#WrestleNarita

China Hoping Rong Shift Turns Out to be Right Move to Upend Host Japan

Friday, November 15, 2019 - 13:52 By Ken Marantz

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NARITA, Japan (Nov. 15)---A strategic move may have deprived the Women’s World Cup of a classic clash of titans, but in the end, could pay off with a more exciting competition overall.

The Chinese team said Friday that RONG Ningning (CHN) will compete at 59kg for the two-day team competition in Narita, east of Tokyo, instead of 57kg---preventing a rematch with Risako KAWAI (JPN) of this year’s final from the World Championships in Nur-Sultan, which the Japanese won for her third world gold.

“I just follow what the coach wants,” Rong, who was the 2018 world champion at 57kg, said through an interpreter. 

Host Japan, aiming for its fifth straight title and 11th overall, and China will face each other in the third session on the opening day Saturday at Narita’s Nakadai Sports Park Gym. Ukraine, the other entry in the three-nation group, will face both over the first two sessions.

China, which won the last of its six titles in 2013, will send out a formidable lineup that includes, in addition to silver medalist Rong, four bronze medalists from Nur-Sultan. Not to be overlooked is Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medalist SUN Yanan (CHN), who finished fifth at 50kg this year.

Rong’s shift to 59kg will likely pit her against high schooler Yuzuka INAGAKI (JPN), one of seven recently crowned world U-23 champions on the relatively young Japanese squad. 

China’s strategy appears to be to go with its strengths and play for a split of 57kg and 59kg, rather than opt for a lineup that increases the possible risk of losing both.  

“I’m really confident for this World Cup, because I could see everyone on our team is already prepared and they will perform at their best,” Rong said. 

As for avenging the loss to Kawai, Rong said that can wait. She anticipates their paths crossing again, perhaps back in Japan at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.  

“I’m really looking forward to facing her and getting revenge,” Rong said. “So next year I will wait and prepare.”

SUN Yanan (CHN) could meet rival Yui SUSAKI (JPN) when China wrestles Japan on Saturday at 17:00 (Photo: Tony Rotundo). 

Another Chinese wrestler looking for revenge will be Sun. She will likely get another shot at young star Yui SUSAKI (JPN), who missed out on a shot at a third senior world title in Nur-Sultan at 50kg when she lost a national team playoff to Yuki IRIE (JPN). 

In 2017, Susaki defeated Sun 9-4 in the quarterfinals at the Asian Championships, then again 4-2 at the Women’s World Cup in the championship round. 

“I’m really looking forward to competing with Yui,” said Sun, who edged Irie in a wild 13-12 quarterfinal win in Nur-Sultan. “I think she is a very talented and excellent wrestler.” 

A year ago at the Women’s World Cup in Takasaki, Japan, Sun lost by fall to Irie as Japan went on to win 6-4 in the final. This time, Sun will be looking to give China the early momentum.

“Because it is a team competition, each of us has to do our best to protect our zone and give the advantage to our teammates,” Sun said. “Everyone has this responsibility.”

In other weight classes, Masako FURUICHI (JPN) moved down to 68kg, leaving fellow 72kg world bronze medalist Paliha PALIHA (CHN) at the weight class, which could mean to likely clash with high schooler and world junior champion Yuka KAGAMI (JPN) at that division.

If the match comes down to the final bout at 76kg, it’s anybody’s guess which team will come out on top should it looks to shape up as a showdown between familiar foes Hiroe MINAGAWA (JPN) and ZHOU Qian (CHN).

Zhou defeated Minagawa 7-1 at last year’s World Cup, but the Japanese reversed that outcome in the quarterfinals in Nur-Sultan, winning 3-1 en route to capturing the silver medal for her third career world medal.

Ukraine, which finished fifth in the team standings in Nur-Sultan to earn its place in the field in Narita, has opted for a young squad, leaving out its two world silver medalists, Iryna KOLIANDENKO (65kg) and Alina MAKHYNIA (72kg).  

Tamyra MENSAH-STOCK (USA) is one of three American world champions that'll wrestle at the Women's World Cup. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

U.S. Relying on Triple-Threat of World Champions
Outside of Japan and China, the only nation to have won a Women’s World Cup title in its 17-year history is the United States. 

That was back in 2003, but with three reigning world champions in its lineup, the Americans are hoping to make a run at finally breaking up the Asian stranglehold.

“We feel confident in who we are,” USA coach Terry STEINER said. “We also know that every team here has some great athletes on their team. It’s about performing when we’re supposed to perform.”

The group is a tossup between three evenly matches countries, with Russia and Mongolia also in the pool. Russia finished second in the team standings behind Japan in Nur-Sultan with two champions and five medals overall, three points ahead of the United States. Mongolia was seventh.

“We just have to be ready tomorrow to compete hard,” Steiner said. “If we compete hard, I think we’ll end up where we want to be. But Russia and Mongolia aren’t going to lay down either. So, one match at a time, and we just have to focus on wrestling our style of wrestling.”

For newly crowned 68kg world champion Tamyra MENSAH-STOCK (USA), the team aspect and representing her country adds excitement to an already blood-pumping sport.

“I love wrestling for my country,” she said. “Since I’m not in the army, I try to figure out some way to represent my country, and I feel like this is the next best thing. 

“It’s very exhilarating and exciting, and I love going out there, showing that I’m USA, and showing people that, hey, a lot of USA people are not that bad---look at Tamyra Mensah-Stock, she’s such a sweetheart, but when she gets on the mat, whoa, can she go!” 

Mensah-Stock, who will be competing in her third World Cup, said she doesn’t feel added pressure by coming in this time as a world champion. 

“Not pressure on myself, or even a little bit more pressure, but more ‘expectation,’” she said. “For me, that’s not really pressure. That’s just going out there and saying, hey, Tamyra, [in September] you proved yourself by winning a world title.

“It felt absolutely amazing. And people were already gunning after me to begin with. It’s not any different. I’m just going to go out there and prove I can work harder than ever. I just have to bring out the ‘other’ Tamyra Mensah-Stock.”

Newly crowned world champion Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) will wrestle at 55kg at this weekend's World Cup. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA), who won her first major medal when she took the gold in Nur-Sultan at 55kg, could face a showdown with bronze medalist Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS). The Russian lost in the quarterfinals to Nanami IRIE (JPN), whom Winchester beat 5-3 in the final.

Another intriguing matchup could come at 76kg between Adeline GRAY (USA), who won her fifth world gold in Nur-Sultan, and Ekaterina BUKINA (RUS), the Rio 2016 bronze medalist who suffered a heartbreaking 6-6 loss in the first round to Epp MAEE (EST).

The effervescent Mensah-Stock also seems to serve as mood-maker for the U.S. team, and she sees it as her role of keeping the team on a even keel.

“I’m just going to cheer for my team and make sure they have the right mindset,” she said. “Because I feel I bring calmness and I help make it a little less stressful. I know some of the girls are feeling that stress, because for some of them, this is their first World Cup. 

“I want to help them out the best I can. I don’t know what they’re going to bring to the table---I don’t know what I’m going to bring to the table---but I’m hoping I can bring my A-game.” 

#JapanWrestling

Olympic Champs Fumita, Higuchi Emerge Unscathed on Return Since Paris 2024

Thursday, May 21, 2026 - 15:09 By Ken Marantz

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TOKYO (May 21) -- They both were returning to the mat for the first time since winning gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and both moved up a weight class, for now, with the next Olympic qualifiers still far off.

And each was watched and cheered on for the first time by their most precious fan.

Kenichiro FUMITA and Rei HIGUCHI shook off the rust and emerged unscathed on Thursday to advance to their respective finals at the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships at Tokyo's Komazawa Gym.

Fumita, the Paris gold medalist at Greco 60kg, handily won two matches to secure a spot in the 63kg final on Friday, where he will face 2025 world team member Manato NAKAMURA in a bid for his first Meiji Cup title since 2022 and fifth overall.

Higuchi, who struck gold in Paris at freestyle 57kg, needed three wins to set up a showdown in the 61kg final with defending champion and former world bronze medalist Toshihiro HASEGAWA.

Arash YOSHIDA, coming off winning a second straight freestyle 97kg gold at the Asian Championships, also advanced to the finals on the opening day of the four-day Meiji Cup, which is serving as the second of two domestic qualifiers for both this year's World Championships and, in the Olympic weight classes, the Asian Games that will be hosted by Japan.

Winners from the first qualifier, the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships held in December, can clinch a spot with a victory at the Meiji Cup; if the two champions are different, a playoff will be held at the end of the day.

Fumita, the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist and two-time world champion, had planned to return to competition at the Emperor's Cup, but was forced to withdraw due to injury.

As for the move up to 63kg, he said, "Looking at the competitions and my own personal objectives, and my current physical ability, I decided to enter at 63kg. I've really on been on edge up to this point leading up to the competition. It's quite a few years since I've had a match at Komazawa. But I feel great, and was able to enjoy myself."

The return from a long layoff can be as testing mentally as it is physically, and Fumita used the experiences of others to guide him through it.

"I thought I would feel more pressure," said Fumita, who advanced to the final with a 7-1 victory over Kensho NATAMI in the semifinals. "After Paris, I watched [fellow gold medalists] Kotaro [KIYOOKA] and Nao [KUSAKA] up close before their [comeback] matches, and both said they were very nervous.

"Having seen that, it gave me an image of what to expect. I stayed calm and, staying aware of what was going on around me, I felt I was able to control the matches."

Helping calm his nerves was the lilty voice of a child clearly heard amid the sparse crowd on the opening day as she yelled, "Papa, ganbatte (fight hard)!" For the first time, the oldest of his two
daughters, now 3, was old enough to see him compete and understand what he was doing.

Fumita related the emotions he went through seeing fellow Nippon Sport Science University alumnus Shota TANOKURA being inspired by his son loudly yelling that set phrase as he ended his career at the Meiji Cup two years ago.

"I was very moved seeing how he responded," Fumita said. "To continue my career and win with my children with me is really a special feeling. Here, I am wholeheartedly determined to perform for them."

Fumita said there are still aspects of his job about which his daughter is blissfully oblivious.

"Sometimes I take [my daughter] to practice. For her, it is really a fun place. So she thinks I go to a fun place every day and I'm just someone who plays all the time," he said with a laugh.

Fumita already has a momento from his first competition in over two years -- a gash over his left eye that was treated with tape wrapped around his head.

"It happens a lot in practice and in matches," Fumita said. "I have many photos of me in the past with my head taped. It gave me a feeling of going back to my roots, which I thought was great."

Higuchi, who like Fumita is 30, an alumnus of NSSU and is sponsored by children's clothing giant Miki House, was wrestling for the first time in front of his 2-year-old daughter (and like
Fumita, he has a second infant daughter).

"She kind of knows what's going on," said Higuchi, who defeated world U23 bronze medalist Akito MUKAIDA 12-1 in the semifinals.

For Higuchi, a battle with weight loss proved more daunting than any opponent he faced on the mat on Friday. He normally should have had no trouble making weight at 61kg, but said he
didn't manage it correctly.

"It was my first competition in awhile, and my preparation did not go so well," he said. "There are parts that I have to work on. All went well in practice, but I need to do better at conditioning and cutting weight or I won't be able to win out in December [at the Emperor's Cup]."

A notoriously slow starter, Higuchi said he gradually began to find his groove, culminating in his one-sided win over Mukaida.

"My first match, my movement was not very good," he said. "The water loss as a I cut weight didn't go so well either, so the first and second matches were touch and go.

"During the second match, I was able to get in gear. In the third match in the semifinals, my opponent was third at the world U23, which normally should have been a close match. But I was able to put on a fairly good performance, which I give a grade of 80 [out of 100]."

Higuchi is looking forward to mixing it up with another high-level opponent, one he knows quite well. Hasegawa is yet another NSSU alumnus who still trains at the facility.

"From an emotional viewpoint, I was really excited about facing tough opponents," Higuchi said. "Tomorrow, Hasegawa is world-class wrestler. I don't know if I will win or lose, but I'm really happy to be able to have such a showdown on this big stage."

At 97kg, defending champion Yoshida stormed to a pair of 10-0 victories, defeating Satoshi MIURA, a 2025 world U23 bronze medalist at 86kg, in the semifinals to advance to the final against teenager Noah LEIBOWITZ.

The final will be a repeat of the gold-medal match at the Emperor's Cup, which Yoshida won 11-0.

Leibowitz is now a freshman at Nihon University, from which Yoshida just graduated in March. Since then, he began living on his own for the first time.

"I have to prepare my own meals," Yoshida said on how his life has changed. "Instead of always being with a group, I am living a life on my own. My father brings over dinner every Friday, but other than that, I prepare it myself. My specialty is pork kimchi; actually that's all I can make."

Meanwhile, Taishi NARIKUNI, who attempted a rare freestyle-Greco double at the Asian Championships in Bishkek, advanced to the freestyle 70kg final, where he will face collegiate champion Yuma TOMIYAMA.

In women's action, world U20 bronze medalist Shirin TAKEMOTO pulled an upset of sorts at 72kg, knocking off Asian silver medalist Mahiro YOSHITAKE 11-6 in the semifinals. She will face Chisato YOSHIDA in the final.

At 65kg, Asian silver medalist Nana IKEHATA scored a takedown and stepout in the final 1:10 to edge Misuzu ENAMOTO 4-3 and set up a gold-medal clash with Hiyori MOTOKI, the younger sister of Paris Olympic champion Sakura MOTOKI.