Agony for Remarenco
UAE judoka misses out on bronze at Asian Games
The UAE’s challenge in judo ended in disappointment with the fancied Sergiu Toma and Ivan Remarenco crashing out without a medal at the 18th Asian Games here on Friday.
Olympic bronze medallist Toma was shown the door in the first round by Uzbekistan’s Shakhzodbek Sabirov in the men’s -90kg.
Remarenco, however, started on a high note beating India’s Avatar Singh and Kazakhstan’s Viktor Demyanenko by ippon and referee’s decision, respectively.
His surge, however, was halted in the semi-finals when he lost by ippon to Korea’s Guham Cho.
Remarenco still had an opportunity to win a bronze had he defeated Uzbekistan’s Sherali Juraev. After taking a 1-0 lead, Juraev forced Remarenco to attack to regain lost ground and with the clock ticking the latter erred again. Juraev won the contest comprehensively by ippon.
“Anything can happen in judo and we just witnessed that. We tried our best and it is what it is,” said coach Vasile Volc. “Remarenco won some good fights and over all I’m happy with the way he performed.”
Volc also backed Toma saying it was too much to ask of the 31-year-old straight away having switched into a higher weight category.
“He was competing in 81kg before and he lost to the strong Uzbek Sabirob. It was always going to be difficult/”.
Nasser Al Tamimi, the UAE Judo General Secretary, also rated the performance from the judokas as satisfactory.
“We are not going home empty-handed as Victor Scvortov provided us with a medal,” he said. “Remarenco also came close but Toma didn’t click but he was competing in a different weight. I’m confident that he would improve by the world championship.”
The curtains couldn’t have come down on the hockey at the 18th Asian Games without a tantalising India v Pakistan encounter.
But the arch-rivals are not clashing in the finals — they have both missed out on a golden opportunity for a smooth passage to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games by missing out on gold.
They will now have to come through a gruelling qualifying round to ensure they book their ticket to Tokyo.
India lost to Malaysia 7-6 in a semi-final shoot-out after being tied 2-2 while a solitary goal was enough for Japan to dash Pakistan’s hopes.
Pakistan players were seen smiling after India’s loss in the stands but an hour later their fate too was sealed. For sure, that would have immediately triggered a similar euphoria in the India camp as well.
For years now, these two giants of Asian sport have found solace in beating each other while the world of hockey has moved forward without them.
Just when it seemed that India had taken giant strides by finish second at the Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy behind Australia in June, their lack of fire and intent against a robust Malaysian side, following some mammoth wins en route to the semis against minnows, has raised questions.
However, the intensity that was lacking in both India’s and Pakistan’s semi defeats will be back in abundance in this bronze medal contest. The match is more than a medal for them now. It has now become a matter of pride and survival — a convenient route to cover-up the Games setback. Both side are well aware that one act of brilliance and all those sloppy moments of the last match will be pardoned and many players who may have been on the way out could get a new lease of life.
It will be interesting to see how well India’s skipper PV Sreejesh and Pakistan hockey captain Mohammad Rizwan Sr will lift their players for this crunch outing. The contest will also be a test of nerves for both coach Harendar Singh and Roelant Oltmans — their tactics will be in spotlight.
Momentum going
“The past can’t be changed but the future is yet in our hands. We are committed for a better show against Pakistan, and even a bronze medal would be good enough to keep the momentum going,” said Harendar.
Pakistan team manager Hassan Sardar too was confident that his side will put their semifinal heartbreak behind them and go all out against India.
“We lost the contest because a stroke that was given was revoked by the television umpire,” he said. “Both umpires on field and television were Indians and that affected our changes. I’m confident that our boys will put the setback behind and put our best foot forward to clinch that bronze.”