Judo: Ze'evi wins -100 kg competition at World Cup
The bronze medalist from the Athens Games wins four of his five fights on Sunday with an ippon.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFarik zeevi 88(photo credit: )
Arik Ze'evi officially guaranteed himself a place at the upcoming Beijing Olympics on Sunday, winning the -100 kilogram competition at the World Cup event in Prague.
Ze'evi, a bronze medalist from the Athens Games, won four of his five fights on Sunday with an ippon, and proved that he's hitting form just in time ahead of this summer's Olympics in China.
The 31-year-old Israeli, who defeated Tong Zhou and Daniel Brata in the first two rounds, beat defending Olympic champion in the +100kg category, Keiji Suzuki in the last eight and claimed the gold medal with two more ippons in the semifinals and finals against Levan Zhorzholiani and Yauhen Biadulin, respectively.
The only other Israeli judoka who is currently close to joining Ze'evi in Beijing is Gal Yekutiel, who finished fifth in the -60kg event in Prague on Saturday, losing to Jeroen Mooren in the bronze medal fight.
Israel's remaining male and female judokas will have one last opportunity to book a flight to China in the European Championships, which get underway in Portugal on April 11.
