Kazakhstan's judo team claimed its second silver medal of the 20th Summer Asian Games at the international arena in Aichi, Japan, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports reported. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Sputnik Kazakhstan.
Paris Olympics champion and world champion Eldos fought host athlete Hayato Kondo in the final of the 20th Summer Asian Games (-60 kg). In a hard-fought bout, the Japanese athlete prevailed, the statement said.
Thus, today Eldos claimed his third medal at the games of the yellow continent. In 2014 in Incheon, our compatriot won gold in the -60 kg weight category. He also took silver in the men's team competition.
Smetov is the most successful Kazakh judoka in the history of the Summer Asian Games.
Notably, in the morning session, Eldos Smetov cleanly defeated Asian Games silver and bronze medalist Lee Ha Rim (South Korea) in his first bout. After that, he pinned world championship silver medalist Ariunbold Enkhtaivan (Mongolia) to the mat. In the semifinal, he overcame Tokyo Olympics silver medalist and Hangzhou Asian Games champion Yang Yungwei (Chinese Taipei).
This is the second silver medal for Kazakhstan's judo team at this competition. Earlier, Abiba Abuzhakynova took 2nd place.