MMA
Filipino-Japanese judoka Hoshina books Olympic ticket
Another Filipino has qualified for the 2012 Olympics as judoka Tomohiko Hoshina booked a ticket to London after passing the qualification requirements by the International Judo Federation (IJF).
It will be the first time a Filipino judoka will compete in the Olympics since John Baylon and Jerry Dino in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
In an announcement posted in the IJF website, the Filipino-Japanese was among the 32 competitors who made the cut in the men’s +100 kg class.
The qualifiers were based on world rankings by May 1 with the top 22 judokas in each weight category advancing outright, on the condition that there will be only one athlete per country. Ten more slots were filled up to the two next best judokas in each continent provided that only one will qualify per country.
Hoshina was among the 20 Asians who broke through the Olympics via the second qualification rule. However, he will be in for a fight to go deep into his campaign as he is ranked 97th in the world.
Hoshina, a silver medalist in the 2007 Southeast Asian Games, joined boxer Mark Anthony Barriga, shooter Brian Rosario, two athletes from track and field and two from swimming to have claimed an Olympic berth.
