March 29, 2024

Tona loses to Kasahara, PNG Olympic medal dreams dashed

LONG REACH: Erika Kasahara of Japan (red) blocks a kick from PNG’s Theresa Tona. PHOTO: A. Molen.

Papua New Guinea’s hopes of a medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics was dashed last night as Taekwondo’s Theresa Tona lost 12 – 0 to her Japanese opponent Erika Kasahara in the women’s 49kg division.

The first round saw a leveled contest as both athletes came up empty. However, the second round saw Kasahara come in with a flurry of counters that earned her a 12 point lead. Tona’s failure to score by the end of the second round saw the umpire end the fight awarding the win to Japan.

The fight was awarded due to large point gap. However, Tona’s coach, Any Rutten, was clearly disappointed by the judges’ decision to have the fight stopped despite a last round remaining.

Tona’s exit brings an end to Team PNG’s participation in the 2012 Sumer Olympics in London.

You can view pictures taken by Andrew Molen here. (click link)

Bernard Sinai

Bernard is a student of Kyokushin Karate and a blogger. He believes martial arts has the potential to change people for the better.

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