I am happy that I was able to show my gratitude to those who have supported me. I could not afford to lose to Suzuki because if I had lost, people would say Suzuki should have been selected (for September's World Championships in Osaka)," Inoue said.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.