Judo: Myles Porter Wins Second Consecutive Bronze Medal at the IBSA World Games On the third day of competition at the 2011 IBSA World Games, Myles Porter (Colorado Springs, CO/US Olympic Training Site at Colorado Springs) won his second consecutive bronze medal.
Photo Courtesy: judo.teamusa.org/ Marc Vink - Myles Porter after winning bronze at the Blind World Championships in March.
On the third day of competition at the 2011 IBSA World Games, Myles Porter (Colorado Springs, CO/US Olympic Training Site at Colorado Springs) won his second consecutive bronze medal in the 100kg division.
“I came here to win, so losing to the Korean was a disappointment,” said Porter. “But I am happy that I was able to come back out and dominate the next match and win the bronze.”
Porter began the day with a quick win over Oliver Upmann (GER), arm barring the German in the first minute of the match. In his second match, Myles faced Aramitsu Kitazono (JPN). The Japanese player was much shorter than Myles, who had difficulty countering his tai otoshi (body drop) throws. In the second minute, Myles managed a beautiful tani otoshi (rear counter throw) for ippon. This put Myles in the semifinals against last years gold medalist Gwang Geun Choi (KOR). Although Myles came out strong against the Korean player, Choi caught Myles with o uchi gari (inner reaping throw) for ippon in the second minute of the match. This lost put Myles in the bronze medal match against Zakir Mislimov (AZE). Mislimov, a very physical player, came out strong, but Myles controlled the pace of the match both standing and on the ground, until he threw the Azerbaijani with tomoe nage (circle throw) for ippon and his second world bronze medal.
“I am very proud of the way Myles bounced back after his disappointing loss to the Korean player,” said coach Scott Moore. “I was glad to see that he was able to refocus and defeat the Azerbaijani player, and bring home another medal for the US.”
This medal ranks Myles in the top 4 in the world in the IBSA rankings, virtually guaranteeing him a slot in the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, England. Myles will compete in three weeks at the US Senior National Championships in the able-bodied division, where last year he became the first visually impaired player to earn a medal, a silver in the 100kg division.
Katie Davis (Sacramento, CA/Team Sacramento), also had a successful day, finishing 5th in the Paralympic weight division of +70kg. Last year Katie finished with a silver medal in the non-Paralympic weight of 78kg, but was shut out in the higher weight category. This year, Davis, who generally fights under 78kg, was one of the smallest players in the division. After a first round bye, Katie lost her first match to eventual bronze medalist Zoubida Boauzoug (ALG) when Bouazoug was able to overpower her with a koshi garuma (head lock throw) for wazari and pin her for the win. Katie then dropped in to the repechage where she faced the much larger Svetlana Ganieva (RUS). Katie picked up the tempo and was able to secure a yoko shiho gatame (side pin) for the win. This put Katie in the bronze medal match against
