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.