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Judo: S. Korea's Kim beats Japan's Arai for women's heavyweight gold
BUDAPEST (Kyodo) -- Japanese heavyweight Mao Arai fell short in her bid for a maiden judo world championship Thursday, losing to South Korea's Kim Ha Yun in the women's over-78-kilogram final in Budapest.
The bout was ultimately decided by penalties after the two familiar opponents tried to avoid giving each other an opening to attack.
Kim, who defeated Japan's Ruri Takahashi in the second round, became her country's first world champion in the heaviest women's category.
The 22-year-old Arai said she had been too caught up in her opponent's strategy and would aim to expand her offensive repertoire for future competitions.
"I want to increase my options for attacking first," she said. "I was fortunate with the draw and also had good luck. Next year I want to beat seeded opponents on the way to winning the gold medal."
Japan's Hyoga Ota was beaten by Mongolia's Batkhuyag Gonchigsuren via ippon in the third round of the men's over-100-kg competition.
