FIJI Judo Association is gearing up to another international competition next month.
Team Fiji will take part in the Osaka Grand Slam 2018 in Japan from November 23-25.
Tevita Takayawa, 22, will be among 270 competitors in the competition. Takayawa, who will be competing in the 100kg, is based in Japan.
He fought at the 2015 World Championship and has also played in the Tokyo Grand Slam on two occasions.
A standout swimmer in his young years, the Tovu, Totoya, Lau lad studies Business Law at Ryutsu Keizai University in the Ibaraki Prefecture where he also trains with members of the Japanese team.
He was the only representative from Fiji to take part in the 2018 World Judo Championship in Baku, Azerbaijan.
“My performance at the World Championship in Azerbaijan was well below my own expectations,” Takayawa said.
“The experience gained in terms of preparations physically and mentally, had helped me move forward with renewed hunger to qualify for Tokyo 2020.
“I am well into my next block of training and preparing for my next competition which is the Asia Circuit of the World Judo Tour.
“My goal now is to get some consistent results while earning valuable Olympic qualification points along the way.
“This block of tournaments will start off at the Oceania Judo Open in Perth followed by the Osaka Judo Grand Slam and International Training Camp. I will close off the year at the Asia Open in Hong Kong.”
