Navarro versus Kanamori
Kimura jodan mawshi gei KO
Isobe takes on Shiojima
Oganasian defeats Da Silva
8th World Tournament 2003 –
IKO 1
Day One
Day
one began as always with the opening the opening ceremony in which home
favourite Hitoshi Kiyama read out the fighter’s oath.
The
first round then began with the sixteen seeded fighters receiving a bye. It was
very noticeable from very early on the strength of the Russian squad and this
seemed to have half the Japanese audience in shock. Andrey Stepin demolished
Australia’s Steve Cujic with punches to win by ippon. Maxim Dedik again looked
devastating as he stopped his French opponent Tony Lingelsar with strong punches
for ippon and Igor Peplov knocked out N'Guessen Yao of the Ivory Coast with a
jodan mawashi geri. Anzor Shikhabakhov gained a wazari for firstly a punch and
then an ushiro geri to defeat Canada’s Baldhalip Thind. Mikhail Kozlov did not
have it his all his own way against Czech Jan Sokup who was on top for the first
period of the fight before Kozlov turned it round to get the decision. This was
similar to the fight with Serbia’s Ivan Maurusic against Sergey Nikishaev with
the Russian again turning the tables to win by decision. Vasily Timofiev ignored
the twenty-five plus kilogram weight difference as he defeated Holland’s
Dominic Monasso in one round by decision. One of the fights of the day saw Artur
Unezhev take on Toshihiro Kanamori. The fight was equal and in the second
extension it appeared the Japanese fighter was slightly ahead and with seconds
to go Unezhev performed a spectacular rolling ushiro mawashi geri to knock out
Kanamori for ippon. Alexey Reznikov made very short work of New
Zealand’s Mikaera Peita to advance. At the end of the day one the only Russian fighter not to
make it to the second round was Artem Pukas who lost to a to the large and
extremely powerful Bahmann Bourbour of Iran. Japan’s Osamu Sumitani looked in
good form as he defeated Hungary’s Andras Devenyi in one round, likewise did
fellow countrymen Naoki Ichimura and Joji Hibino as they advance. Tow fighters
well in excess of one hundred kilograms then met as France’s Alexandre
Rodrigues and Canadian James Litster met in what was a close fight that
Rodrigues eventually took. Another home fighter Yoshinori Ikeda weathered the
storm from the much larger Robert Phelps of USA to wear him down and take a
deserved decision. Ryuiji Isobe of Brazil used his favourite technique as he
knocked out Govinden Ramalingun of Mauritius with a jodan mawashi geri. In one
of the shocks of the day Australian Sergey Erchov defeated Japan’s Masayoshi
Takaku after a hard fight. Iran’s Farzad Forozan looked physically very strong
as he punched holes in France’s Andre Avenna. Another fight with two extremely
large competitors was Fabrice Fourment of France against Aaron Smith of
Australia. Fourment eventually triumphed in a fight that took its toll on both
fighters. Lorant Paksi and Shin Itoh had a close fight but the Japanese fighter
finished stronger to take the decision. One of the members of the impressive
Siyabonga Tyandela battered Belarus’ Vladzimir Kazlov to advance. Iran’s
Yhosro Yagoubi looked very strong as he defeated Luigi Puglisi of Italy. Eduardo
Tanaka of Brazil dropped Czech Jiry Potys with a punch for ippon and Masato
Ikeda looked strong as he defeated Darius Cetvertinkas by decision.
Argentina’s Emmanual Ruarte looked very quick and technically sound for a man
of his size as he dispatched Frenchman Gerold Serguis. Armenia’s Artur
Oganasian looked very relaxed before exploding into action and launching some
very strong low kicks that gained him an ippon against Canadian John Carrington.
Spain’s Pablo Estensoro who looked as impressive as the rest of the Spanish
team as he deservedly defeated Masataka Ino of Japan in one round. Naoji
Mikoshiba took on Terence Birkett of Great Britain who put up a spirited display
but Mikoshiba was always too strong.
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second day was marred consistently by poor refereeing and disgraceful decisions.
It appeared that after the first day all officials were very concerned by the
strength of the Russian team and on the second day the judging became as pro
Japanese as it was anti Russian. The IKO rule of when a fighter has an Genten
Ichi at the end of the round then they would lose was used strategically as a
series of Genten Ichi were conveniently awarded for almost nothing against ten
Russian fighters on day two who then went out on this rule. When the fighting
started the first seed to fight was Brazilian Glaube Feitosa. He looked very
calm as he defeated Russia’s Anzor Abatsov and then the fifty-nine kilogram
Atsushi Ino whom despite being well over a foot shorter put up a great
performance but was eventually knocked down for an ippon. Russia’s Andrey
Stepin looked ominously strong as he advanced through two fights. The fight
between Osamu Sumitani and Anzor Shikhabakhov was a great match and perfectly
even but somehow four flags went to the Japanese fighter after one round in what
was a very poor decision. Sumitani then defeated South African fighter Jason
Dawes in one round also. The first Japansese seed to fight saw Atsushi Kadoi in
action against Poland’s Kryzstof Habraska with Kadoi getting the flags after
the first round. In Kadoi’s next fight he took on the very strong Russian
Zalim Temrokov who had previously beaten comfortably Sebastian Bauza of
Argentina. The Russian started the fight strongly and looked on top and Kadoi
did well to stay in the fight. The tables turned in the second extension where
Temrokov appeared to have nothing left in the tank and Kadoi continually
advanced using low kicks to deservedly get the decision. |
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Joji Hibino advanced by defeating Jacek
Synoradzki of Poland and then Russia’s Ivan Alyanchikov, who had previously
beaten Canada's Dominic Adam, with the help of another dubious Genten Ichi.
Sergey Osipov looked in great form as he won via ippon in no time against Shane
O’Farrell of Australia. Osipov then took on Tadakuni Tokuda in a hugely
controversial fight. After the first round the fight was very even however two
flags went to Tokuda and one to Osipov. Referee Joe Clarinino who had been
arguably the most pro Japanese ref astonishingly gave the fight to Tokuda. The
fighters left the tatami amid a huge array of boos and jeers at the absolutely
disgusting decision. Kancho Matsui to his credit intervened and ordered the
fighters back to the mat and corner judges to re vote which ended in the right
outcome in a draw. The second extension started and again was very close as
Osipov appeared somewhat jaded but a draw was again even. In the final
extension, where the judges had to give a decision, Tokuda seemed to be on top
and Osipov being one of the pre tournament favourites was in danger of going
out. However with seconds to go the Russian launched a superb axe kick, which
floored Tokuda for an ippon as the non-Japanese fans in the crowd went wild, and
ref Clarinino was left wiping the egg of his face. Another Russian seed in
Sergey Plekhanov looked very strong as he defeated Spain’s Javier Lezcano in
one round and took two rounds to defeat the strong South African Simphwe Dlulane
who previously beaten Russia Alexander Voynich, and did well to hang on for to
the end of the second round. Alessandro Goncalves of Brazil was a fortunate to
get the decision against France's Alexandre Rodrgiues after just one round as
was Gun Irisawa as he defeated Costa Rica's Luis Diego Giralt. Irisawa versus
Goncalves appeared even but again the Japanese fighter got the flags after one
round. Yoshinori Ikeda was impressive against Oleksiy Borysenko of Ukraine as he
won by decision. Ikeda again looked in good form as he beat Fukuda convincingly
in the next round again in one round. Russia's
Dmitry Shabanov was awarded another poor genten ichi as that lead to defeat
against Brazil's Leonardo Taveres. Despite being nearly twenty five kilograms
lighter Bulgarian Emil Kostov who was one of the seeds battered Canadian Sylvain Lemaire an eventually got an ippon for gedan mawashi geri. Kostov again looked
awesome against Tavares as he got the flags after just one round. |
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| Furlan versus Kozlov was a very scrappy fight and the Russian was again unfortunate as he was awarded genten ichi for pushing that cost him the fight. Hisashi Noka of Japan came through against Mmangaliso Mthembu of Zambia via a genten ichi for a very dubious head punch. The spectacular Spaniard Alejandro Navarro came close on occasion to knocking out Sergei Erchov of Australia with spectacular rolling kicks but deservedly got the decision after two rounds. Navarro then appeared to be battering Noka in their fight but again mystery head punches downed Noka for a genten ichi that put the Japanese fighter through in a what was a disgraceful judging with the far stronger fighter Navarro going out. The very strong Farzad Forozan of Iran literally chased Nepal's Ritu Bartan Rai for the entire round and got the decision after one round. The final seed in Block B Yasuhiko Kimura looked impressive as he score a wazari for a jodan mawshi geri against Argentine Sebastian Canafoglia. Kimura moved intelligently against the strong Forozan and picked his opponent of with strong low kicks to get the decision after one round. | ||
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Poland's Thomasz Najduch who was also seeded looked in good form as he bet Russia's Vadim Ershov in one round. The next fight saw two of the best lightweight fighters in the world as Brazil's Ryuji Isobe met Osamu Shiojima of Japan. Shiojima looked the physically stronger nut Isobe came very close with a number of Jodan mawashi geris. Astonishingly after just one round the best fight of the tournament was cut short as Shiojima was awarded four flags. Shiojima then fought superbly against Najduch and kept attacking despite the size difference and took the fight deservedly took the fight on the scales Russia's Mikhail Kozlov used his weight advantage well as he defeated Hiroyuki Owatari in one round to set up a match against the impressive Marcos Furlan who had defeated Korea's Kim Do Youn with a Jodan Mawashi geri for wazari. Furlan versus Kozlov was a very scrappy fight and the Russian was again unfortunate as he was awarded genten ichi for pushing that cost him the fight. Hisashi Noka of Japan came through against Mmangaliso Mthembu of Zambia via a genten ichi for a very dubious head punch. The spectacular Spaniard Alejandro Navarro came close on occasion to knocking out Sergei Erchov of Australia with spectacular rolling kicks but deservedly got the decision after two rounds. Navarro then appeared to be battering Noka in their fight but again mystery head punches downed Noka for a genten ichi that put the Japanese fighter through in a what was a disgraceful judging with the far stronger fighter Navarro going out. The very strong Farzad Forozan of Iran literally chased Nepal's Ritu Bartan Rai for the entire round and got the decision after one round. The final seed in Block B Yasuhiko Kimura looked impressive as he score a wazari for a jodan mawshi geri against Argentine Sebastian Canafoglia. Kimura moved intelligently against the strong Forozan and picked his opponent of with strong low kicks to get the decision after one round. Brazilian Ewerton Teixeira was impressive as he dispatched Frances Fourment in one round by decision. Igor Peplov took on Bulgarian Plamen Zhelyazkov and the Bulgarian consistently grabbed the Russian to smother his attacks without any warning form the refs. This went on for two rounds and lead to Peplov losing on weight. This was a great shame as the crowd was robbed a potentially great match in Peplov and Teixeira due to poor judging. When Zhelyazkov took on Teixeira virtually nothing happened in the two minutes but this time it appeared the ref were watching as Zhelyazkov was awarded genten ichi for grabbing that gave Teixeira the fight after two minutes. | |
| Argentinean green belt Raul Zunino amazingly got a wazari for a spectacular tobi ushiro mawashi geri against Masaki Takao. Taisei Kou defeated the much larger Michael Martinez of USA after one round. As Zunino took on Kou there was a buzz of excitement following Zunino's win over Takao. Astonishingly with 30 seconds to go before the end of the round the Argentine repeated his spectacular technique to gain a wazari. Kou tired to make the wazari up in the remaining time but with no avail. The very strong Sergey Nikishaev got a wazari against Mongolia’s Enkhtogtokh Purevdorj to advance. Nikishaev would then face Bahman Bourbour of Iran who defeated Russia's Sokrat Suleymanov in a close fight. Bourboaur then faced Nikishaev that was his third Russian opponent of the tournament and in a completely even fight that went 2 extensions Nikishaev advanced on weight against the gallant Iranian. Poland's Piotr Banasik looked impressive as he defeated Canada's Johnny Leblanc in one round and Kentaro Tanaka despite giving New Zealander Warren Gabb forty kilo’s mover round intelligently picking off his legs and eventually scoring a wazari with a well placed low kick. Tanaka versus Banasik was a close fight and it seemed very harsh on the Pole that the flags went to Tanaka after just one round. Hiroyuki Kidachi continual pressure against the Yellow belt from New Zealand Eddie Te Ahu earned him the win after one round by decision. Germany's Eduard Wallmen and Russian Shamil Lakaev had a real scrape but the German tired in the first extension and Lakaev got the decision. Kidachi took on Lakaev and was fortunate to get the flags after the first extension as the fight appeared very even. Kenshin Morimura defeated Brazil's Julio Nascimaento in one round and would face the winner of Maxim Dedik and Shin Itoh. Early on it was evident that Dedik was hurting Itoh with his powerful punch combinations but Itoh showed good spirit to keep attacking. The second round was similar also and just as Dedik appeared to be on top and ready to enter the final extension another diabolical Genten ichi was awarded for non existent grabbing with seconds to go before the end of the extension which was enough to once again put the stronger, Russian fighter out of the tournament. A close fight between Morimura and Itoh saw Itoh deservedly come through on the scales. Shinji Adachi was fortunate to get the decision against Russia's Vasily Timofiev after one round and Brazil's Fabiano Da Silva looked in awesome form as he dropped South African Siyabonga Tyandela with a shita tsuki for ippon. Da Silva kept up his good form and deservedly got the decision after two rounds against Adachi in the next round to advance. Shingo Koyasu defeated Australia's Johnny Reiestad to set up a clash with one of the favourites in Russia’s Alexandre Pichkunov who easily defeated Zambian Musa Mavundla. Koyasa had not looked too impressive prior to this fight but showed great spirit as he kept constantly attacked his much larger opponent. Pichkunov's strength eventually prevailed as he was awarded the flags after an extension. |
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Kurbanov ominously entered the arena and gained ippon for a chudan tsuki against
Namibian Ndumiso Jantjies. Japan's Hirokazu Kondo defeated Semen Garan of
Ukraine in one round to set up a clash with Kurbanov. Despite giving his
opponent thirty kilograms Kurbanov looked the more powerful and hit Kondo with
two superb back kicks that had the Japanese fighter struggling to stay on his
feet. This was easily enough to give Kurbanov the decision after the first
extension. Brazilian Diogo Silva scored an ippon for a Jodan mawashi geri
against Alexander Savelev of Russia and the very powerful Khosro Yaghoubi got an
ippon for low kick against Canada's Joel Tobin. Yaghoubi versus Silva was a real
scrape and it was s shame not to see another extension but Silva was awarded a
Genten Ichi for pushing, but the Iranian was a deserved winner. Russia's Sergey
Melyuk and Eduardo Tanaka of Brail had real battle with Melyuk getting the
decision after the final extension. Masato Ikeda made short work of Chilean
Felix Palomino as he gained an ippon with a chudan mae geri. Melyuk versus Ikeda
was another even fight that went the distance but this time Ikeda took the
decision. Lithuania's Darius Cetvertinskas started brightly against Russia's
Roman Shcherbakov but was dropped twice with chudan tsuki for wazari. World
Lightweight Champion Masafumi Tagahara defeated America's Yukihisa Aokusa in one
round to face Shcherbakov. Tagahara's excellent movement consistently frustrated
Shcherbakov who came close on a number of occasions with rolling kicks but the
Japanese fighter cam through on weight. Yuuki Fukui was fortunate to get the
decision after one round against Costa Rica's Erik Goldberg and Argentina's
again Emmanuel Ruarte looked
impressive as he defeated Russia's Artur
Unezhev. Ruarte was on top against Fukui and had two flags after both rounds but
the ref awarded a draw and the Japanese fighter went through on weight.
Armenia's Artur Oganasian again continued his fine form as he dropped Brazil's
Odair Guerra wit a punch for ippon. as did Spain's Pablo Estensoro as defeated
Russia's Vycheslav Nesterov in one round. Oganasian against Estensoro was a
match between two classy fighters but the Armenian's extra strength showed as he
caught his opponent with some superb low kicks and gained the decision after one
round. Poland's Aleksander Bielecki looked very clumsy against Japan's Naoji
Mikoshiba and the Japanese fighter advanced by decision. New Zealander Troy
Freemen looked very strong against Canada's Joe Johnston despite the weight
difference and advanced after the first extension. Freeman put up a good fight
against Mikoshiba in the next round and was unfortunate that Mikoshiba got the
decision after one round. Russia's Artur Babaev easily defeated Romania's Dorel
Bulearca in one round, as did Japanese favourite Hitoshi Kiyama against
Australian Alexander Kaminsky. Kiyama versus Babaev looked even after one round
but home judging prevailed and took Kiyama through with the smallest difficulty
possible. |
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| First fight of the final day saw Glaube Feitosa against the young Russian fighter Andrey Stepin. Glaube strength and experience showed as he had Stepin hurt on a number of occasions and including two-cything chudan mawashi geris. The net result was Feitosa deservedly got the decision after the first round. The strength of Atsushi Kadoi low kicks had Sumitani in trouble form the start of the fight and Kadoi got the flags at the end of three minutes. Sergio Da Costa despite looking somewhat awkward looked physically stronger than Naoki Ichimura and Ichimura was warned for pushing and then received a genten ichi for a throat punch that sent the Brazilian through. The next fight saw Russia's Sergey Osipov at his spectacular best as he had Joji Hibino rattle from the start and score a wazari for firstly jodan mawashi geri and then a superb jodan hiza geri to take the fight. Sergey Plekhanov put in a spectacular last thirty-second burst that was enough to get him the decision after the first round against Gun Irisawa. Emil Kostov was made to work unnecessarily hard against Yoshinori Ikeda he did not get the decision after one round despite his dominance. The second round was the same story with Kostov's strong low kicks and punches taking their toll on Ikeda and two flags were awarded but the ref gave a draw. After a final extension and Kostov getting two flags once more but still not being awarded the fight it went to the scales. There was no significant weight difference and Kostov won via tameshiwari as hi broke 19 boards to Ikeda's 16. Kostov was made to work much harder than he would have hoped by the judges and this did not bode well for his fight against Plekhanov. Osamu Shiojima was again impressive against Brazil's Marcos Furlan but the Brazilian's low kicks and weight advantage took their toll as he got the decision after the second extension. It was only poor judging that had got Hisashi Noka to this stage and a poor fight saw him exit to Yasuhiko Kimura who cleverly tried to use up as little energy as possible and final give Noka his long overdue exit. There was an air of excitement as Argentine Raul Zunino entered the mat against Brazil's Ewerton Teixeira. It was clear from the start that due to Teixeira's strength Zunino would have to keep at distance. Soon after coming close with his trademark rolling ushiro mawashi geri Zunino was dropped for ippon with a shita tsuki to put Teixeira through. Hiroyuki Kidachi and Shin Itoh had real scrap with nothing to split them after two extensions. There was no significant weight distance and Kidachi advance via Tameshiwari. Sergey Nikishaev then took on Kentaro Tanaka of Japan, Tanaka moved round well picking of the static Russian with strong low kicks that were clearly hurting Nikishaev and Tanaka deservedly got the flags after three minutes. Alexandre Pichkunov made his intent clear against Brazil's Fabiano Da Silva by constantly attacking with spearing punches. He was a little fortunate, as it appeared the punch that scored a wazari was a little high and despite fighting back Da Silva could not retrieve the wazari. Due to breaking his arm in the tameshiwari an emotional Yhosro Yaghoubi was unable to face Lechi Kurbanov who advanced to the next round. Masoto Ikeda and Masafumi Tagahara had a hugely entertaining fight. Tagahara was the much lighter of the two and moved around well and countered effectively. Ikeda got two flags after the first extension but the ref awarded a draw and after a superb final extension Tagahara who was ahead on weight won via decision. Armenia's Artur Oganasian again looked menacing as he attacked and overpowered Yuuki Fukui and took the decision after one round. Hitoshi Kiyama and Naoji Mikoshiba had a real battle in the final fight of the round and the ref was correct to order an extension after the Kiyama received two flags at the end of the first round. Half way in to the first round Kiyama showed why he is one of the favourites as he knocked Mikoshiba out cold with a stunning jodan mawashi geri for ippon. |
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Last 16
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The last 16 opened with a fantastic fight between Feitosa and Kadoi. Every time the Brazilian appeared to be on top Kadoi would come back strongly with powerful low kicks. The first round and both extensions ended with no flags awarded to either fighter an enthralling fight Feitosa came through by Tameshiwari as he broke 22 boards to Kadoi's 19. One thing was evident that Feitosa had taken a lot more punishment and made to work a lot harder than he would have liked in this fight. Sergey Osipov and Sergio Da Costa then had a scrappy fight that saw both fighters receive genten ichi for pushing. Osipov never looked trouble and Da Costa looked unlikely to knock the Russian out. After the second extension it went to the scales and Osipov advanced due to being over ten kilograms lighter than Da Costa. Russia's Sergey Plekhanov then took on Emil Kostov in what had the potential for a thriller; Kostov started the fight very well and caught Plekhanov with some strong low kicks that looked like he was in trouble. However regular as clockwork, with thirty seconds on the clock Plekhanov unleashed a non-stop barrage of punches that the Kostov struggled to counter and the Russian got a unanimous decision. It was a shame this fight was at this stage and Kostov had been made to fight two more extensions than he probably should have in the previous round. Yasuhiko Kimura then took on Brazilian Marcos Furlan, Kimura was aware of Furlan's high kicks and moved around countering with strong low kicks that started to cause Furlan's leg to buckle. At one point it looked like Kimura may get a wazari but he deservedly got the flags after the opening round. Ewerton Teixeira of Brazil versus Kentaro Tanaka was an interesting fight as Teixeira used his height advantage well as he nearly kicked Tanaka into the crowd with some very strong mae geri's. Teixeira was unlucky not to get the fight after one round but there was no question after the first extension as he got the decision. In this fight poor judging again came in to play, as it appeared the officials did not one more Russians in the final eight than Japanese. |
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| Pichkunov literally battered Kidachi for the first round an
astonishingly one judge gave the flag to Kidachi, in the first extension just as
Pichkunov was completely on top in the fight he was awarded a genten ichi that
put Kidachi through in an another appalling decision. Lechi Kurbanov slowly
stalked the much smaller Tagahara around the mat in a relaxed manner before
catching Tagahara with an ushiro geri in the face right at the end of the round
to gain a wazari to advance. Kiyama came out wary of Oganasian and rightly so as
the Armenian caught Kiyama with some strong low kicks and then an axe kick early
on that had Kiyama visibly shaken. Kiyama responded in true champions style as
he pulled out a mawashi geri chudan out of now where to drop Oganasian for
ippon. |
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The first quarter final pitted two exceptional fighter as Feitosa took on Osipov, the first round was very even but it was evident that Feitosa's extra strength was a telling factor. In the extension despite Osipov trying a couple of spectacular head kicks and both fighter being warned for pushing it was Feitosa who put in a solid burst of punches at the end of the extension to get the flags. Sergey Plekhanov versus Yasuhiko Kimura was a very close fight and was a deserved draw at the end of the first round as Kimura moved intelligently to avoid the full brunt of Plekhanov's now customary burst. The first extension was very similar apart from Plekhanov was now appearing to be the stronger and fitter of the two fighters nut was only awarded one flag after the first extension. The second extension was almost a carbon copy of the first and how one of the judges gave it to Kimura was mystery to all the audience. The fighter went to the scales and there was no significant weight difference so it went to Tameshiwari were Plekhanov amasses an amazing 29 boards to Kimura's very respectable 21. In the third quarter final Teixeira used his mae geri well against a heavily injured Hiroyuki Kidachi and there was no question that Teixeira deserved the fight after one round. The next fight had the potential to be one of the fights of the tournament as the awesome Lechi Kurbanov took on Hitoshi Kiyama. Kiyama was wary of Kurbanov and moved well and hit him with some good low kick and even caught him with a jodan mawashi geri. Kurbanov in return hit Kiyama with a powerful Chudan mawashi geri that Kiyama did well to stay up on. The round ended completely even and it was another very poor decision when two flags were awarded to Kiyama and then dumbfounded the crowd where stunned further when the ref gave Kiyama the decision that robbed the whole arena of an exciting matchthat had the potential to be the fight of the tournament. |
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The
first semi final was Glaube Feitosa against Sergey Plekhanov. Both fighter had
been in some very gruelling encounters in their previous rounds and this match
would be difficult for both fighters. Feitosa tried to make use of his kicks as
much as possible in the opening round but injuries along with some good by
Plekhanov lead to both fighters trading mainly punches. As the clock ticked down
in the first round with thirty seconds to go Plekhanov started his now customary
onslaught, this barrage of attacks really had Feitosa shaken but to his credit
dug deep to continue to attack, but with much less frequency, to the end of
round but Plekhanov had clearly finished stronger. The flags went up and two
were awarded to the Russian and the ref awarded a draw. The first extension got
underway in similar fashion to the rest of the fight, however this time it was
plain for the crowd to see Feitosa was struggling to cope with Plekhanov’s
punches and when thirty seconds to go appeared on the screen Plekhanov,
conducted his attack. This time try as he could Feitosa could not fight the
Russian off who continually attached with body punches and it was clear that the
Brazilian was a broken man who was on his way of the tournament. The round
finished and Plekhanov was awarded the flags, as he became the first Russian to
reach the final of a World Tournament. Semi final number two was another classic match. Brazil’s young star Ewerton Teixeira against the Japanese favourite Hitoshi Kiyama. The first round saw both fighters start brightly by moving intelligently and launching attacks. Teixeira’s mae geri came into play once more as he at times nearly kicked Kiyama of the mat, who it must be said started to read the mae geris and avoid them and then counter with low kicks effectively that trouble the Brazilian. As the round drew to a close it appeared that both fighters wanted to finish strong, and in the last 45 seconds the Teixeira and Kiyama fought at close quarters with both unleashing furious punches and low kicks. |
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First it appeared that Teixeira was on top, then Kiyama came back, then Teixeira once more then
Kiyama attacked in what was a thrilling end to the round. The judges had no
option as the fight was giving a draw by all corners. The first extension began
at a high pace with both fighters with Kiyama moving well to avoid the
Brazilian’s range who came close with a couple of jodan mawashi geris that
Kiyama moved out the way in his own inimitable way and countered strongly. The
extension ended once more with a flurry of activity from both fighters in much
the same way as before and once again it appeared the fighters couldn’t be
separated. Amazingly in what was another poor decision two flags went to Kiyama
and the referee gave the decision to the home fighter and brought to an end what
had been the fight of the tournament when it was equal. |
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3rd
Place fight off
The
third place fight off was a sullen affair as it Feitosa was not only heavily
injured but exhausted also. It was clear that the young Brazilian Teixeira had
huge respect for his fellow countryman in did enough to win the fight after the
one round without inflicting any more damage on Feitosa.
Final
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The
final pitted one of the Russian elite in Sergey Plekhanov against Japan’s
Hitoshi Kiyama. Kiyama moved around and used low kicks well and Plekhanov
attacked mainly with punches and Kiyama also came close with a jodan mawashi
geri that appeared to connect. As the round drew to a close Plekhanov set about
his onslaught but the previous fights had taken their toll as it he did not seem
as effective as he had done previously but credit to Kiyama who used many inside
low kicks to put the Russian off balance and attacked with punches of his own.
The round predictably ended evenly. What came next was astonishing as two flags
were red and Referee Isobe awarded the fight to Kiyama after just one round. The
crowd voiced their displeasure but there would be no extension and Hitoshi
Kiyama was crowned the new World Champion. Overall
the tournament was an great event but one can not help feeling that it only
every reached 65-70% of its potential, as poor refereeing, and lets be honest
biased judging, played a large part in the whole event. Personally I think
Kiyama is a very worthy World Champion and possibly or even probably would have
won the tournament anyway, but it would have been have been great to see him
pushed to the limits in the quarterfinal, semi final and final where he almost
certainly would have been. The Japanese wanted a home winner and that is what
they got but next time around they will have much more difficulty keeping the
title on home shores after viewing many of the foreign fighters who will be
there in four years time.
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