Asian Games: Judoka win 3 more gold medals, Kitajima struggles in pool

Silver winner Ki Chun Wang of Republic of Korea, gold winner Hiroyuki Akimoto of Japan, bronze winners Navruz Jurakobilov of Uzbekistan and Rasul Boqiev of Tajikistan during the medals ceremony of the men's -73 kg Judo event of the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, Monday, Nov. 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Gurinder Osan)

GUANGZHOU (Kyodo) -- Japanese judoka added three more gold medals to the country's tally but Kosuke Kitajima failed to live up to his swim king status as Ryo Tateishi won the men's 100-meter breaststroke at the Asian Games on Monday.
Hiroyuki Akimoto and Kaori Matsumoto defeated South Korean opponents in the men's 73 kilograms and the women's 57 kg, respectively, before Misato Nakamura exorcized her Beijing Olympic demons en route to victory in the 52-kg class judo final.
Tateishi upstaged double Olympic champion Kitajima and Ryosuke Irie also chipped in with a gold of his own in the 200 backstroke final, a day after Japanese swimmers had left the pool nursing battered pride following China's five-for-six mauling.
Tateishi touched the wall in 1 minute, 00.38 seconds to finish ahead of Kazakhstan's Vladislav Polyakov (1:01.03) and China's Wang Shuai (1:01.71). A rusty-looking Kitajima placed fourth in 1:01.85.
"I felt I had a good swim and am honestly delighted," said Tateishi, who had finished second in the non-Olympic 50-meter breaststroke on Sunday.

Japan's Ryosuke Irie celebrates his gold medal he won in the men's 200m Backstroke event, at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, Monday, Nov. 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Kitajima hailed as 'Frog King' in China after winning back-to-back double Olympic breaststroke gold medals at the Beijing Games two years ago, never really looked in contention and admitted he had to step up a gear in the 200.
"That was no good," said Kitajima. "I have still got the 200. I don't know whether I can tune up well and have a good race but I just want do as well as I can."
World sliver medalist Irie won the backstroke gold in 1:55.45, four years after he captured the same title at age 16.
"We didn't win any gold yesterday, so I knew I could not lose" Irie said. "I had a good race. This is going to be a good stepping stone toward next year. Now I'm confident I can improve my time next year."
On the mats, world champion Akimoto, nursing a leg injury, faced Beijing silver medalist Wang Ki Chun in the final and won by a "yuko" point following a three-minute overtime.
"I wanted to win in a way so that my opponent will be convinced of his loss," Akimoto said. "I had shots above my left ankle twice before the semifinals and once before the final."
Matsumoto beat Kim Jan Di on points but was none too pleased with her performance.
"I won but I'm not happy," Matsumoto said. "I feel that I don't deserve to hold the title of being the world champion. It would have been no surprise if I lost the matches," she said.
Nakamura had double reason to celebrate as she avenged her Beijing Olympic semifinal defeat to North Korea's An Kum Ae before going on to beat Mongolia's Bundmaa Munkhbaatar with a submission hold.
"Two years ago, I was at a complete loss against An," Nakamura said. "(Today) I could produce what I had been working on for the past two years. I'm glad I won. I think I've grown (mentally and physically)," the 21-year-old said.
Japanese judoka have six judo gold here, two more than they won in Doha four years ago.
Elsewhere, Japan's baseball team blanked China 3-0 for its second straight win to advance to the semifinals while the men's table tennis team and the men's and women's tennis teams all settled for bronze medals.

(Mainichi Japan) November 16, 2010