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TOKYO: Japan's reputation as a judo powerhouse took a fresh knock on Sunday as they lost their men's title at the World Judo Team Championships, with Georgia going on to win the tournament.
But Japan, the birthplace of the combat sport, won the women's title, led by two-time Olympic -63kg champion Ayumi Tanimoto, beating France in the final.
The Japanese men, still smarting from a record-low haul of two medals at the Beijing Olympics, lost 3-2 to Brazil in the first round of the second annual eight-nation tournament.
Georgia, led by Olympic and world -90kg champion Irakli Tsirekidze, brushed aside Uzbekistan 4-2 in the final.
Defending women's champions China, without the services of four Olympic medallists, lost 4-1 to Cuba in the first round.
Meanwhile Japan's Olympic heavyweight champion Satoshi Ishii, 21, hit by a fresh injury to his hip, was quick to deny a newspaper report that he was "determined" to turn professional in any of the mixed martial arts as he stayed on the sidelines at Tokyo Budo Hall.
Saito was quoted by an unnamed close associate as saying: "I am going to join the world of professional martial arts," according to the Sports Hochi. K-1, Dream and other mixed martial arts are hugely popular in Japan.
But the Tokyo university student told reporters: "I don't intend to turn professional. I didn't really say anything like that."
Yasuyuki Muneta, the 2007 world open-class champion, fought for Japan in the over-100kg class in Saito's absence at the championships. But he lost in the first round as well as in a bronze-medal play-off in which Japan lost 4-3 to Russia.
Injuries and post-Olympics fatigue have depleted the Japanese men's squad.
Masato Uchishiba, who retained his -66kg Olympic title in Beijing, had pulled out earlier along with -90kg Olympian Hiroshi Izumi.
"We have been hit by one injury after another," said Japanese men's coach Hitoshi Saito, adding that Muneta had yet to recover from a domestic tournament last week.
Saito called the rumour about Ishii "badly timed."
"I think there was a sort of atmosphere within the team to wonder whether it is right to have such a guy in the team," he said. - AFP/de
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