Japan Wrestling

All-Japan Championships: World Champ Fujinami Aims for 2nd National Title as Olympic Medalists Sit Out

Tuesday, December 14, 2021 - 10:00 By Ken Marantz

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TOKYO, Japan (December 13) -- It was a year ago that highly touted teenager Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) made her senior debut at the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships. She lived up to the hype by winning that tournament, which became the launching pad for her to rocket to stardom.

Fujinami, who turned 18 last month, is back to defend her women's 53kg title, this time as the reigning senior world champion.

"After the World Championships, I had to quarantine for two weeks," Fujinami said in a telephone interview. "During those two weeks, I took another look at my wrestling. I am prepared to perform at a higher level at the Emperor's Cup."

Unfortunately, a highly anticipated match-up between Fujinami and Olympic champion Mayu MUKAIDA has been put off indefinitely, as none of Japan's five gold medalists from the Tokyo Games are entered in the tournament to be held Dec. 16-19 at Tokyo's Komazawa Gym.

Still, all but one of Japan's 12 medalists from October's World Championships in Oslo are entered, and two women's weight classes have potential clashes between a world champion and a world medalist as wrestlers begin the shift in divisions to start the new Olympic cycle.

Among the men, record-setting world Greco-Roman champion Ken MATSUI faces a possible showdown with another history-maker at 55kg, while veteran Sohsuke TAKATANI will attempt to become the third wrestler in Japan history to win an 11th consecutive national title when he defends the freestyle 92kg crown.

The Emperor's Cup is the first of two domestic qualifiers, along with the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships in the spring, for next year's World Championships in Belgrade. It is also a qualifier for the 2022 Asian Games in China, which may actually complicate matters as that event starts just three days after the World Championships.

Although Tokyo has gone more than a month with under 30 new daily cases of coronavirus, strict protocols are in place, including the banning of family, friends and general spectators.

Entries were limited to a maximum of 12 per weight class, each of which will begin and finish on the same day.

While Fujinami, currently a senior at Inabe Gakuin High School in Mie Prefecture, won't have to contend yet with Mukaida, there is no lack of top-notch competition for her. At last year's Emperor's Cup and this year's Meiji Cup, Fujinami defeated both two-time former world champion Haruna OKUNO and former world silver medalist Nanami IRIE, and both are entered and looking for revenge.

"I'm sure both of them, or everyone for that matter, have been studying me," Fujinami said. "Instead of regarding myself as the champion, I will approach this tournament the same as always, without forgetting the feeling of being the challenger."

But anyone looking to dethrone Fujinami will have to be at the very top of their game. With her four victories in Oslo -- all by technical fall, and without surrendering a point -- she is currently on an 83-match win streak that dates back to her junior high school days in 2017.

Asked what progress she feels she has made over the past year, Fujinami replied, "I feel like I've raised my level physically."

As for being deprived of the desired showdown with Mukaida, Fujinami took the news in stride. "It was a situation where I didn't know, is she going to enter or she not going to enter," she said. "In the end, she won't be there.

"I don't know the next time she will appear, but I know she is someone I will have to ultimately beat. Right now, the Emperor's Cup is right in front of me and winning is the only thing I am thinking of. I want to win this and go to the World Championships."

Is she disappointed? "I wouldn't say disappointed, I just really want to face her," she replied with confidence and maturity belying her years.

To the not-so-serious suggestion that Mukaida might be avoiding her, Fujinami replied, "I understand that after the Olympics, she is still on kind of a high. I think she will enter next year."

Fujinami said she is undecided, if she qualifies, on whether she would attempt to complete a world and Asian Games double in September next year.

"If I can enter both, I'd like to do that. When the time comes, we'll see how it works out. At any rate, my objective now is to win the Emperor's Cup."

The Japan federation has not released information on why all of Japan's Olympic medalists, who also include gold medalists Yui SUSAKI, Risako KAWAI, Yukako KAWAI and Takuto OTOGURO, are skipping the tournament. In fact, of the 12 wrestlers who took part in the Tokyo Olympics, only Takatani will be taking the mat at Komazawa Gym.

Possibly they have not had time to properly prepare. Like all of Japan's Olympic champions, the wrestlers were in high demand on Japanese TV variety shows, particularly the Kawai sisters (on one show, they were taken shopping to a major electrical appliance store, where the host, a famous Japanese comedian, footed the bill.) Also, Risako Kawai and Mukaida both got married soon after the Games, and have been busy setting up their new households.

YOSHIMOTORemina YOSHIMOTO (JPN) is the world champion at 50kg. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

But even without them, a Japanese national championship is never lacking for star power. Along with Fujinami and Matsui, newly minted world champions Remina YOSHIMOTO, Tsugumi SAKURAI and Masako FURUICHI all won their first national titles last year and will be in action this week.

Shigakkan University's Yoshimoto will be defending her title at women's 50kg, and will be the favorite in the absence of Susaki, while Sakurai and Furuichi have changed weight classes and might have to contend with a fellow world medalist.

Sakurai, the world champ at 55kg and the first-ever national champion for recently founded Ikuei University, has moved up to 57kg, which puts her on a possible collision course with two-time defending champion Sae NANJO, the bronze medalist at that weight in Oslo.

Furuichi, who completed a "grand slam" of world titles when she added the senior 72kg crown in Oslo to her previous world titles at the cadet, junior and U23 levels, has dropped down to the Olympic weight of 68kg. That could mean a clash with Rin MIYAJI, the world silver medalist who pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Oslo when she knocked off Olympic champion Tamyra MENSAH STOCK (USA) with a 21-second fall in the semifinals.

At 62kg, world bronze medalist Nonoka OZAKI will be looking to make history as she aims for a second straight title. The 18-year-old won her first title last year as a high schooler and, after graduating last March, she opted to take the academic route and passed the difficult entrance exams for prestigious Keio University. A victory on Saturday would make her the first current student or alumni of Keio to become a national champion in 62 years.

World silver medalist Miwa MORIKAWA will look to win a third straight title as the defending champion at 65kg. In her path is 2018 world bronze medalist Ayana GEMPEI, who returned from a long layoff due to knee surgery at this year's Meiji Cup and finished third at 68kg.

In freestyle, the spotlight will be on Takatani. The 2014 world silver medalist at 74kg, he won his 10th straight national title last year at 92kg in his fourth different weight class. He later dropped down to 86kg and qualified for his third Olympics in Tokyo, but suffered a heartbreaking 2-2 loss in the first round.

If successful, he will become the fifth wrestler in Japan history to capture 11 national crowns and the third to do it in consecutive years. Two-time Olympic bronze medalist Kyoko HAMAGUCHI holds the record with 16 titles won between 1996 and 2013. His main competition is likely to come from the 2020 Asian silver medalist Takuma OTSU.

Japan's lone freestyle medalist in Oslo, Toshihiro HASEGAWA, who won a silver at 61kg, has dropped down to 57kg in his quest for a first national title. Also entered is Toshiya ABE, who finished seventh in that weight class in Oslo.

Moving the opposite direction is Rio 2016 Olympic silver medalist Rei HIGUCHI. After an unsuccessful bid to make Japan's Olympic team at 57kg -- he lost in a playoff to Yuki TAKAHASHI -- and struggling mightily to make that weight, he has moved back up to 61kg as he seeks a fourth career national title.

Also entered at 61kg is Kazuya KOYANAGI, the 2018 Asian silver medalist who finished seventh that year at the World Championships, and bronze medalists from the past two Asian Championships, Ryuto SAKAKI and Shoya SHIMAE.

In Greco-Roman, Matsui faces a possibly intriguing match-up at 55kg. When he won the gold in Oslo, Matsui was 20 years 8 months, making him Japan's youngest-ever world Greco champion. Five months earlier, Yu SHIOTANI made history by becoming, at age 19 years 5 months, the nation's youngest-ever Asian champion in that style. Both are aiming for a first national title.

Another weight to watch is 72kg, where four-time champion Shogo TAKAHASHI could end up facing his high school coach in defense of his title. Takahashi competed almost exclusively at 67kg in his career, but the 2019 Asian bronze medalist moved up to 72kg last year as beefed-up preparation for the Olympic qualifying tournament.

The 27-year-old Takahashi missed out on Tokyo, and this year decided to enter at 72kg again. That could set up a match with Tomohiro INOUE, his coach at Ikuei High School in Hyogo Prefecture. Inoue, 34, won the last of his four national titles in 2018. He was a 2016 Olympian and was a member of his third world team in Oslo.

The two met in the 66kg final in 2015, with Inoue winning by technical fall. After that, they went their separate ways and into different weight classes, and have not clashed since. On the final day Sunday, they may have to contend with Asian bronze medalist Taishi HORIE and newly crowned collegiate champion Eito NISHIDA, a freshman at Senshu University.

Schedule
Day 1 (December 16)
FS - 70kg, 97kg, 125kg; GR - 77kg, 82kg, 87kg; WW - 59kg, 76kg

Day 2 (December 17)
FS - 65kg, 79kg; GR - 60kg, 67kg, 130kg,; WW - 55kg, 65kg, 72kg

Day 3 (December 18)
FS - 61kg, 74kg, 86kg; GR - 63kg, 97kg; WW - 57kg, 62kg, 68kg

Day 4 (December 19)
FS - 57kg, 92kg; GR - 55kg, 72kg; WW - 50kg, 53kg

The competition starts each day at 10 a.m. Each weight class starts and finishes on the same day. Entries are limited to 12 per weight class, with no repechage and only one bronze-medal match.

#WrestleParis

Paris 2024 Preview: Day 1 -- GR 60kg, 130kg; WW 68kg

Monday, July 22, 2024 - 10:50 By Ken Marantz

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PARIS (July 22) -- On the opening day of wrestling at the Paris Olympics on August 5, fans will get a chance to see history possibly in the making. A day later, we could all be witness to a feat that has never been accomplished in the 128-year history of the Olympics -- in any sport.

The already-legendary Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) will attempt to establish an elite group of one as the first-ever athlete to win five gold medals in the same event, when he takes the mat in Greco-Roman 130kg, which will open the Paris program along with Greco 60kg and women's 68kg.

"I am doing something with great focus to be able to show the world that everything you have in mind, and want to achieve, can be achieved," Lopez said. "I know it's in my mind, and I believe the possibility of achieving that result is high."

PARIS 2024 SCHEDULE | PARIS 2024 NEWS

The 41-year-old Lopez will be competing for the first time since he struck gold at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, a victory that put him into the pantheon of four-time champions with fellow wrestler Kaori ICHO (JPN), who joined the group in 2016, sailing's Paul ELVSTROM (DEN), athletics' Al OERTER (USA) and Carl LEWIS (USA), and swimming's Michael PHELPS (USA).

The fellow man-mountain standing in his way in the heaviest weight class is reigning world champion Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI), who was just 10 years old when Lopez won his first gold medal at Beijing 2008. There could hardly be a more poignant changing of the guard should the Iranian prevail.

There will be no shortage of drama in the two other weight classes as well, with fans to see if the Asian dominance shown in Belgrade at Greco 60kg will carry over to Paris, and a "match-of-the-century"-level clash potentially on tap at women's 68kg, although not knowing which round it might occur only adds to the intrigue.

Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ)Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ), blue, defeated Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) to win the world title at 60kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Greco 60kg: Asian dominance on the line with Ciobanu as possible spoiler

In Belgrade, the only weight class in which one continent or region swept all of the Paris quotas was Greco 60kg, with Asia taking all five spots behind gold medalist Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ).

Sharshenbekov's successful defense of his world title helped make him the top seed in Paris in his bid to become Kyrgyzstan's first-ever Olympic gold medalist. But rival Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) is primed to avenge a loss in the Belgrade final and gain the gold medal that he missed out on at the Olympics on home soil.

Fumita, a two-time former world champion, set his sights on leaving Paris in triumph from the minute three years ago that he walked off the mat in Tokyo in tears after losing in the Olympic final to Luis ORTA (CUB). A victory would make him Japan's first Greco gold medalist since Atsuji MIYAHARA (JPN) in 1984.

Since Tokyo, Fumita has tried a number of changes of style to varying degrees of success, but believes he now hit on the right game plan -- just do what feels right at the moment.

"In the three years, my approach to wrestling, the way I attack, has changed several times," Fumita said at press conference with the Japanese media in June. "Now, my wrestling style and training really suit me. It might give me more confidence, but more than that, I feel like I have settled down."

Fumita made a name for himself with his arching back suplexes -- earning the nickname in Japan of the "Cat Wrestler" for his flexibility -- but now realizes that not every victory needs a
touch of flamboyance.

"Before Tokyo, my thing was big throws and I wanted everyone to see it," Fumita said. "After Tokyo, where that didn't work, I went to a defensive style. Now, I don't limit myself to anything. I don't think, I have to try a throw, or I have to be defensive. I do what I want to do.

"I had always thought that the appeal of Greco-Roman was throws, but it's not. It's everything. It's also the details of how a match develops. That's what I want everyone to see."

The championship match in Belgrade was among the most exciting in recent memory, with Sharshenbekov coming out on top of an 11-6 decision in which he fought off a continual series of big-throw attempts by Fumita. So lively was the action that neither wrestler received a passivity point, a total rarity these days in Greco.

The two had met once previously, with Fumita winning 4-0 in the final of the 2020 Asian Championships. With Sharshenbekov the top seed and Fumita at No. 4, a potential third career clash between them would come in the semifinals.

Who will fill the other spot in the final? Leading a formidable list of challengers is third seed Victor CIOBANU (MDA), who is looking to become Moldova's first-ever Olympic champion and just its second-ever wrestling medalist.

While past results are not indicative of future performance, Ciobanu holds a 3-0 record over Sharshenbekov in career meetings. The two met most recently twice in 2021, with Ciobanu winning 9-0 in the Tokyo Olympic quarterfinals and 9-3 in the World Championships final.

Fumita has beaten Ciobanu in their two career clashes, both coming in early rounds at the 2019 and 2023 World Championships.

The dark horse in the medal chase could be Se Ung RI (PRK), who like his compatriots, returned to international action last year after a four-year pandemic hiatus. Ri boasts a 5-3 victory over Fumita in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Asian Championships, where he lost in the final to Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB), who will also be in Paris.

In his first post-pandemic tournament, Ri lost to Ayata SUZUKI (JPN) in the quarterfinals at the 2023 Asian Games before coming back to take a bronze medal. Sharshenbekov beat Suzuki for
the gold.

Others to watch are European 63kg champion Murad MAMMADOV (AZE), three-time Asian medalist Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) and Kevin DE ARMAS (CUB). The latter does not boast the credentials of his counterparts, but has history on his side -- Cubans have won the last two golds in the lightest weight class.

 

Greco 130kg: Lopez aims for history with Mirzazadeh in his path

Lopez has compatriot Oscar PINO (CUB) to thank for making it to the sixth Olympics of his career, despite being out of action for the past three years. It was Pino who qualified Cuba in the weight class by winning a bronze medal in Belgrade, then stepped aside to let Lopez get his shot at history.

Notwithstanding his age, there will certainly be concerns about how honed Lopez's skills will be after not being battle-tested for three years. But you don't win an Olympic gold, much less four, by being unprepared, and Lopez says he will be ready.

"The preparation is done," Lopez says. "I feel in optimal condition and all wrestlers are motivated both in Cuba and internationally. It has been a very important time for me to keep the motivation to get to my sixth Olympic Games and fight for my fifth medal."

Lopez says his training has gone well. "My main training program has been well prepared. I have tried to avoid injuries, the main issue for wrestlers, and will be able to be at the Olympics with motivation, desire and impetus which I always had for the Olympics."

The biggest concern for his opponents is, who will face him first? With his prolonged absence, Lopez accumulated no ranking points and will be unseeded, meaning he could be drawn with anyone, even the top-seeded Mirzazadeh.

Lopez and Mirzazadeh, who also won a world title in 2021, have faced each other only once, with the Cuban scoring an 8-0 victory in the quarterfinals at the Tokyo Olympics en route to the gold.

But should they meet in Paris, he will encounter the 26-year-old Iranian in his prime. Mirzazedeh has not lost since the final of the 2022 World Championships, when he came out on the short side of a 1-1 decision to Riza KAYAALP (TUR). In addition to the 2023 world title, he has back-to-back golds at the Asian Championships in 2023-24.

Kayaalp, who will not be in Paris, is also the last man to have defeated Lopez, but you have to go all the way back to 2015 for that loss, which came in the final at the World Championships. In fact, since his first Olympic triumph in 2008, Lopez has just two losses -- the other was also to Kayaalp, in the 2011 world final.

Is there anyone who can prevent either of these two giants from ending up on the top of the medal podium? They are really in a class of their own, but those with the potential for pulling off a surprise would include 2016 Rio Olympic bronze medalist Sabah SHARIATI (AZE), two-time former world 97kg silver medalist Kiril MILOV (BUL), Cuban-born Tokyo Olympic fifth-place finisher Yasmani ACOSTA (CHI) and four-time Asian medalist Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ).

For Lopez, victory will not necessarily go to the most skilled. "[Wrestling is] a sport in which all the gladiators have to work hard and show who truly is the best in the world. I am happy to be able to be at the Olympic Games and to convey to the youth that come after us what a real wrestler is."

 

Women's 68kg: Elor, Ozaki launch pincer movement in weight class shifts

World champion Buse TOSUN (TUR) and the other world medalists at women's 68kg might be feeling they are under attack by a pincer movement from both above and below.

The gold medalists in Belgrade in both the non-Olympic weights that sandwich 68kg have qualified for Paris in that division, with 65kg champion Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) moving up and 72kg titlist Amit ELOR (USA) dropping down.

But these two are not your run-of-the-mill world champions. They represent a new generation of superstars already plush with a long list of accolades, and a possible clash between them is among the most anticipated matches of the Olympics. As neither is seeded, the luck of the draw will decide if and when they meet.

Both Ozaki and Elor have both achieved the "grand slam" of world age-group titles, having triumphed on the U17, U20, U23 and senior levels -- all before their 20th birthdays. An Olympic gold medal by either would make her the second to achieve the "golden grand slam" after Yui SUSAKI (JPN).

Ozaki actually has bumped up two weight classes. It is well-documented how the 21-year-old (Elor is nine months younger) seemed on track for Paris at 62kg after winning the 2022 world title, only to be upended by Sakura MOTOKI (JPN), who secured the ticket by taking the silver medal at the 2023 worlds in Belgrade.

Ozaki gained a "consolation" gold at 65kg in Belgrade, but also saw a new door to Paris open when Ami ISHII (JPN) failed to medal at 68kg. After a long and difficult process, Ozaki ended up earning a place in a playoff in January with Ishii for the 68kg quota in Paris, which she secured with a dramatic last-second victory.

Elor, whose only international loss remains a 3-1 defeat by Honoka NAKAI (JPN) in the semifinals of the 2019 world cadets (U17), secured the Paris ticket for the U.S. at the Pan-American Olympic Qualifier, then defeated Forrest MOLINARI (USA) at the U.S. Trials.

While Ozaki spent the ensuing months trying to bulk up without affecting her trademark speed and agility, Elor has been fighting the battle of the scale that she had avoided since she started wrestling as a young girl.

Amit ELOR (USA)Amit ELOR (USA) after qualifying the 68kg weight class for the United States. (Photo: United World Wrestling / William Bain)

"Growing up, my parents didn't let me cut weight, and I'm very grateful for that," Elor said at the U.S. Trials. "It was really good for me and my relationship with the sport. I think that is part of the reason why this is a little bit new and difficult for me."

The muscular Elor, who seems to have little body fat to spare, said there were times leading up to the U.S. Trials when she wasn't sure she could continue the quest.

"I know this may be a shocker, but there were times where I was like, 'How am I going to do this? I think my performance is going to go down if I do this,'" she said. "But I already decided on this and when you pick a goal, you have to stick to it, you have to push through those hard moments and I'm really glad I did."

Ozaki says she was inspired as a child by Kyoko HAMAGUCHI (JPN), a five-time world champion who won bronze medals at the then-heaviest weight of 72kg at both the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympics. But it feels odd to her to consider herself now in the upper weights.

"I don't think at all about being in an upper weight," Ozaki said. "I only think about the gold medal and not about whether it will be different in an upper weight. My only thought is that because I am who I am, I can do it."

In her only international foray at 68kg, Ozaki won the gold at the Asian Championships in April in Bishkek. Among her three technical falls was a 10-0 victory over Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (MGL), the runner-up to Tosun at the 2023 worlds who will also be in Paris.

Two of the medalists from the Tokyo Olympics are back, silver medalist Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) and bronze medalist Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ), as well as two former world champions in Linda MORAIS (CAN) and Irina RINGACI (MDA).

If there is a surprise, it could come from veteran Feng ZHOU (CHN), who finished seventh at the Tokyo Olympics. She has had a strong buildup for Paris, winning the 2023 Asian Games gold and defeating Tosun en route to the gold at the Zagreb Open in January.