Michael Eldred Takes Bronze
At Grand Prix in China
December 17, 2011-- Team USA’s Michael Eldred took a bronze medal today at the Grand Prix Qingdao in China.
Eldred, 73 kg (Western Idaho Judo Institute, Fruitland, ID), won three rounds to reach the semi-finals, edging Chol Su Kim of North Korea with flags in golden-score overtime; defeating Belgium’s Kirk Van Tichelt by wazari; and Italy’s Giovanni Di Cristo by a yuko.
In the semi-finals, Eldred lost to Japan’s Takenori Nakamura who went on to take the silver medal. South Korea’s Ki-Chun Wang took gold.
Yesterday, Team USA’s Marti Malloy, 57 kg (San Jose State University Judo) won two rounds to take a fifth-place spot.
Grand Prix tournaments are among the most competitive in the world. This one attracted just over 400 fighters from 61 countries.
Competition continues tomorrow. For complete results and brackets at IPPON.ORG.
-- Story by Ernest Pund
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