Judoka Kim Jong-hoon Wins Bronze in Men's 90kg with Ippon Hold

South Korean national judoka Kim Jong-hoon (Yangpyeong County Office) has claimed a valuable bronze medal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Competing in the men's 90kg bronze medal match against Iran's Amir Abbas Choupan at the Aichi-Nagoya International Arena in Nagoya, Japan, on October 2, Kim secured his spot on the podium by defeating his opponent with a Katame-waza (hold-down) finish.

Starting the match calmly, Kim looked for an opening and executed a surprise left-sided seoi-nage (shoulder throw) about 40 seconds into the bout to score a yuko.

Kim maintained his momentum and continued to lead the match through persistent attacks.

He continuously targeted his opponent's arms and launched repeated shoulder throws.

Although these attempts did not translate into additional points, they were effective in dominating the flow of the match.

Noticing signs of fatigue in his opponent, Kim adjusted his strategy accordingly.


After taking Choupan down, Kim transitioned into a hold-down, successfully earning an ippon to seal the victory.

Earlier in the semifinals of the men's 90kg event, Kim dropped to the bronze medal match after conceding an ippon via uchi-mata (inner thigh throw) to Japan's Riku Okada.

Kim is a leading figure in the men's 90kg weight class who shocked the domestic judo scene by winning the Paris Grand Slam in February of last year during his days as an unknown athlete.

At the time, Kim was ranked 111th in the world when he defeated Georgia's Luka Maisuradze—the 2023 World Championships champion—with an ippon victory via a shoulder throw following a golden score (overtime) battle.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.