Judo star Kosei Inoue is back after lost Olympics

Inoue returned to winning ways at the Nippon Budokan on Sunday, capturing the Kano Cup with an ippon victory in the final against Yury Rybak of Belarus. In his first competition since the forgettable Athens Olympics, Inoue dropped Rybak with his bread-and-butter uchimata at the two-minute, 22-second mark, despite injuring his chest earlier in the bout.

Inoue, the Sydney gold medalist and three-time defending world champion who failed to medal at last summer's Olympics, was in tears after winning the open tournament contested by 31 entries from 17 nations.

Four of Inoue's five victories on the day were ippon wins.

Inoue, who did not train until mid-October following the Summer Games, credited his father, Akira, for helping him rebound from his nightmare at Athens.

"There are many people I should thank for supporting me," the 26-year-old Inoue said. "But I would have never won had it not been for my father. My father stuck by me, helped me restore and improve my judo."

Inoue, who will shoot for his fourth straight world crown in the over 100-kilogram category in September at Cairo, said the victory will be the start of a new chapter in his career.

"I want today's championship to be the beginning of the second chapter in my judo career," he said.

Satoshi Ishii and Hiroaki Takahashi took third through the repechage.