Chinese judoka Guo collects bronze on opening day of Hangzhou Asiad

(Xinhua) 09:52, September 25, 2023

HANGZHOU, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- China's Guo Zongying clinched a bronze in the women's 48kg category as the judo competition started at the Hangzhou Asian Games here on Sunday.

"Winning a bronze was just the beginning," said Guo, with her sights set on the Paris 2024 Olympics. "An Olympic title would be my dream come true."

China's judo team executive staff member, Yan Yu, revealed that the team engaged in a 16-day training camp in Japan last month, which was designed to enhance the team's competitiveness for the Hangzhou Asiad and the 2024 Paris Olympics.

"I will keep on improving my technical and tactical skills," Guo stated.

From the four judo gold medals offered on Sunday, Japan's Natsumi Tsunoda and Ryoma Tanaka secured two by defeating opponents from Kazakhstan and Mongolia in the women's 48kg and men's 66kg categories, respectively. Yang Yung-wei of Chinese Taipei, a silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympic Games, triumphed over South Korea's Lee Ha-rim in the men's 60kg category. Uzbekistan's Diyora Keldiyorova claimed victory in the women's 52kg category.

Other Chinese judokas, Xue Ziyang and Zhu Yeqing, were eliminated in their respective round of 16 matches in the men's 66kg and women's 52kg categories.

China has garnered a total of 20 gold medals since judo was introduced to the Asian Games in 1986.

The judo competition at the Hangzhou Asiad is set to conclude on September 27, with 15 gold medals up for grabs.