Ryoko Tani wins seventh world title

The 2007 World Judo Championships ended on Sunday with a seventh world title for Ryoko Tani. Tani defeated Yanet Bermoy of Cuba to win her seventh world title in the 48kg class.

Tani has won the gold medal for her class in the last two Olympic Games, and in every World Championship since 1993 except for the last one in 2005. She missed the event that year due to pregnancy, and Bermoy took the title in her absence.

Japan picked up two other gold medals at this year’s Championships: Maki Tsukada defeated Slovenia’s Lucija Polavder in the women’s open class, and Yasuyuki Muneta bested Yury Rybak of Belarus in the men’s open class.

In the end, Japan tied with Brazil for the most gold medals. Two silver medals were won by Sae Nakazawa (losing to Cuba’s Yurisel Laborde in the 78kg class) and Tsukada (losing to China’s Tong Wen in the over-78kg class), while four other Japanese competitors earned bronze medals: Yusuke Kanamaru, Yuka Nishida, Aiko Sato, and Ayumi Tanimoto.