Paris Olympics hopeful Ryuju Nagayama covered the platform Friday as Japan asserted 3 gold medals on the opening day of judo’s Hungary Masters.
Nagayama overcame in the males’s 60-kilogram course, as well as Wakana Koga took ladies’s 48-kg gold, while Ryoma Tanaka won the males’s 66 kg.
Japan’s Ryuju Nagayama (top) duke it outs Mongolia’s Enkhtaivan Ariunbold in the last of the males’s 60-kilogram course at judo’s Hungary Masters in Budapest onAug 4, 2023. (Kyodo)
Nagayama racked up 2 waza-ari to defeat Mongolia’s Enkhtaivan Ariunbold in the last after Tokyo Games gold champion as well as Paris Olympic choice front-runner Naohisa Takato took bronze in the wake of a quarterfinal loss.
“While being careful of mistakes, I wanted to aim for throws with attacking judo in the final,” claimed Nagayama, that won 4 of his 5 suits by ippon. “I had the ability to complete the suit at …