Krisna's shock loss blamed on bad judging

Krisna's shock loss blamed on bad judging

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post/Cebu

Hulking Krisna Bayu was considered the national judo squad's
sure bet for gold in this Southeast Asian Games.

So it came as a major shock on Thursday when he lost the final
of the men's 100 kgs, with national team officials angrily
blaming the referee for a wrong decision.

With 10 seconds left to go in his bout against Thailand's
Pratepwadtanand, the 2003 gold medalist seemed to have scored an
ippon.

The Japanese judge, who was closest to where the move
occurred, noted it as such, but the Singaporean judge and
Filipino main referee disagreed.

The ippon, if allowed, would have given him a resounding 10-2
win, but instead he lost 0-2. It had been an evenly fought match,
with both fighters of similar speed and strength.

The Indonesian team lodged a protest, but after a 10-minute
meeting, the medal standings stood.

"My last attack should have been called an ippon as I made my
opponent fall on his back," Krisna said after the match. "But we
must respect the referee, otherwise our judo organization might
be sanctioned by the Asian Judo Union."

Asian Judo Union president Yoshinori Takeuchi, who watched the
bout, agreed that Krisna should have won the match with his last
attack.

"Krisna made the Thai judo athlete fall, so it should be an
ippon or wazari," he said. "But in this situation, the referee
and two judges are those who make decision, not me."

Indonesian judo team manager Yorry Yance Worang said the
referee considered Krisna's attack was outside the mat.

"We lost one gold due to unfair refereeing," he complained.

Another Indonesian judoka, Deni Zulfendri (men's +100 kgs),
took silver after he lost to Thar Sutthiphun of Thailand by an
ippon in the final, while Yuliati (women's -48 kgs) brought home
a bronze.

On Friday, the judo competition will feature four finals in
men's under 81 kgs, men's under 90 kgs, women's under 52 kgs and
women's under 57 kgs.

In the 2003 SEA Games, Indonesia won three gold, four silvers
and four bronzes, finishing third behind Vietnam in first place
with six gold and Thailand with four golds.