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Press Release-Pan American Judo Championships

            The 2004 Pan American Judo Championships were held on April 20 and 21 in Isla de Margarita, Venezuela.  This tournament was the last tournament to earn qualification points towards the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.  Representing the East Bay Judo Institute were Molly O�Rourke (78kg) and Sayaka Matsumoto (48kg).  Accompanying them were Matsumoto Sensei and Asanuma Sensei.

            Up first for the East Bay Judo Institute was current Senior National Silver Medallist, Molly O�Rourke, currently ranked Number 1 in the 78kg division.  Molly first faced an opponent from the Dominican Republic and easily disposed of her, throwing her for ippon about halfway into the match.  Molly then advanced to the semi-finals, facing Lorena Briceno from Argentina.  Briceno took the early lead, throwing Molly with a leg pick for wazari.  Molly then came back and was able to throw Argentina for yuko.  She looked to be in control of the match, but was then was pinned for ippon, sending her into the bronze medal final with Yarenmis Castillo of Cuba.  In the Bronze medal final, Molly looked to be in control, turning the Cuban over multiple times with sankaku.  Unfortunately, she was unable to complete the technique.  The Cuban took advantage of a weak attack by Molly and pinned her, leaving Molly with a solid 5th place finish in her first Pan American Championships. 

            Next up was Current Senior National Champion, Sayaka Matsumoto, currently ranked number 1 in the 48kg division.  Sayaka faced Yamila Zambrano from Cuba first round.  There was no score in the match until Zambrano attempted an ouchigari attack, which Sayaka attempted to counter. Both players fell on their sides, but the referee called ippon for Cuba, ending Sayaka�s chance to qualify her division for the Olympics.  Sayaka was sent into the repacharge where she easily pinned Nicaragua with Sankaku for ippon, sending her into the Bronze medal final with Lisseth Orozco of Columbia, last year�s PJU Champion.  Sayaka came out aggressively, but was caught for a yuko with osotogari halfway through the match.  She was unable to overcome this deficit and had to settle for a 5th place finish. 

            Both Molly and Sayaka now turn their attention to the Olympic Trials, which will be held on June 5, at the San Jose Event Center in San Jose, California.

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 DR. DAVID MATSUMOTO