/ Staff writer, with CNA
Taiwanese Olympic medalist Yang Yung-wei （楊勇緯） won the men’s 60kg judo title at the Zagreb Grand Prix in Croatia after battling Kazakhstan’s Aman Bakytzhan for more than 11 minutes in the final on Friday.
Seeded second in the men’s 60kg category, 29-year-old Yang fell behind after Bakytzhan scored a waza-ari in the final. However, Yang kept his composure and leveled the score with an ouchi-gari, a major inner reap, before the end of regulation time.
The bout went into golden score, an overtime period in which the first to score wins. After more than seven minutes into the extra time, Yang held his ground and forced his opponent to receive a third penalty, securing the gold medal.
Yang’s Zagreb victory marked his first gold medal in a year, after clinching the extra-lightweight event title at the Judo Oceania Open on the Gold Coast, Australia, in November last year.
Yang’s coach Liu Wen-teng （劉文等） said Yang had placed high expectations on himself at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Japan and was under considerable pressure.
Despite performing well at the world championships, Yang failed to reach the podium at the Asian Games, as he had not fully recovered from physical fatigue.
The team had traveled to Zagreb early to acclimatize to the weather and attended a training camp to fine-tune Yang’s condition, Liu said, adding that the preparations helped him perform well at the tournament.
The victory would give Yang greater confidence in his bid to qualify for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, he said.
Yang is to take part in two competitions next month — the Tokyo Grand Slam and the Dushanbe World Judo Masters, his coach said, adding that he looks forward to ending the season on a high note.
Meanwhile, Taiwanese judoka Lin Chong-you （林崇佑） defeated Italy’s Valerio Accogli in the men’s 66kg bronze-medal bout, earning his first Grand Prix podium finish.
Now 24, Lin made a name for himself seven years ago when he became the first Taiwanese judoka to win gold at the World Judo Cadets Championships.
However, after struggling to make progress at the senior level, he moved up one weight class to the men’s 66kg division, and eventually earned a spot on Taiwan’s team for this year’s Asian Games.
His bronze medal marked another milestone in his career.
The tournament in Croatia will conclude today.
新聞來源：
TAIPEI TIMES