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Japan's Ono wins thriller with Shavdatuashvili; Gold No. 2 for Kosovo

Nora Gjakova of Team Kosovo during the Womens Judo 57kg Semifinal at Nippon Budokan (Photo By Harry How/Getty Images)

A match-up of two previous Olympic gold medalists in judo did not disappoint as it took more than five minutes of Golden Score for Shohei Ono of Japan to strike gold a second time.

Ono beat Georgia's Lasha Shavdatuashvili in the men's 73kg weight class on Monday. It was an epic final that saw both judokas under duress.

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Ono was unseeded in his home nation for these Games but won gold in Rio, while Shavdatuashvili triumphed at London 2012.

No. 1 seed Rustam Orujov of Azerbaijan, a silver medalist in Rio, did not win a medal after falling to Ono in the quarterfinal and An Chang-rim in a bronze medal match.

Tsend-Ochiryn Tsogtbaatar also won bronze when he beat Canada's Arthur Margelidon.

SEE MORE: Japan's Shohei Ono wins second judo gold on home turf

Gjakova gives Kosovo a second judo gold

Nora Gjakova of Kosovo claimed Olympic gold with a defeat of France's Sarah-Leonie Cysique of France in the women's 57kg class on Monday.

Gjakova, the No.3 seed, joins 48kg winner Distria Krasniqi in claiming judo gold for Kosovo.

She beat No. 2 seed Tsukasa Yoshida of Japan in the semifinals after beating Slovenia's Kaja Kajzer and Dutch judoka Sanne Verhagen in the run-up to the semi.

The bronze medals went to Yoshida and No. 1 seed Jessica Klimkait of Canada.


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