Teen Ishii stuns Suzuki for natl title

Teen Ishii stuns Suzuki for natl title
The Daily Yomiuri

Satoshi Ishii made his first appearance at the prestigious All-Japan Judo Championship quite a memorable one.
Ishii pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Japan judo history Saturday, beating two-time defending champion Keiji Suzuki in the final at Tokyo's Nippon Budokan.
Ishii, a sophomore at Kokushikan University, cut his victory close, tripping Suzuki backward with six seconds to go for a yuko point.
"I can't believe it," said Ishii, who, at 19 years 4 months, became the youngest All-Japan champion ever.
Suzuki, a 2004 Athens Olympic gold medalist and three-time world champion, was looking to become the fifth judoka in history to win three straight All-Japan titles.
The All-Japan tournament is a single-elimination event with no weight classes that produces a single champion.
Ishii, the 2004 world junior champion at 100 kilograms, advanced to the final by defeating Hidekazu Ikuta, while Suzuki gained a spot with a victory over world 90-kg silver medalist Hiroshi Izumi.
"If I don't lose by ippon, I have a chance in any match," Ishii said.
In the final, Ishii stayed on the defensive, blocking Suzuki's attacks. In the dying seconds, Suzuki tugged Ishii forward and the collegian used that momentum to sweep Suzuki's right foot from the inside and send him sprawling backward onto his hip.
"That's the only way I could have thrown him," Ishii said. "I wasn't aiming for it, it just happened.
"Before the final, coach [Hitoshi] Saito was angry with me," he added, without specifiying the reason. "I just wanted to win."
Coming back from a broken right big toe suffered in March, Suzuki was competing for the first time since the world championships last September in Cairo, where he won the 100-kg title to add to the over-100-kg and open category golds he had previously won.
The last judoka to win three straight All-Japan titles was Kosei Inoue from 2001 to 2003. His last triumph included a victory in the semifinals over Suzuki, who came back the next year and avenged the loss to Inoue in the championship match.
Before Ishii's triumph, the legendary Yasuhiro Yamashita had been the youngest previous champion, having won the first of his record nine straight titles in 1977 when he was 19 years 10 months.
(Apr. 30, 2006)

Fonte: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp