THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIJING — Giulia Quintavalle won Italy’s first judo gold of the Beijing Games, in the women’s 57-kilogram division, and Azerbaijan’s Elnur Mammadli stunned world champion Wang Ki-chun of South Korea to take the men’s 73-kilogram title on Monday.
Quintavalle took the early lead against Deborah Gravenstijn of the Netherlands and then expanded on it with a throw with just under two minutes remaining. Gravenstijn, ranked 8th in the world, could not find an opening, and was held scoreless until the five-minute match ended.
Winning the bronzes were Brazil’s Ketleyn Quadros, who defeated Australia’s Maria Pekli in overtime, and China’s Xu Yan, who upset No. 2-ranked Barbara Harel of France.
The men’s final was over almost as soon as it started.
Mammadli needed only 23 seconds to send Wang, who had been fighting hesitantly after the preliminaries, to the mat with a powerful throw.
Tajikistan’s Rasul Boqiev threw European champion Dirk van Tichelt, of Belgium, for an ippon win and a bronze. Winning the second bronze was Brazil’s Leandro Guilheiro, who also needed less than 30 seconds to end his medal match with an ippon throw.
He defeated Iran’s Ali Malomat.
Nicolas Tritton of Perth, Ont., the lone Canadian in the competition, fell 10-0 in preliminary-round action to Joao Pina of Portugal.
The women’s field was exceptionally strong, and the preliminaries quickly decided the fate of several of the top athletes.
Gold medal favourite Kye Sun Hui, the Atlanta extra-lightweight champion, threw Austria’s Sabrina Filzmoser, the European champion and No. 1-ranked this year, with an ippon in her first match. But the North Korean then lost to Harel, by waza ari.
After coming back in repechage, Harel was stunned by China’s Xu Yan, who, after trailing, unleashed a throw that twirled her to the mat. As the crowd roared at Beijing’s Science and Technology University, Xu did several backflips on the mat to celebrate her medal.
Quintavalle opened with a victory over Athens gold medallist Yvonne Boenisch of Germany, then defeated Harel for her semifinal berth against Australia’s Pekli.
"Yvonne had lost against this opponent already at the past World Championships," said Norbert Littkopf, Boenisch’s coach. "It was a tough draw for everybody."
Third-ranked Isabel Fernandez, the Sydney gold medallist, went into overtime with Valerie Gotay of the United States in her opening bout and won on points. But she lost her next bout and did not medal.
Men’s was a more open field, with the gold and silver medallists from Athens not in the running.
But in a match worthy of a final, Mammadli threw van Tichelt for an ippon halfway through their first-round match.
Japan’s performance was a surprise as well.
Yusuke Kanamaru, third in the World Championships but making his Olympic debut, crashed down to an ippon to Malomat in the first round. Kanamaru was eliminated from medal territory by Belgium’s van Tichelt.
Aiko Sato, one of the favourites to take the gold, lost in the quarter-final and her hopes of a bronze disappeared when she lost in the repechage, hurting her right leg in the process. She was carried off the mat grimacing in pain.
