Abstract
Until 2001, the International Judo Federation (LJF) used the “hantei” system to judge matches, and then in 2002 it introduced the “Golden Score” (GS) system. This study analyzes the matches that ended in tied scores at the end of regular match time which took place at 4 IJF championship tournaments held in the 4-year period between 2000 and 2003 and were conducted under the two different systems.
Out of 1,356 matches that took place at the 2000 World Junior Championships in Nabeul and the 2001 World Championships in Munich,73 matches (5.4%) were decided by hantei. Out of 1,285matches that took place at the 2001 World Junior Championships on Cheju Island and the 2003World Championships at Osaka,42 matches (3.3%) were decided by GS-the percent of decisions by GS thus being reduced from that of decisions by hantei.
Analysis of the 73 matches that were decided by hantei showed that in the cases where referees make 3-0 decisions,73.8% of the winning players had plus points, but in the cases where referees make 2-1 decisions, the incidence of winning players having plus points dropped to 41.9%. Thus, as less than half of the matches won by 2-1 decisions had a positive number of points awarded, it was suggested that there was a considerable amount of disputed judgment involved in the matches.
Analysis of the matches that took place in regular playing time before entering the GS extended time showed that 11 matches (26.2%) were judged properly, but that in the remaining 31matches (73.8%) there was a discrepancy in the judgments. Matches that went into GS took longer than those in the hantei system, but the 4-minute regulation time matches that went into GS took 1.43 times longer than the 4-minute hantei system matches, while in 5-minute regulation time matches this ratio of GS to hanteitimes was reduced to 1.28.
With the introduction of the GS system, the incidence of matches ending in a tie score at the end of regular match time decreased. Also, there was a tendency to control the overall times of matches, and problems relating to extended playing time were thought to be within reasonable limits. With the change to the GS system, there was a tendency toward the winning of matches based on the awarding of points rather than on penalties, and so these changes were generally thought to be effective in supporting greater objectivity in deciding the winners of matches.
