Tema, Sep. 24, GNA-Abdul Razak Alhassan of Ghana Prison Service Judo Club beat Yissifu Yidana of Tema Judo Club in the finals to win the First LASSIA Limited Open Judo Championship held at Tema on Saturday. The fight, which lasted for only three minutes, saw the champion throwing down his opponents for the greater part of the game. Efforts by Yidana in the closing stages of the fight to throw down the champion, at least once was thwarted as he applied defensive tactics.

Kojo Twum Baah placed third by beating Mohammed Amadu In the Minus 73 Kilogram category, Abdulraman emerge champion by beating Prosper Kudor while Osman Abdulrahman took the third position by beating Selassie Fiadzoe.

About 160 competitors took part in the one-day event, which is aimed at revamping the game, which had been dormant over the years. Mr Kwaku Yeboah Afari, General Manager of LASSIA, a Tema-based Greek fishing company, said the company sponsored the event as their contribution towards the development of sports in the country. He gave the assurance that the company would sponsor the event in the coming years.

Mr. Ben Johnson, National chairman of the Ghana Judo Association, called on the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports to help the association in the development of the sport. He also called on the youth to take active interest in the sport so that they would remain healthy at all times. 24 Sept. 06