By Jeff Ang

THERE were extraordinary scenes at yesterday's Schools National Judo Championships.

Fajar Secondary School (FSS) coach Yeo Chin Seng, incensed that one of his judokas in a B Boys' team match against Hougang Secondary (HS) had been disqualified, confronted the competition's convener Gerard Fernandez.

Yeo had to be restrained by onlookers.

Judo competition fracas Click on thumbnails below to view. (Photos: ST)

He then told his five-man team to sit down on the competition mat, where they remained for 20 minutes.

He later expressed frustration with the decision of the three referees. "I don't understand why Sin Shi Kang was disqualified when he's competing in the correct category," Yeo, a 1985 South-east Asia Games judo bronze medallist, said.

"If there's any disqualification, it should be for the earlier match."

Shi Kang, the 15-year-old in the eye of the storm, was about to square off with his Hougang opponent in the middleweight category (73kg and below) when the referees stopped the bout.

They noticed that he had earlier competed in a bout in the heavyweight division (over 73kg) - against Zheng Hua Secondary.

He won that bout and FSS won the match 4-1. But it was against the rules.

After the referees conferred with Fernandez, who is also the head of Hougang's physical education department, and Saratha Devi, the teacher in charge of Fajar's team, the decision was taken to disqualify Shi Kang.

Hougang were then leading Fajar 2-0 in the best-of-five match, as the two schools fought for the right to contest third spot. Shi Kang's disqualification gave HS the victory, but third place was eventually shared by St Joseph's Institution and Raffles Institution.

"The match referee spotted that Shi Kang might be competing in the wrong weight category, that's why they stopped the bout. We checked our documents and confirmed this. The boy had to be disqualified immediately," said Fernandez. "No matter how the decision went, the boys should not sit on the mat to protest."

Singapore Judo Federation president Parga Singh, who attended yesterday's finals at HS' school hall and whose organisation provided the referees, agreed.

But Yeo, 57, insisted: "According to the rules of the International Judo Federation, players can stand in the mat and wait for the referee's decision and that's what we did."

Hwa Chong Institution won the B Boys' title ahead of Bishan Park Secondary.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.