Samoan judoka Derek Sua attends a practice session with his Japanese coach Kohei Kamibayashi at a training facility inside a church hall in Apia, Samoa, July 13, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Barrett
APIA, Samoa (Reuters) - In a large church hall near the Samoan parliament, 175-kg (386-lb) judo practitioner Derek Sua is being thrown to the mat by his Japanese coach, a black-belt who is just a third his size.
Sua welcomes the training, usually difficult for athletes in Pacific Ocean islands to secure, but now offered free by Japan's development assistance agency, to help him qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
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