Kunihiro Places Fifth at KRA Korea World Cup

Nicole Jomantas December 04, 2009

Aaron Kunihiro placed fifth in the 60kg division.

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) - Aaron Kunihiro (Wakefield, Mass. / NYAC / USA Judo National Team FORCE) placed fifth on Friday at the KRA Korea World Cup in Suwon City.

Competing in the 60kg division, this is the second top-five finish at an A-Level tournament this year for the Senior Pan American medalist who was ranked as the #3 seed at the tournament.

Kunihiro had a first-round bye before defeating Aziz Tashmatov (UZB) in the quarter-finals. Advancing to the medal rounds, Kunihiro lost to Chimedyunden Boldbaatar (MGL) in the semifinals.

Kunihiro led his bronze medal match by a waza-ari (half-point) to Woo-Sun Kim's (KOR) yuko (quarter-point) when Kim caught Kunihiro with nine seconds left and threw him for ippon (instant win).

Kunihiro's Team FORCE and NYAC teammate Nick Delpopolo (Wakefield, Mass.) placed seventh in the 73kg division... more>