Taraje Williams-Murray takes bronze in 60-kilo at Pan American Judo Tournament
By SHARON ROBB South Florida Sun-Sentinel
May 10, 2008
May 10, 2008
Taraje Williams-Murray took bronze and moved into top six contention in his division Friday on the second day of the Pan American Judo Tournament at the James L. Knight Center in Miami.His third-place finish in the 60-kilogram match enabled him to clinch a top-six spot with only Sunday's Olympic Zone Cup left to finalize the qualification for the United States to secure the weight class at the Beijing Games. Taraje-Williams, 23, of Bronx, N.Y. threw his first opponent, Ivan Bell of the Netherlands Antilles, early in his first match to advance to his next round against Cuba's Yosmani Piker, one of the best in the world. After Williams-Murray fired off five consecutive attacks, Piker was penalized for stalling. Williams-Murray was then given a penalty midway through the match.
"I knew I had to pick it up after the penalty," Williams-Murray said, who continued to attack and soon threw Piker for ippon, an instant win, with a fireman's carry. "Overall, it was a great day. I felt good and didn't have much weight to cut. The match with Cuba was my most important, but I just wanted to focus on being relaxed."In the semifinal, Williams-Murray lost by ippon to Javier Guedez of Venezuela to fall into the bronze match, where he threw Jose Romero of Ecuador for ippon to clinch a medal. Williams-Murray went into the tournament ranked seventh for his weight class. With only the top six from the region going to the Games, William's goal was to leapfrog Juan Postigos for sixth.
FONTE: Sun-Sentinel.com - Fort Lauderdale,FL,USA
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