Summer Tournament Action Part 2- Miami World Cup & US Open

July 2-3, 2011

While the group of EBJI teenagers were competing in Ohio, Jeff Fujimoto, Molly O’Rourke and Ann Shiraishi flew to Miami to compete in the Miami World Cup and US Open.

A qualifying tournament for the 2012 London Olympic Games, the Miami World Cup attracted many top athletes, all vying for points on the International Judo Federation (IJF) World Ranking List.

Jeff and Annie competed the first day of competition in the 60kg and 48kg, respectively. In his first round, Jeff beat a tough Canadian but then lost in the next round to the eventual bronze medalist from Switzerland.

Annie competed against a tough Russian opponent (currently ranked 15 in the world). She says “I ended up going 8 mins (5 min regulation and 3 min overtime) and lost by flags (decision).  I fought a lot better than I did last week in Brazil.  I figured out what I could and couldn’t do with my latest injury so this weekend went a lot better”.

Molly competed only in the US Open and had a round robin division. After a first round loss to another American, Molly beat former World Team Member, Toni Geiger. She then faced a formidable Russian opponent. The match went to golden score (overtime) where Molly was countered and then pinned. After losing the next round to Mexico, Molly had to compete another 2 matches to break a 3-way tie for third place. She beat both of her opponents and added another US Open medal to her name. This is Molly’s 4th US Open medal.

After competing in a couple more tournaments in Venezuela and El Salvador, Annie Shiraishi now turns her attention to the 2011 World Championships which will be held in Paris, France. Jeff Fujimoto turns his attention to the World University Games which will be held in Shenzhen, China and Molly O’Rourke turns her attention to the Pan American Games which will be held in Guadalajara, Mexico in October.

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