South Korean judoka dominated the mat at the 2018 Asian Para Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, between 8-11 October, leaving with seven golds and 14 medals in total.

The South Koreans opened their gold medal account on 8 October, the first day of competition, as athletes warm-up for the 2018 IBSA Judo World Championships from 16-18 November.

Choi So-hee and Song Na-yeong won the women’s up to 48kg and up to 52kg events, respectively.

Rio 2016 Paralympic bronze medallist Jin Song-lee then won all her bouts in the round robin stage in the women’s up to 63kg, contested by five judokas, to claim gold the following day.
The silver medal went to China’s Wang Yu, while bronze was claimed by Uzbekistan’s Parvina Samandarova of Uzbekistan and Hiroko Kudo of Japan.

Park Hayeong sealed another gold for South Korea in the women’s over 70kg after Chinese judoka Wang Hongyu was disqualified for a Hansoku Make, blocking Park with her knee.
Park was accompanied on the podium by bronze medallists Altansetseg Nyamaa of Mongolia and Uzbekistan’s Feruzakhon Yusupova.

Yang Seung-Jun was the only individual male South Korean to take to the top step, winning the men’s up to 73kg.

South Korea concluded their medal haul with gold in both the men’s and women’s team competitions.

Beating defending champions Iran, the South Korean men managed to take the lead with three victories in a row after Lee Min-jae defeated Reza Ghoulami.

Yang Seung-Jun also eased past Abbasnejad Ali with a powerful ippon. In the third match the silver medallist from the up to 81kg event, Lee Jang-min, confirmed the country’s victory after defeating Seyed Omid Jafari.

South Korea secured an overall 3-2 victory.

South Korea enjoyed a 14-medal haul in Jakarta. Credit: Jakarta Post

Uzbekistan finished second in the medals table with five golds.

Paralympic champion Sherzod Namozov defended his title in the men’s up to 60kg event. Rio 2016 gold medallist Utkirjon Nigmatov also triumphed in the men’s up to 66 kg event.
Mirzaev Nirbek beat South Korea’s Jung Min Lee to take gold in the men’s up to 81kg.

Aliboeva Vasila was the winner of Uzbekistan’s only gold from the women’s in the up to 70kg.

Shirin Sharipov claimed the final individual medal on Wednesday (10 October) in the men’s over 100kg.

The Paralympic bronze medallist overcame Iran’s Mohammadreza Kheirollahzadeh after securing a Waza-ari.

South Korea won both bronze medals in the event through Lee Seung-soo and Song Wooh-yeok. Song defeated Japan’s Kento Masaki of Japan, while Lee beat Garrah Albdoor of Iraq.

Uzbekistan's judoka shoed their dominance with five golds. Credit: Jakarta Post

Iran left Jakarta with two golds including a surprise win for Mousanezhad Karmozdi Ehsan in the men’s up to 100kg.

The Iranian beat South Korea’s Gwang Geun Choi, the Paralympic champion in the event.
Vahid Nouri defeated Uzbekistan’s defending champion Shukhrat Boboev in the men’s up to 90kg for Iran’s second gold.

Following the win, Nouri’s supporters immediately gathered at the mat to embrace him.  
The bronze medal went to Mongolia’s Erdenebayar Demchigdorj and China’s Li Yanchen after his opponent, Japan’s Haruka Hirose, committed three fouls.

China’s lone gold came in the women’s up to 57kg when Lin Zhilian defeated her Uzbek opponent Nafisa Sheripboeva.

In the semi finals Zhilian also defeated Japan’s favourite Junko Hirose.

In the battle for third place, South Korea’s Kim Seo-hyun beat Indonesia’s Melinda Artia Garini. The other bronze went to Hirose after she defeated Thailand’s Aitsaraphon Khwaengmueang.

The 2018 IBSA Judo World Championships are next to take place in Odivelas, Portugal, from 16-18 November. Around 300 athletes from 30 countries are expected to compete.

The competition will be shown live on IBSA Judo’s Facebook page and IBSA’s YouTube channel from 10am (CET) each day.

As well as the titles on offer, the competition marks the start of the qualification process for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Athletes will be able to secure points towards the world rankings, which will determine who will go to the Paralympics.