FILIPINO-Japanese siblings Shugen and Keisei Nakano bowed out successively in the opening round of the International Judo Federation seniors world championships at the Laszlo Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary.
A bronze medalist in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, Keisei was the latest to go last Tuesday, losing his match by ippon (0-1) to Russian Makhmadbek Makhmadbekov in pool A of the men’s 73-kilogram division.
Shugen, who bagged a SEA Games gold two years ago, also suffered a 0-1 setback three days ago to Australia’s Mark Lantz in pool B of their 66kg match.
Four-time Southeast Asian Games judo champion Kiyomi Watanabe was scheduled to see action yesterday after drawing an opening-round bye in the women’s 63kg division tournament in pool C.
Watanabe, who is poised to seal an Olympic slot through the IJF’s continental quota process, is set to face the winner between Briton Amy Livesey and Brazilian Alexia Castillos.
She is hoping to win at least one or two matches so either of the Nakano siblings could likewise earn Tokyo tickets.
Judo chief Dave Carter explained a couple of wins by Watanabe would pull her up from her present spot of No. 39 in the IJF Olympic qualifying ratings and open up a spot for either of the Nakanos via the continental slot for Asia.
