(Beijing, November 16) On the evening of November 16, the second day of the 2007 Beijing Judo Open, Italian Antonio Ciano beat his famous Japanese opponent Takashi Ono in the overtime period of the men's 81kg final for the gold medal. Chinese judoists failed to gain any medal in this event.

Takashi Ono was the bronze medalist at both the 2005 World Championships and 2006 Asian Games. At the beginning of the final match, both sides focused their attention on their handwork but neither of them managed to gain the upper hand over the other. One minute before the end of the match, the Italian judoist almost succeeded with his shoulder-wheel throw. However, Takashi Ono, with his rich experience gained from major world tournaments, saved the situation by relaxing his body. Going into the extra period, Antonio Ciano seemed more and more confident despite the tight defense put up by his Japanese opponent. Antonio Ciano's unremitting efforts finally paid off, when he got a "waza-ari" in the last two minutes. The winning Italian then threw himself down on the ground with excitement.

Aea Min-Sun of Korea and Yury Panasenkov of Russia got the bronze medals.