"'Lightning Man' Lee Jun-hwan, Judo Men's 81kg Round of 32 Round of 32'Half Victory'
Jul 30, 2024
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Lee Joon-hwan won half of the world's 29th-ranked Asraf Mote (Morocco) in the men's 81-kg judo round of 32 at the 2024 Paris Olympics held at the Chandmars Stadium in Paris, France on the 30th (Korea time). Lee Jun-hwan hung up his opponent's left thigh and put it on the mat with about a minute left before the end of the game. Lee Joon-hwan, ranked third in the world, made a strong advance to the medal by reaching the round of 16.
Lee Jun-hwan is one of the dark horses in this tournament. He appeared like a comet in the international judo community in June last year. In the final of the International Judo Federation (IJF) Tbilisi Grand Slam, his first senior international competition, he beat Tato Grigalashvili (No. 2 in the world) and won the Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam 20 days later by defeating the gold and bronze medalists at the Tokyo Olympics.
IJF added the modifier 'Lightning Man' to Lee Joon-hwan's play, which does not miss the opponent's gaps and actively penetrates them. IFJ praised 'Very fast enough to win a round even before the introduction of the player is over.
Lee Joon-hwan changed the way he played ahead of this tournament. This is to fix the appearance that bold plays are rather used against the opponent. The recent painful defeat by Gri-Galashvili, who beat him in his first international competition, was the main trigger.
Lee Jun-hwan, who showed a strong performance from the first round, took on a medal challenge. Kim Joon-hwan, who started judo at his father's recommendation when he was in elementary school, changed his life after receiving 'A bag of rice' as a prize for winning a local competition. He is determined to succeed in this competition and give 'one cow' \.
vanbasten@sportschosun.com
