By MARK REY MONTEJO
Fil-Japanese twin judokas Keisei and Shugen Nakano displayed their might and captured the gold medals in their respective events in the 2024 Tahiti Oceania Open in French Polynesia Sunday, June 2.
Keisei pulled off an ippon victory over Noa Gustin in the men’s -73kg. He previously outlasted Manatoa Luciani, 2-0, via wazari in the semifinals.
Shugen, a Southeast Asian Games multi-medalist, unleashed two ippons triumphs over French Vincent Sorgiati and hometown bet Tamaterai Herver in the Round Robin B and Finals, respectively, to secure the men’s -66kg golden plum.
A total of 53 athletes (28 men and 25 women) from 10 countries in four continents competed in the two-day tilt.
The Nakanos are still vying for a spot in 2024 Paris Olympics, although they are still far from the qualifying rankings.
Shugen currently holds 340 points at 116th place while Keisei, with 390 points, is at 108th in the International Judo Federation (IJF) World Rankings.
Kiyomi Watanabe, the country’s flag bearer along with pole vaulter EJ Obiena in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is the lone Filipina judoka who has the highest hopes of qualifying in the biggest sporting event, toting 373 points to place 91st in the IJF women’s 63kg global list.
With the points she piled up, the 27-year-old native of Mandaue, Cebu earned a coveted niche in National Olympic Committee Asian quota rankings where she is at eighth spot.
The Paris Olympics deadline for judo is set on June 23 then the final eligibility list will be posted on June 25.
