An international judo competition for people with visual impairments was held in Tokyo, and 23-year-old Yujiro Seto, who won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Paralympics, won the men's 73 kg class for low vision.
The Grand Prix Tournament, an international judo competition for people with visual impairments, is the second highest ranked tournament after the Paralympics and World Championships, and was held for two days from the 4th at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium for the first time in Japan.
The tournament will earn points that will determine the world ranking that will help you qualify for next year's Paris Paralympics.
Due to the change in the rules for classifying, Seto competed in the men's 2 kg class for low vision, which is 66 kg heavier than the 7 kg class that won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Paralympics.
In the second round of his first match, Seto faced Tokyo Paralympic gold medalist Feruz Saidov of Uzbekistan, and although he was deprived of a technique in the early stages, he won the match with a comeback by taking the technique twice with his signature shoulder throw.
After that, they continued to win the championship, and in the final, they faced a Kazakh player who had a proven track record in international competitions, attacked with "Ouchi Cut" and other methods, and finally won the championship by losing a foul to their opponent.
In addition, Japan were ▽ Shizuka Hantani was the runner-up in the blind class in the women's 73 kg class, ▽ Yuji Kato in the blind class in the men's 2 kg class, ▽ Rio Paralympic bronze medalist Junko Hirose in the women's 2 kg class and low vision class,
In addition, all three of Hiroko Kudo finished in third place.
Yujiro Seto "I'm glad I won in Tokyo, gold in Paris"
Yujiro Seto, who won the men's 73 kg class for low vision, said, "Frankly, I'm happy, I'm glad that I was able to win in Tokyo because I haven't been able to get results in international competitions lately. I was able to make the most of my strengths."
In the finals, he explained that he was not able to throw on his back, which is his specialty, but rather with an ouchi cut, and that he was completely wary of throwing on his back, so he put his foot out to find a technique to knock him backwards.
Looking ahead to next year's Paris Paralympics, he expressed his enthusiasm, saying, "I want to do my best to win the gold medal at the Paris Paralympics, so that I don't feel like I won because I won this time in Tokyo."