Hiroaki Hiraoka

The title of this article is ambiguous. For the Japanese soccer player, see Hiroaki Hiraoka (Soccer Player) .

Hiroaki Hiraoka ( Japanese 平 岡 拓 晃 , Hiraoka Hiroaki ; born February 6, 1985 in Hiroshima ) is a former Japanese judoka . He was second in the Olympics and twice vice world champion in the extra lightweight, the weight class up to 60 kilograms.

Career

The 1.60 m tall Hiroaki Hiraoka was the 2003 U20 Asian champion. In 2004 he won a bronze medal at the U20 World Championships. He won his first international title in the adult class in 2006 at the East Asian Championships. In 2007 he was team world champion with the Japanese men's team. In 2008 he won the Tournoi de Paris . Two and a half months later, he won the Asian Championships. The Olympic Games in Beijing were less successful for Hiraoka , he lost his opening match against Taraje Williams-Murray from the United States. At the 2009 World Championships in Rotterdam , he defeated the Italian Elio Verde in the semifinals , and lost the final to the Ukrainian Heorhij Santaraja . A year later he lost to the Russian Arsen Galstjan in the quarter-finals at the World Championships in Tokyo . Hiraoka won a bronze medal by winning the round of hope over the Austrian Ludwig Paischer and the Russian Beslan Mudranow . Two months after the World Championships, he reached the final of the Asian Games and lost to the Uzbek Rishod Sobirov . At the 2011 World Championships in Paris , Sobirov and Hiraoka met again in the final and the Uzbek won again.

At the Olympic Games in London , Hiraoka won his opening match against the Briton Ashley McKenzie by Ippon. Against the Israeli Artiom Arshansky , the Japanese had to go for the full duration of the fight, in the quarter-finals against the French Sofiane Milous he won by punishing the French. Hiraoka won the semi-final against Italian Elio Verde after 1:08 minutes. In the final he was defeated by the Russian Arsen Galstjan after 41 seconds.

Web links

• Hiroaki Hiraoka in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Tournament results at judoinside.com

Footnotes

1. ↑ Match balance at judoinside.com
2. ↑ The representation follows the Olympic database Sports-Reference . The length of the fight in the final is not found with Hiraoka, but with Arsen Galstjan .