China wins women's -63kg judo gold at Qingdao Grand Prix

China won its first gold at the World Judo Grand Prix Qingdao here on Saturday.

   Yang Junxia used less than two minutes to beat Turkish judoka Busra Katipoglu with an ippon to claim the women's under 63kg category title. Cuba's Marcie Espinosa and South Korea's Bak Jiyun both finished third.

   "I came here to win the gold," said the exciting Yang. "I made full preparation for the Grand Prix. I have been bothered by injuries since the beginning of the year and failed to make any good results, so this title increased my confidence."

   Yang's ranking is up to 10th from 14th after winning the gold. 

   "The win worths 300 points and it helps a lot for my qualification. I will do my best to qualify for the Rio Games and I want to win an Olympic gold medal," she said. 

   China also took two bronze medals at the Qingdao Grand Prix as Liu Yang and Ma Yingnan both finished third in the women's -52 and -57kg categories respectively on Friday.

   Japan clinched two gold on Saturday as Hashimoto Soichi beat Rustam OruJov of Azerbaijan to win the men's -73kg category and Maruyama Goki defeated South Korea's Wang Ki-chun to take the men's -81kg category title.

   Croatia also won a gold by Barbara Matic, who triumphed in the women's -70kg category.

   The Qingdao Grand Prix, which serves as one of the Olympic qualifications, is running from Nov. 20 to 22.  Endi