Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei bags gold at Perth Oceania Open

Taipei, Nov. 11 (CNA) Taiwan judo star Yang Yung-wei (楊勇緯) won a gold medal in the men's under-60 kilogram category at the Perth Oceania Open in Australia on Friday.

Yang, 26, who is currently ranked world No. 4 by the International Judo Federation, knocked out his 21-year-old Taiwanese opponent Lin Chong-you (林崇佑) in the gold medal bout.

Earlier in the competition, Yang had advanced to the final after beating Johan Rojas of Colombia in the round of 16, Michel Augusto of Brazil in the quarterfinals, and Joshua Katz of Australia in the semifinals.

Commending Yang for his goal medal win in Perth, his coach Liu Wen-teng (劉文等) said the next major goal is to work towards qualification for next year's Summer Olympics in Paris.

That will include preparing for the Tokyo Grand Slam on Dec. 2 and 3, which will pit Yang against some of the top judokas in the region, Liu said.

"We expect that Japan will enter its best judo athletes in the Tokyo competition," Liu said.

The coach said he was confident that Yang would not only qualify for the Olympics, but will strive to become one of the top eight seeds ahead of the Games.

"Seeding is important in judo, as you will be in a better position in the draw," he added.

According to information on the Olympics website, for each of the seven weight categories in judo, the top 17 countries in the world rankings will each receive a quota of athletes.