A SUPREME Court judge yesterday ordered the Hongkong Judo Association to hold new elections for 12 of the 17 seats on the body's executive committee on August 12. The ruling from Deputy Judge Yam sitting in chambers is the latest move in the power struggle that is threatening to rip the sport apart for the second time in eight years. Rebels from the HKJA, with former chairman Cyril Wong Siu-ming at the helm, had sought the injunction for new elections in a bid to wrest power from association chairman Henry Shing Yuen-hing and president Samson Mak Yiu-cheung. Last night, Wong said he was happy with the ruling. ''It was a fair decision and exactly what we had hoped for,'' he added. Wong and business associate Jimmy Ng King-cheung formed their own hierarchy under the association banner after they were banned from seeking election to committee positions at the HKJA annual meeting last month. Claiming to have the support of 29 of the HKJA's 52 member clubs with voting rights, Wong and Ng declared themselves the chairman and president of the association respectively. However, Shing claimed the rebels were acting illegally in holding their own election and sought the support of the territory's sports supremo A. de O. Sales. Sales, president of the Amateur Sports Federation and Olympic Committee, has backed Shing's committee throughout the power struggle. However, the Sports Development Board, the Government's sports funding arm, has stopped financing the judo association until ''it is clarified who is in control''. The SDB still pays for staff salaries and development programmes. The rebels called an extraordinary general meeting on Wednesday, attended by representatives from 29 clubs, to confirm themselves as the lawful office bearers. The meeting also demanded that the executive committee of 1991-93 hand over all documents of the association. Members of the national squad, including Olympians Alex Lee Kan and Law Lai-wah, also threw their weight behind the rebel group at the EGM. A jubilant Wong and his comrades held a closed-door meeting last night and afterwards said: ''We were just discussing how we can ensure a smooth transition when we eventually take over the running of the sport.'' Incumbent chairman Shing refused to comment on the hearing. He said his side was considering an appeal. Deputy Judge Yam ordered the re-election of only 12 of the 17 officers because the other five were elected to both sets of committees during the chaotic annual meeting. The five are Chan Hung-wai, Lui Hon-wah, Kan Wing-niang, Li Chung-tai and Wong Po-kee. Chan is a vice-president for both parties while Lui also holds identical positions as Chinese secretary. The other three are executive members but Li is also another vice-president of the rebel group. The current HKJA crisis is almost a repeat of events in 1985 which saw Wong, along with Shing and Mak, seize power in a successful coup, leading to the formation of a breakaway group called the Hongkong Judo Federation. Wong held the association chairmanship until 1989 when he left Hongkong but he is trying to regain power from his former allies only months after his return.