Judoka Naohisa Takato won Japan's first gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday, beating Taiwan's Yang Yung-wei in the men's 60-kilogram final.

His victory came shortly after fellow judoka Funa Tonaki earned Japan's first medal of the games, a silver, after falling to Distria Krasniqi of Kosovo in the women's 48-kg final.

Naohisa Takato (blue) of Japan and Yang Yung-wei of Taiwan compete in the men's judo 60-kilogram final of the Tokyo Olympics on July 24, 2021, at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. Takato won the match. (Kyodo)==Kyodo

Takato, the Rio de Janeiro Olympic bronze medalist, beat Yang in golden score extra time at Nippon Budokan after the Taiwanese was disqualified for committing his third foul.

Having battled through two exhausting contests on his way to the gold-medal match, Takato stuck to a disciplined, if cautious, fight plan to win a somewhat anticlimactic final. In the end, all three of his victories from the quarterfinals and on came in sudden-death golden score.

"I think today is a result of all of the support I have received up till this point. I have really given coach (Kosei) Inoue a hard time, so I am glad I could come through with this result today," Takato said.

Japanese judoka Naohisa Takato poses after defeating Taiwan's Yang Yung-wei in the men's 60-kilogram final at the Tokyo Olympics on July 24, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

The three-time world champion said the significance of winning Japan's first gold medal had yet to hit home.

"I can't really think about anything right now, but I am very thankful that the Tokyo Olympics were able to be hosted," he said.

Takato booked his place in the final by beating Rio silver medalist Yeldos Smetov of Kazakhstan in the semis, clinching a golden-score win by waza-ari arm throw after more than seven minutes of extra time.

Earlier, he defeated Georgian Lukhumi Chkhvimiani in extra time in the quarterfinals, when the reigning world champion committed a match-deciding third foul.

With his landmark victory taking place behind closed doors at Nippon Budokan, Takato thanked fans watching at home for their support.

"I wasn't able to have a big decisive victory, but this is my judo. I just want to thank everyone for rooting for me. I want to polish my techniques as a gold medalist," he said.

The 25-year-old Tonaki, who was making her Olympic debut after finishing runner-up at the 2019 world championships in Tokyo, lost by a waza-ari uchi-mata technique to Krasniqi, the 2019 world bronze medalist at 48 kg.

The 2017 world champion attacked at the outset against world No. 1 Krasniqi, who also sought to fight on the front foot.

With both judoka hunting for ippon in an aggressive contest, Krasniqi made the breakthrough in the final moments of regulation.

"I want to accept my defeat today. I am really full of appreciation for all of the people who have supported me under all of these hardships amid the situation with COVID-19," Tonaki said.

Tonaki advanced to the gold medal match after pinning Ukraine's Daria Bilodid in the semifinal for an ippon victory. The golden-score win avenged Tonaki's defeat to the Ukrainian in the 2019 world championship final in Tokyo.

Tonaki deployed a side arm bar to score an ippon against Rio de Janeiro Olympic gold medalist Paula Pareto in the quarterfinals.

Bilodid and Mongolian Urantsetseg Munkhbat claimed bronze medals by beating Israel's Shira Rishony and Portugal's Catarina Costa, respectively.

Smetov earned men's 60-kg bronze by beating Tornike Tsjakadoea of the Netherlands, while France's Luka Mkheidze won the other bronze medal match against South Korea's Kim Won Jin.

Japan's Funa Tonaki (top) falls to Distria Krasniqi of Kosovo in the women's under 48-kilogram final at the Tokyo Olympics on July 24, 2021. (Kyodo)

The 2017 world champion attacked at the outset against world No. 1 Krasniqi, who also sought to fight on the front foot.

With both judoka hunting for ippon in an aggressive contest, Krasniqi made the breakthrough in the final moments of regulation.

"I want to accept my defeat today. I am really full of appreciation for all of the people who have supported me under all of these hardships amid the situation with COVID-19," Tonaki said.

Tonaki advanced to the gold medal match after pinning Ukraine's Daria Bilodid in the semifinal for an ippon victory. The golden-score win avenged Tonaki's defeat to the Ukrainian in the 2019 world championship final in Tokyo.

Tonaki deployed a side arm bar to score an ippon against Rio de Janeiro Olympic gold medalist Paula Pareto in the quarterfinals.

Bilodid and Mongolian Urantsetseg Munkhbat claimed bronze medals by beating Israel's Shira Rishony and Portugal's Catarina Costa, respectively.

Smetov earned men's 60-kg bronze by beating Tornike Tsjakadoea of the Netherlands, while France's Luka Mkheidze won the other bronze medal match against South Korea's Kim Won Jin.

Naohisa Takato of Japan poses with his men's judo 60-kilogram gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo on July 24, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo