Judo-Riner huffs and puffs into +100kg quarter-finals, defending champion Krpalek out

PARIS : French judoka Teddy Riner laboured into the quarter-finals of the men's +100kg category when he beat Magomedomar Magomedomarov of the United Arab Emirates on golden score in the last 16 as defending champion Lukas Krpalek was eliminated on Friday.

Riner, who had a first-round bye, is chasing a French Summer Olympics record of four titles after claiming individual golds at the London and Rio Games.

The 35-year-old, who also won a team gold in Tokyo three years ago, will face Georgia Guram Tushishvili, the Tokyo silver medallist and world number four, for a spot in the last four.

Cheered on by a raucous crowd at the Champs de Mars Arena, Riner struggled throughout but his opponent ran out of steam in the golden score period and received a third penalty, for non combativity.

Japan’s Tatsuru Saito, one of the favourites, made an impression by taking down defending champion Krpalek of the Czech Republic by ippon with an uchi-mata after 91 seconds.