Kōji Sone

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Kōji Sone ( Japanese 曽 根 康 治 , Sone Kōji ; born November 14, 1928 ; died January 1, 1983 ) was a Japanese judoka . In 1958 he was the second judo world champion. Three years later, he was the first Japanese to lose a World Cup final to a non-Japanese.

Kōji Sone finished third in the Japanese championships in 1955. In 1957, Shōkichi Natsui and Kōji Sone fought against each other in the final of the Japanese championships, and Natsui also won this title.

In 1958 Kōji Sone won the final of the Japanese championships against Kimiyoshi Yamashiki. On November 30, 1958, the World Championships took place in Tokyo , the second ever. Sone first defeated the judoka Kuirante from the Philippines, then the South Korean Kin and in the quarterfinals George Harris from the United States. In the semifinals he defeated the French Bernard Pariset and with the final victory against his compatriot Akio Kaminaga Sone was world champion.

At the beginning of December 1961, the third world championships took place in Paris . Kōji Sone defeated the German Heinrich Metzler and then the Belgian Theo Guldemont and the Canadian Manfred Matt in his opening fight . In the quarter-finals he defeated the South Korean Han Ho-san and in the semifinals the second South Korean Kim Eui-tae . In the final, Sone met the Dutchman Anton Geesink , who was the first non-Japanese to become world champion. The 1961 World Championships were for a long time the last world championships with only one weight class . At the Olympic Games in 1964 and at the World Championships in 1965 there were fights in three weight classes and the open class, of which three weight classes were won by Japanese and one by Anton Geesink. It was not until 1980 at the Olympic Games in Moscow boycotted by Japan and at the first women's world championships that Japanese judoka did not win a gold medal in world championships. The Japanese men only went off the mat again in 2009 without a single gold medal at World Championships .

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Japanese Championships 1955 at judoinside.com
  2. ↑ Japanese Championships 1957 at judoinside.com
  3. ↑ Japanese Championships 1958 at judoinside.com
  4. ↑ Sone's match report at judoinside.com
  5. ↑ Sone's match report at judoinside.com
personal data
SURNAME Sone, Kōji
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese judoka
DATE OF BIRTH November 14, 1928
DATE OF DEATH January 1, 1983