New blood rules as no returning judokas defend their titles

"I did my best but my opponent was just too strong."

There was a real sense of déjà vu at ExCeL on the second day of the judo competition (31 August) as again no defending Paralympic champions succeeded in reaching the top step of the podium.

The biggest shock perhaps came from the hotly tipped Naomi Soazo of Venezuela, who fell into the repechage after her first contest in the -63kg division. Soazo looked far stronger in her repechage contest where she quickly earned a Waza-ari within eight seconds, and moments later she achieved ippon to dispatch the Swedish Nicolina Pernheim and progress to the bronze medal match.

Soazo’s bronze medal contest looked to be going her way, getting a point on the board quickly with a first minute yuko, but out of nowhere her Brazilian opponent achieved ippon.

Daniele Bernardes Milan took the bronze medal, her first in this weight division, having won two bronze medals previously at Athens and Beijing in the -57kg division.

Ippons tended to be the theme for the day, with the majority of the bronze medals being decided by one. Monica Merenciano Herrero made great use of her skill on the floor to hold Marion Coadou of France for ippon, earning her third Paralympic bronze medal in the -57kg division for Spain. Merenciano Herrero said: "I am happy I have not lost my ranking, but I am also disappointed that I couldn't go higher in the rankings as I am now known as the 'bronze lady'".

Shakhban Kurbanov made a huge impression with a phenomenal throw of Hidekatsu Takahashi (Japan) over his shoulder for ippon in just 47 seconds. Both judokas were making their Paralympic debut in the -73kg division, but there was no doubt that the Russian had dominated the contest.

Defending champion Eduardo Avila Sanchez of Mexico appeared to be struggling in his bronze medal match against Mauricio Briceno of Venezuela, who scored a yuko after 22 seconds. Avila Sanchez failed to score throughout the entire contest, but a series of silly mistakes by the Venezuelan gave Avila Sanchez the lead by Waza-ari. All that Avila Sanchez had to do was let the clock run down to win a bronze medal.

Spain's Marta Arce Payno, the silver medallist from the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games in the -63kg division, fell to bronze against the Finnish Paivi Tolppanen who had to submit to a ferocious strangle on the mat in the second minute. The Finn said: "I started well, but I've never won against her. It was clumsiness. I lifted my arm and she succeeded with an arm-lock - you don't do that in judo … She deserved to win."

Isao Cruz Alonso of Cuba also struggled against the Spanish Abel Vazquez Cortijo in their bronze medal contest. The Cuban defending champion conceded two penalties, but his opponent gave away one more, giving Cruz Alonso the lead and ultimately one of the -81kg bronze medals.

The entire gold medal contests line up came from first-time Paralympians, with the first three gold medal contests in the women’s -57kg, men’s -73kg, and women’s -63kg all decided within a minute.

Afag Sultanova of Azerbaijan quickly acted to send Lucia da Silva Teixeiral of Brazil to the second step of the podium with a forceful throw to achieve ippon in the -57kg division. After her defeat, da Silva Teixeiral said: "I have been training for four years so I expected to get gold but I am very happy to be where I am. I did my best but my opponent was just too strong. I should have done more than I did."

In the -73kg division gold medal contest Dmytro Solovey of the Ukraine threw Uzbek Sharif Khalilov for ippon in just 25 seconds.

The -63kg final was even shorter, with Dalidaivis Rodriguez Clark of Cuba winning gold for a punishing strangle that forced Zhou Tong of China to submit.

The men’s -81kg final was a different story, with both judokas matching like with like throughout the five minutes of normal time. Jose Effron of Argentina scored quickly with a waza-ari, then his Ukrainian opponent Olexandr Kosinov replied with the same. Effron conceded a penalty, Kosinov conceded a penalty, until both had gifted a yuko to their opponent.

The contest entered a golden score period and despite only having three minutes both Judokas were happy to fight at their own speed. Very little was given in the opening two minutes until a sudden tussle erupted between them. It was clear that one was going to score as they thrashed back and forth, and it was Kosinov that found the strength to tip his opponent for a yuko and secure his first Paralympic gold medal.