Tonga's first medal a Gold for Judo [1]
Wednesday, August 29, 2007 - 10:15. Updated on Tuesday, July 21, 2015 - 14:18.
Tonga's 'Epoki Faka'osi yesterday evening secured a Judo Gold medal for Tonga in the Men's - under 90kg category in the South Pacific Games Judo tournament. It was the first medal for Tonga at Apia.
The silver medal was won by Arnaud Laboube, Tahiti; and the two Bronze medals went to Steve Olsen, New Caledonia, and Rehia Davio, Tahiti.
It has been a long battle for 'Epoki to get a gold in the South Pacific Games. In Fiji 2003, 'Epoki won a Bronze medal in the under 81kg category, and in Guam in 1999 he also won a Bronze for Men - 81 kg.
'Epoki's judo career started 15 years ago in 1992 as a 13-year-old, and along with his brother Mekivila he was one of Tonga's first judo competitors to represent Tonga in an overseas tournament winning a medal for technical excellence when Tonga participated in the Wellington Youth Tournament that year.
More recently, 'Epoki took the Silver Medal in the Open category at the Commonwealth Judo Championships hosted by Auckland, New Zealand, in November 2004.
As one of Tonga's most promising competitors in Judo, he has taken up opportunities for overseas training. In 2000 'Epoki went to Japan on a two months intensive judo training programme based at the the Tokai University. Then in March 2001 he moved to San Fransisco, United States, for improved training opportunities and later the same year represented Tonga in the World Judo Championships hosted by Munich, Germany. He went on to be placed 7th in the Commonwealth Games, Manchester, England, in 2002.
He has represented Tonga at many international events including, the 1999 Judo World Championships in Birmingham, England, and also in the US Open in Colorado Springs, USA; and in 2003 with Akapei Latu represented Tonga in the World Judo Championships hosted by Osaka, Japan.