S. Korea bags 2 golds, 3 silvers in judo

Five South Korean judokas reached the final in their weight divisions, but Gwak Dong-han in the men's under-90 kilogram class and Kim Sung-min in the men's over-100 kilogram division were the only ones smiling in the end at Jakarta Convention Center Plenary Hall in Jakarta.

Gwak delivered South Korea's first judo gold of the day after beating Altanbagana Gantulga of Mongolia on ippon with his shoulder throw.

This was Gwak's first individual gold at the Asian Games. He won gold in the team event at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games but took bronze in the men's 90kg.

Gwak reached the final by edging out Mashu Baker of Japan, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics champion.

Kim Sung-min, who was the last South Korean to see action on the mat, delivered the country's last judo gold in the day.

He beat Duurenbayar Ulziibayar of Mongolia in the final on waza-ari to earn his first individual gold at the Asian Games.

Kim, the captain of the men's judo team, sustained a right arm injury during his bout against the defending champion Takeshi Ojitani of Japan in the semifinal. But he didn't lose his focus against Ulziibayar and executed a hip throw for waza-ari.

However, other South Korean judokas were not so lucky. And coincidentally, they all faced opponents from Japan, the birth place of judo.

Cho Gu-ham settled for silver after losing to Kentaro Iida of Japan on three shidos in an under-100 kilogram division final that lasted more than 10 minutes. Receiving three shidos, or penalties, will automatically give victory by ippon to the opponent.

Both Cho and Iida entered sudden death extra time after it ended scoreless in the four-minute regulation. The 26-year-old South Korean received his first shido at 2:27 and took another one 40 seconds later. He was given his last penalty at 6:19.  On the women's side, Park Yu-jin lost to Ruika Sato of Japan in the under-78 kilogram division on ippon. With just 36 seconds left, Sato went for an ankle throw and forced the 25-year-old South Korean to fall on the mat.

In the over-78kg division, Kim Min-jeong, 30, fell to Japan's 18-year-old judoka Akira Sone on golden point in extra time.

The two entered extra time with Kim receiving two shidos, while Sone got one. But the Japanese athlete was declared the winner with a shoulder throw that earned her waza-ari. (Yonhap)