Adekuoroye Chasing Fourth African Crown

Friday, February 9, 2018 - 21:51 By Eric Olanowski

The 2018 African Senior Championships kick off tomorrow morning in Port Harcourt, Nigeria with over 150 wrestlers from 20 nations set to compete.

Freestyle (Saturday)
Three of the top-four 57kg placers from a year ago will head to Port Harcourt. Last year's champion Chakir ANSARI (MAR) and Abdelhak KHERBACHE (ALG), last year’s runner-up are set to compete at the same weight class again. Also competing at 57kg is fourth-place finisher from a year ago, Ebikewenimo WELSON (NGR) who is looking to stop a back-to-back finals party.

PICTURED: Adama DIATTA (SEN)

Leading the charge for the 61kg and 65kg gold medals are a duo of multiple-time Olympians in Augusto MIDANA (GBS) and Adama DIATTA (SEN). Midana has wrestled in three Olympic Games and is looking to win the African championships for the seventh time. Diatta is a two-time Olympian and is looking for his eighth title.

At 70kg, Jean Bernard DIADIA (SEN), the three-time champion and last year's runner-up wants to get back to his winning ways and block the probable finals rematch between Ogbonna Emmanuel JOHN (NGR) and Maher GHANMI (TUN).

A couple of young studs in Ayoub BARRAJ (TUN) and Fredylan MARAIS (RSA) are looking to capture titles at 74kg and 79kg.

Barraj is coming up to the senior-level to look for gold after winning the African junior championship a year ago. If he wants to win 74kg title, he'll have to go through defending champion, Mustafa ALI (SUD).

Down to 79kg, Fredylan Marais brought home a silver medal at last year's African Junior Championships. The 2018 African Championships will be Marais' first senior-level African Championship and only his second senior-level event ever.

At 86kg it’ll be a pair of third-place finishers will be vying for African gold. Melvin BIBO (NGR) was a third-place finisher at 74kg in 2016 while Imed KADDIDI (TUN) was the bronze medalist last year at 97kg.

After placing twice in Greco-Roman, Reda MOUENISS (MAR) will make the jump from Greco-Roman to Freestyle and try to win gold at 92kg.

PICTURED: Soso TAMARAU (NGR)

The 97kg weight category has been owned by Soso TAMARAU (NGR) for the past few years. Tamaru, the Olympian and returning champion is looking to win his third title. The two wrestlers who will be responsible for slowing Tamarau down will be Mohammed FARDJ (ALG) and Martin ERASMUS (RSA).

Fardj was last year's African junior champion, and Erasmus completed the African Championships last year with a silver medal.

Rounding out the battle for freestyle titles will be Sinivie BOLTIC (NGR) and African junior champion, Khaled Omr Zaki Mohamed ABDALLA (EGY) at 125kg. If the Olympian Boltic can capture gold this weekend, that would be his fourth gold medal but only his first since 2012.

Women's Freestyle (Sunday)
Women's freestyle has an opportunity to open up with back-to-back rematches of last year's finals.

At 50kg, 2016 Olympian Mercy GENESIS (NGR) will look to defend her title from a year ago where she defeated two-time African cadet champion, Sarra HAMDI (TUN) to take the title.

PICTURED: Maroi MEZIEN (TUN)

Moving to 53kg,Maroi MEZIEN (TUN), a 2012 Olympian, is on a quest to capture her fifth African championship gold medal. Bose SAMUEL (NGR) will be looking to even the score as last year Mezien got the best of her on her way to her fourth crown.

Christiana NWOYE (NGR) has an opportunity to better her second-place finish from last year. Looking to snatch the 55kg gold medal from Nwoye will be Faten HAMMAMI (TUN), the 2015 African cadet gold medalist.

The clear-cut favorite at 57kg is United World Wrestling's History Maker of 2017, Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR). If Adekuoroye, the 2017 world silver medal and 2016 Olympian can win this weekend, that’d give her four African championship gold medals to her name.

Bisola MAKANJUOLA (NGR), a runner-up last season will have to get through the experienced Safietou GOUDIABY(SEN) who is wrestling in her seventh African championship if she's going to want to win the 59kg title.

Tussling for the 62kg title will be Aminat ADENIYI (NGR) and Lilia MEJRI (TUN). Adeniyi is an Olympian and two-time African champion. Mejri, who won the African Championship bronze medal is no stranger to the big stage, as she was a world representative for Tunisia at the 2017 Junior World Championships.

African junior Champion Nour JELJELI (TUN) will have an opportunity to see how she stacks up against Olympian Amuchechi RUEBEN (NGR) for the 65kg title. Jeljeli's will be competing for the first time at a senior-level, while this will be Ruben’s (NGR) first time wrestling since the 2016 Olympic Games.

PICTURED: Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR)

Leading the race at 68kg is two-time Olympian Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR). The Nigerian team captain hasn’t suffered a loss at the African Championships since 2009 is on a mission to win her eighth African Championship.

Previous champions Winnie GOFIT (NGR) and Samar Amer Ibrahim (EGY) are the front-runners win crowns at 72kg and 76kg.

Gofit is down from 75kg where she won her first African championship a season ago and Ibrahim, the 2016 Olympian, is coming back to compete for the first time since 2016 where she won the 75kg title.

Greco-Roman (Sunday)
Two African powerhouses in Zied AITOUAGRAM (MAR) and Radhouane CHEBBI (TUN) lead the Greco-Roman entries.

Ait Ouagram, the two-time Olympian and last year's champion is the favorite to take home the 77kg crown. He is looking to bring his gold medal total into the double-digit mark, as he currently owns nine titles. The last time Ait Ouagram lost at the African championship was ten years ago when he walked away with the bronze medal.

Radhouane CHEBBI (TUN), the two-time Olympian and the three-time champion is favored to take home the 130kg title.

Two of the top-three finishers from a year ago return to 60kg in returning champion Anwar TANGO (MAR) and third-place finisher Abdennour LAOUNI (ALG).

At 63kg, one of the favorites will be Fouad FAJARI (MAR). The 2012 Olympian usually wrestles both styles, but this year he'll only be wrestling Greco. Another favorite at this weight will be Souleymen NASR (TUN) who was an African junior champion last year.

Ayoub HANINE (MAR), the two-time African Championships runner-up at the junior-level is looking to make a smooth transition to the senior-level. The 2018 African Championships will be Hanine's third time competing at the senior-level.

The two wrestlers competing for gold at 72kg are Aziz BOUALEM (MAR) and Emmanuel Chinonso NWORIE (NGR). A three-time world team member, Boulaem is wrestling in his eighth African championships. For Nworie, this will be his first time competing since 2016 when he was down at 66kg.

The three-headed race at 82kg is between Bachir SID AZARA (ALG), Ahmed Hassan Aly Mahmoud AHMED (EGY) and Tochukwu Micheal OKEKE (NGR). Azara won a junior world bronze medal and is the returning champion, Ahmed is an African junior champion, and Okeke took third place last year.

The battle at 87kg will be between two guys who are fighting to win their first African titles. Adem BOUDJEMLINE (ALG) was a finalist from a year ago, and Mohamed Skander MISSAOUI (TUN) who finished in third place.

Two Olympians in Hemza HALOUI (ALG) and Choucri ATAFI (MAR) are expected to meet in the 97kg finals. Haloui is a four-time finalist with three of those being in Greco-Roman and one in Freestyle. Atafi will look to make the finals and best his trio of third place finishes.

ENTRIES
Men's Freestyle (Saturday)
57kg (6 Participants)
61kg (7 Participants)
65kg (8 Participants)
70kg (10 Participants)
74kg (8 Participants)
79kg (6 Participants)
86kg (8 Participants)
92kg (5 Participants)
97kg (6 Participants)
125kg (3 Participants)

Women's Wrestling (Sunday)
50kg (6 Participants)
53kg (3 Participants)
55kg (2 Participants)
57kg (2 Participants)
59kg (7 Participants)
62kg (2 Participants)
65kg (2 Participants)
68kg (6 Participants)
72kg (3 Participants)
76kg (3 Participants)

Greco-Roman (Sunday)
55kg (5 Participants)
60kg (5 Participants)
63kg (3 Participants)
65kg (3 Participants)
67kg (7 Participants)
72kg (2 Participants)
77kg (5 Participants)
82kg (6 Participants)
87kg (5 Participants)
97kg (6 Participants)
130kg (4 Participants)

#JapanWrestling

Otoguro to end long post-Olympic hiatus, enters All-Japan with eyes on Paris

Saturday, December 3, 2022 - 17:13 By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (Dec. 3) --- Japan wrestling's missing man, Tokyo Olympic champion Takuto
OTOGURO, will be making his long-awaited return to the mat later this month as he begins the long journey toward defending his Olympic title.

Otoguro, who has not competed since winning the gold medal at the Tokyo Games some 17
months ago, heads the entries at freestyle 65kg for the Emperor's Cup All-Japan
Championships, the Japan Wrestling Federation announced on its website Saturday.

As Japan's Olympians gradually filtered back into action after taking time off following the
Tokyo Games in August 2021, Otoguro was the last holdout. It remains to be seen how much
rust has collected on the 2018 world champion.

For the Japanese wrestlers, the Emperor's Cup, to be held December 22-25 at Tokyo's Komazawa Gym, marks the first step in the process for qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The tournament is the first of the two domestic qualifiers for the 2023 World Championships in Belgrade, where a medal in an Olympic weight class by a Japanese wrestler will secure an
automatic ticket to Paris.

Meanwhile, Yui SUSAKI, who this year completed the first-ever Grand Slam of Olympics and all four world age-group titles, will see a familiar but not-so-welcome face in the field at women's 50kg, while recently crowned world freestyle 70kg champion Taishi NARIKUNI will attempt to accomplish a feat that hasn't been done in nearly 50 years.

Mayu SHIDOCHI (JPN) is an Olympic champion at 53kg. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

With the vast majority of the top wrestlers funneling into the Olympic weight classes, a number of highly anticipated clashes of the titans could be on tap -- none more so than between 2021 world champion Akari FUJINAMI and Tokyo Olympic champion Mayu SHIDOCHI at women's 53kg.

After the Olympics, Shidochi moved up to 55kg, where she won her third career world title Now she will be gunning for an Olympic repeat in Paris at 53kg, but has the formidable teen Fujinami standing in her way. Fujinami, who was plagued by injuries this fall, currently has a 103-match winning streak dating back to 2017.

Meanwhile, two-time Olympic champion Risako KINJO, who won the Tokyo gold at 57kg under her maiden name of KAWAI, is entered at 59kg, thus delaying her quest for Paris to the second qualifier, the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships in June.

Kinjo gave birth to her first child in May and only returned to competition in October at the second-tier Japan Women's Open, which she won at 59kg.

In the Olympic weight classes, wrestlers who win titles at both the Emperor's Cup and Meiji Cup automatically earn a spot on the team to the Belgrade worlds. If the two are different, a playoff will be held to fill the berth.

In Kinjo's case, she will have to win the 57kg title at the Meiji Cup, then beat the Emperor's Cup champion in the playoff to make the world team and enhance her chances for a third straight Olympic gold in Paris.

Also in the field at 59kg are Himeka TOKUHARA and Yui SAKANO, who will be representing Japan at the women's World Cup next weekend in Coralville, Iowa. The majority of wrestlers, both in women's and freestyle, opted to skip the World Cup because it falls so close to the Emperor's Cup.

Olympic and world champion Yui SUSAKI (JPN) will face stiff competition at 50kg. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Old nemesis in Susaki's path

While Susaki was making history this year by winning both the world senior and U23 titles -- the latter of which completed the set of career age-group crowns -- an old nemesis was quietly returning to the mat after an extended hiatus.

Also entered at 50kg is Yuki TANAKA, who was wrestling under her maiden name of IRIE when she became the only wrestler on the planet to beat Susaki dating back to junior high school. And she did it three times, the most recent in 2019.

Neither Susaki nor Tanaka can ignore Remina YOSHIMOTO, the 2021 world champion in Susaki's absence who has yet to beat the Olympic champion but has always given her a tough fight.

Kinjo's younger sister, Tokyo Olympic champion Yukako KAWAI, will look to gain revenge and regain the 62kg throne that she lost to collegian Nonoka OZAKI, who went on to win the senior world title in that weight class in September.

Another stacked women's weight class will be at 68kg, where world silver medalist Ami ISHII awaits world 65kg champion Miwa MORIKAWA and 2021 world 72kg gold medalist Masako FURUICHI.

In the other Olympic weight classes, world champion Tsugumi SAKURAI is the one to beat at 57kg -- with a clash against Kinjo likely to come at the Meiji Cup -- while 76kg could see a battle between world bronze medalist Yuka KAGAMI and 17-year-old world U20 champion Ayano MORO, who has gone undefeated dating back to 2017.

World champion Taishi NARIKUNI (JPN) is entered in both GR 67kg and FS 70kg. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Narikuni to attempt rare double

Narikuni, an unorthodox wrestler who finally showed his potential by winning the freestyle 70kg world title in Belgrade, will attempt a historic double by also entering at Greco-Roman 67kg.

The 25-year-old, whose mother was a two-time world champion, has a goal of not just equaling his mother, but going beyond her by winning world titles in both freestyle and Greco.

It marks the first time since 1984 that a wrestler will be competing in both styles at the national championships. The last time a wrestler won titles in both was in 1973, at a time when the styles were wrestled at separate tournaments and more wrestlers competed in the two.

Standing in Narikuni's way at Greco 67kg will be defending champion and Asian bronze medalist Katsuaki ENDO.

Another Greco weight class drawing attention is 60kg, where Tokyo Olympic silver medalist and two-time former world champion Kenichiro FUMITA could meet world 55kg bronze medalist Yu SHIOTANI.

Fireworks can also be expected at freestyle 57kg, as world 61kg champion Rei HIGUCHI has dropped back down to the division in which he won a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Former world champion Yuki TAKAHASHI, who beat Higuchi in a playoff for the 57kg spot at the Tokyo Olympics, has returned after an extended hiatus. Those two can expect stiff competition from a number of young opponents, including 2021 world 61kg bronze medalist Toshiro HASEGAWA.

While coronavirus restrictions have been vastly eased in the country, the tournament field has been limited to 16 per weight class.

To simulate the Olympics as much as possible, the Olympic weight classes will be run over two days, with competition up to the semifinals on the first day and the repechage and medal match on the second. Non-Olympic classes will be completed in one day.

Adekuoroye Chasing Fourth African Crown

Comments

Otoguro to end long post-Olympic hiatus, enters All-Japan with eyes on Paris