Higuchi earns first trip to Worlds; Sakurai squeezes through

Friday, June 17, 2022 - 16:39 By Ken Marantz

TOKYO, Japan (June 17) -- Rei HIGUCHI will be going to his first World Championships, but make no mistake about it -- his ultimate goal remains winning the Olympic gold that eluded him six years ago in Rio.

Higuchi, the 2016 Olympic silver medalist at 57kg, earned a ticket to this year's World Championships at freestyle 61kg by defeating Kodai OGAWA 4-0 in the final at the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships on Friday.

The 26-year-old had a fall and a technical fall in his two other matches as he ended the day unscored upon in winning the second of Japan's domestic qualifying tournaments for places on the team to the World Championships in September in Belgrade, Serbia.

Tsugumi SAKURAI, the reigning women's world champion at 55kg who has moved up to 57kg, secured a trip back to the worlds at that weight class but not without a bit of drama, while 2021 world silver medalist Miwa MORIKAWA will also be Belgrade-bound after triumphing at 65kg.

Winners of the Meiji Cup who previously won titles at the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships last December automatically secured places on the team to Belgrade; if the champions are different, they meet in a playoff after that day's action at Tokyo's Komazawa Gym.

On Friday, there were no playoffs held. In six of the eight weight classes held on the second day of action, the Emperor's Cup champion prevailed again, while in the two others, that champion skipped the tournament due to injury, conceding the berth to the Meiji Cup winner.

Rei HIGUCHI controls Kodai OGAWA in the freestyle 61kg final. (Photo: Takeo Yabuki / Japan Wrestling Federation)

Higuchi fell into the latter case. Having moved up to 61kg after an ill-fated attempt to make the Tokyo Olympics at 57kg, he lost in the final at the Emperor's Cup to Ryuto SAKAKI, who is out injured.

The last time Higuchi was involved in a playoff, it was for the 57kg berth at the Tokyo Olympics, which he lost to Yuki TAKAHASHI. That came after he blew a chance to win the berth outright at the Asian Olympic qualifying tournament by failing to make weight.

Now his focus is on the 2024 Paris Olympics, and his efforts are aimed at getting off to a good start in the qualifying process that starts with this year's Emperor's Cup in December when he will drop back down to 57kg.

"The path to qualifying for the Olympics starts in December, so I thought that more than this tournament, and the World Championships if I qualified, December is the main event that I have to win," Higuchi said.

"If I don't win at 57kg in December, there will be no Olympics for me. The younger generation is emerging. I want to head into December with the feeling that I am the main challenger."

Not that he's not going to go all out at the World Championships.

"I move better against foreign opponents than against my fellow Japanese, so I going to take the offensive," Higuchi said. "I want to give everything I've got and win the world championship convincingly.

"I don't know if he will be able to compete, but if I can't beat [Tokyo Olympic 57kg] Zavur UGUEV (ROC) of Russia, I can't be No. 1 in the world. So I will devise a strategy to beat Uguev. There are many strong competitors in the world, but I will make that my primary goal."

At the Rio Olympics, Higuchi suffered a heart-breaking and controversial 3-3 loss in the gold-medal match to Vladimer Khinchegashvili (GEO). So desperate was he to get to the Tokyo Games, Higuchi at one time moved up to 65kg, where he won his lone other Meiji Cup title in 2019.

Although not an Olympic weight, the 26-year-old Higuchi seems to have found his niche at 61kg, in which he won the gold in his Asian Championships debut in April.

In Friday's final against fellow Nippon Sports Science University alumnus Ogawa, who knows him well, Higuchi tried new ways to crack his opponent's defense. But after gaining an activity point in the first period, he scored his lone technical point with a counter to the back in the second before receiving a second activity point.

"In the final, I reversed how I tie-up," Higuchi said. "I wanted to try shooting to the right after making him cautious of a single-leg tackle to the left. But as he's a junior teammate, he knew well what hand I was playing, so I wasn't able to do the move. Also, I was lacking a bit of confidence in trying it, so I'll work to perfect it before the World Championships."

Sakurai Tsugumi SAKURAI rises up before turning over Sae NANJO for the winning takedown in the last seconds of the women's 57kg final. (Photo: Takeo Yabuki / Japan Wrestling Federation)

For Sakurai, it was deja vu all over again as she barely beat the clock to beat world bronze medalist Sae NANJO 5-3 in the final -- much as she did six months earlier in the Emperor's Cup final.

Nanjo gained an activity point and a takedown to take a 3-0 lead into the second period, in which Sakurai closed the gap to 3-2 with a takedown. With 10 seconds left, Sakurai shot in on a single, and Nanjo went over the back and clamped on a leg, looking to ride out the clock.

But with the seconds ticking down, Sakurai raised up and managed to dump Nanjo onto her bottom as time expired. Was it in time? After an extraordinarily long challenge review, it was decided that Sakurai had gained control with milliseconds to spare.

"I went for the tackle with my last bit of energy," said Sakurai, last year's Meiji Cup champion at 55kg. "I didn't see the clock so I didn't know how much time was left, but I came out on top in the situation, so I thought I got the points."

What was going through her mind as the judges deliberated the call? "If I didn't get it, I would lose and we would go to a playoff, so I thought I had to be ready to face that possibility."

In the final of the Emperor's Cup, where Sakurai made her debut at 57kg, she scored a stunning 4-point takedown in the final seconds for a 5-2 win over Nanjo.

Making her latest victory even sweeter is that it came a day after two Ikuei University teammates, Sakura MOTOKI (59kg) and Ami ISHII (68kg), earned their first trips to the World Championships, which also put pressure on her to do so, too.

"At the end, I again won in the final by coming from behind, but I am confident that I practice harder than anyone, so even if it is tough at the end, I'm glad I could get in on a tackle and score points," Sakura said. "At the same time, yesterday two of my teammates at Ikuei University won titles, and while I also wanted to win, I felt like I had to win. I feel like it's a relief."

Sakurai's emergence as Japan's top wrestler at 57kg comes in the absence of Tokyo Olympic champion Risako KAWAI, who last month gave birth to her first child and plans to return at the Emperor's Cup to start a run at a third straight Olympic title.

"For me to get to the Olympics, she a competitor who I will have to beat," said Sakurai, who was one of Japan's seven women gold medalists at the Asian Championships. "I have youth and a bit of room timewise to still build strength, so I think I will get more powerful from now -- enough, I hope, to beat Kawai."

Miwa MORIKAWA works to get behind Miyu IMAI in the women's 65kg final. (Photo: Takeo Yabuki / Japan Wrestling Federation)

At 65kg, Morikawa had a far less dramatic day in winning her second straight title with an 8-1 victory in the final over 2018 world U20 champion Miyu IMAI, although she was a bit dissatisfied with her showing.

"I missed some chances for points," Morikawa said. "In order to win at the worlds, I have been able to firmly get those."

In Belgrade, Morikawa will be looking to make up for her loss in the 2021 world final in Oslo to Irina RINGACI (MDA). "That ended with a disappointing result, so I'm going to get the gold," Morikawa pledged.

Shimizu Kensuke SHIMIZU battles with Kyotaro SOGABE in the Greco 67kg semifinal. (Photo: Takeo Yabuki / Japan Wrestling Federation)

Shimizu comes up short at 67kg

A third medalist from the 2021 World Championships won't be getting another shot this year, as Greco 63kg bronze medalist Kensuke SHIMIZU came up short after moving up 67kg.

Shimizu, wanting to get an early start at adjusting his body to the Olympic weight, was dominated in the semifinals by Nippon Sport Science University's Kyotaro SOGABE, who built up a 7-1 lead before securing a fall in the waning seconds of the match.

"It's my first time in the higher weight class, and of course, my aim was to win the championship," said Shimizu, who came away with the bronze medal. "Beyond that, I want this to lead into my next competition. I particularly felt in the semifinal with Sogabe that there is still a real difference in power. I am determined to get stronger before December."

Shimizu was coming off a disappointing showing at the Asian Championships, where he lost in the second round for the second year in a row.

"At the Asian Championships, I let the opponent use his favored moves to dictate the match, and I wasn't able to show any of my best sides," Shimizu said. "It was really a terrible match. I never want to have a match like that again, and after I came back to my team, I talked it over with my coach thoroughly about what I should do. Every day, I think more in practice than I've ever done."

Shimizu changed his training environment by joining the Self-Defense Forces team upon graduating from Takushoku University, providing an ideal setting for making a run at the Olympics at 67kg.

"My weight training regimen and diet have gotten far better and I can put together a plan for tailoring my body to the heavier weight class," Shimizu said. "In regular practice, I can work out with wrestlers in higher weight classes, and train with more powerful ones."

Shimizu, who won the Emperor's Cup at 63kg to put him halfway back to the World Championships at that weight, said he decided it was better to make the move now to 67kg.

"Looking ahead, I thought instead of losing weight now, it was better to properly make the move up in weight class and get started on reforming my body and getting used to the new weight. I thought it was more important to start competing at this weight class."

Filling Japan's spot at 67kg in Belgrade will be Asian bronze medalist Katsuaki ENDO, who beat Sogabe 6-1 in the final for his first Meiji Cup title since winning at 63kg in 2018. The result, down to the score, was a repeat of Endo's victory over Sogabe at the Emperor's Cup.

Endo, an alumnus of NSSU, countered a forced throw attempt by Sogabe for 4 points in the second period, then followed that with a quick roll to put away his practice partner.

"I'm good from the ground, so maybe Kyotaro thought it was worth giving it a shot there and forced it too much," Endo said.

Sogabe, still looking for his first senior national title, first put himself onto the radar while at Imabari Nishi High School in his native Ehime Prefecture, when in 2019 he became the 10th wrestler in Japan history to win three straight titles in the high school division at the National Games. Among his notable predecessors was future world champion Kenichiro FUMITA.

In other Greco finals, veterans Tomohiro INOUE and Masato SUMI followed up their Emperor's Cup triumphs to secure tickets to Belgrade at 72kg and 87kg, respectively.

The 34-year-old Inoue won his second straight Meiji Cup title and fourth overall with a 3-1 victory over Taishi HORIE, while Sumi, 28, defeated Self-Defense Forces teammate So SAKABE 5-1 for his third title and first since 2019.

In freestyle, Asian bronze medalist Daichi TAKATANI chalked up a 5-2 victory in the final over Kirin KINOSHITA to capture his first Meiji Cup crown since 2013 and earn his first trip to the World Championships since 2014.

Taiki YAMAMOTO maintained his firm grip on the 125kg title, defeating Hiroto NINOMIYA 2-1 on activity points for his fourth straight title and fifth overall.

Day 2 Results

Freestyle

61kg (9 entries)
Final - Rei HIGUCHI df. Kodai OGAWA, 4-0
3rd Place - Kaito MORIKAWA df. Hayato FUJITA by TF, 10-0, 3:35

74kg (10 entries)
Final - Daichi TAKATANI df. Kirin KINOSHITA, 5-2
3rd Place - Yuto FUKADA df. Iori KOSHIBA, 6-1

125kg (7 entries)
Final - Taiki YAMAMOTO df. Hiroto NINOMIYA, 2-1
3rd Place - Yuji FUKUI df. Asahi TSUIHIJI by TF, 10-0, 3:57

Greco-Roman

67kg (11 entries)
Final - Katsuaki ENDO df. Kyotaro SOGABE, 6-1
3rd Place - Kensuke SHIMIZU df. Yoshinobu ITO by Inj. Def.

72kg (10 entries)
Final - Tomohiro INOUE df. Taishi HORIE, 3-1
3rd Place - Daigo KOBAYASHI df. Haruto YABE, 2-1

87kg (9 entries)
Final - Masato SUMI df. So SAKABE, 5-1
3rd Place - Kanta SHIOKAWA df. Satoki MUKAI by Fall, 2:18 (2-3)

Women's Wrestling

57kg (9 entries)
Final - Tsugumi SAKURAI df. Sae NANJO, 5-3
3rd Place - Sena NAGAMOTO df. Ruka NATAMI by TF, 12-2, 4:55

65kg (6 entries)
Final - Miwa MORIKAWA df. Miyu IMAI, 8-1
3rd Place - Ayana GEMPEI df. Rin TERAMOTO, 7-1

Watari Makes Emotional–and Victorious–Comeback from Cancer at Meiji Cup

Saturday, June 16, 2018 - 16:37 By Ken Marantz

TOKYO, Japan (June 16) - Emotions were running high when Rio WATARI stepped back onto the mat for a tournament, two years after beginning and eventually winning a grueling fight against cancer.

The tears of joy and relief flowed freely when she walked off as a champion.

Watari capped her remarkable recovery from Hodgkin lymphoma, winning the women’s 68kg title at the All-Japan Invitational Championships in Tokyo to earn a place on Japan’s team to the world championships in Budapest.

Watari added even more drama to the moment by scoring a decisive step-out point with :06 left in the final against Chiaki SEKI, giving her a 3-2 victory and her first title in the tournament, known as the Meiji Cup, since 2014.

Watari’s winning point came on her fourth tackle attempt. Her three previous ones were all stopped, and the only points scored by either wrestler had come on the activity clock, with Watari’s second giving her a 2-1 lead with :32 left.

But Seki, who had previously wrestled under her maiden name IIJIMA, went ahead on last-point criteria when her lone tackle attempt of the match forced out Watari to tie it at 2-2 with :24 remaining.

Watari, having come this far, wasn’t going to be denied, and she responded to the delight of the loud contingent of supporters from her sponsor, Aisin AW, in the Komazawa Gym stands.

“I went for it with the strong feeling that I would definitely win and go with the other champions from Shigakkan to the world championships,” Watari said, referring to her alma mater, powerhouse Shigakkan University, which will fill much of the women’s team to Budapest with current and alumni wrestlers.

Watari needed just two matches to win the gold. In her opening match---her first since the Rio 2016 Olympics—she scored a solid 7-0 victory over Shigakkan’s Mai HAYAKAWA to advance to the final.

“In the first match, even getting over my nervousness, my body was trembling, so much that I didn’t feel like myself,” the 26-year-old Watari said. “I couldn’t calm down and felt anxious. I felt like I wouldn’t be able to win the title if I go on like this.

“In the final, I believed in what I had done up that point and was determined to win. I was able to take up the challenge in a relaxed mood.”

Rio WATARI, 68kg champion. (Photo by Sachiko Hotaka)

Prior to her illness, Watari had already made nationwide headlines when she qualified for Rio. What made her case so special was that, in her intense desire to win an Olympic medal, she went up two weight classes, from 63kg to 75kg. She reportedly gained 12 kgs by eating five meals a day.

Her lymphoma was diagnosed just before the Olympics, but she managed to compete anyway. She does not use the illness as an excuse for her disappointing one-point loss to Aline da Silva FERRIRA (BRA). After returning to Japan, her condition was made public and, as it worsened, she began chemotherapy and other treatment.

“At the Olympics, while I fought with the decision about whether or not to compete, I kept practicing and was able to participate,” Watari said. “After that, my life fighting the illness began. I was bedridden much of the time, and often felt dizzy while standing. With every passing day I wondered if I would ever be able to return to wrestling.”

From last September, she started walking, riding a bicycle and little by little getting the “body of a normal person.” After being limited to basic exercising, she returned to the wrestling room in January.

“If I take my condition before the Olympics as 100 percent, I’m still far away in terms of physical strength,” she said. “I still can’t go all out until the end of practice. I would put it at 50 percent.”

Watari made it directly onto the team to Budapest because world and Olympic gold medalist Sara DOSHO, the 68kg winner at the All-Japan Championships (called the Emperor’s Cup), suffered a shoulder injury at the Women’s World Cup in March that kept her out of the Meiji Cup.

The winners of the Emperor’s and Meiji Cups in each weight class, if different, will meet in a playoff on July 7 for berths on the team to Budapest, and Dosho will not be available for the playoff either.

For Watari, her remarkable comeback does not erase the sting of her defeat in Rio. During her post-match press conference, she broke down when asked about the support she received from her parents during her battle with cancer.

“I wasn’t able to win at the Olympics and bring back a medal to show them,” she said through tears, her way of saying that the best way she can repay them is to strike gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

“It’s not yet the Olympics, so this doesn’t erase what happened in Rio,” she said. “I have to think about how far I can go at 68kg, and with the Olympic qualifying coming up, what weight class is best for me. This victory and making the world team becomes a good step toward the Olympics.”

Still, having gone through a deadly disease makes her more appreciative of the time she spends on the mat and allows her to bear the rigors necessary to achieve success.

“Right now, I’m having fun everyday in wrestling,” she said.

Shota TANOKURA secured his ticket to the world championships by winning the 55kg championship. (Photo by Sachiko Hotaka)

Asian champ Tanokura has eyes on world gold

In other action, Asian champion Shota TANOKURA put on his latest display of spectacular throws in storming to the Greco-Roman 55kg gold and securing his ticket to the world championships.

Tanokura followed up on his Emperor’s Cup triumph by posting two victories by technical fall before beating Shota OGAWA 7-0 in the final, gaining the bulk of his points with a front headlock throw.

It was Tanokura’s third Meiji Cup gold and first since 2015. He had retired after failing to make the Rio Olympics, with part of the reason being that he felt handicapped when the minimum weight class was raised to 59kg. He was soon overtaken by Olympic silver medalist Shinobu OTA and world champion Kenichiro FUMITA.

But the return of the 55kg weight class led to Tanokura’s return to the sport last year, although he continues to keep his job as a Tokyo high school physical education teacher.

His school obligations kept him from training as he would have preferred for the Meiji Cup, much to the chagrin of his coach.

“This tournament, after the Asian Championships [in Bishkek in February] and the final national camp, I honestly wasn’t able to train,” Tanokura said.

“Coach Shingo Matsumoto, a week before the tournament, said to me, ‘Dude, you’re not going to be able win like that.’ I was told I would have to go in with the mindset of a challenger, and that turned the switch on for me, even though it was a bit late.

Tanokura, a three-time Asian medalist, will get his first shot at a world medal, and has boosted his confidence by a second-place finish as the Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov Tournament in Sofia in March.

“I competed once in Europe, and my impression is that Asian wrestlers are stronger than the Europeans in the lighter weights,” he said. “All that remains is to aim for the gold at the world championships.”

Yukako KAWAI, 62kg gold medalist. (Photo by Sachiko Hotaka)

Meanwhile, half of Japan’s top sister act all but secured her ticket to Budapest, as Yukako KAWAI captured the women’s 62kg title.

Kawai shed tears after her victory, but they were not of joy. She was dissatisfied by her performance in the final, in which she failed to score off an attacking move in posting a 4-1 win over Yurika ITO.

“I aimed for the title and I’m glad that I got it, but I couldn’t do anything I had practiced, so it’s very disappointing,” Kawai said. “I had worked on shooting for takedowns in practice, on responding to the opponent and consciously thinking not to get too high in my stance. I didn’t do the very basics.”

Kawai and older sister Risako KAWAI, a world and Olympic champion, have switched weight classes from the ones in which they won titles at the Emperor’s Cup. Risako has dropped from 62kg to 59kg.

That has set up what could be an interesting scenario. If Risako surprisingly fails to win the 59kg on the final day Sunday, it would ostensibly set up a playoff between the two for the 62kg berth. Yukako, however, said it won’t ever come to that.

“By winning at 59kg, there would be no playoff between us, so Risako said we should both win decisively and go to the world championships together.”

For Yukako, Budapest will give her a chance to make amends for last year’s world championships in Paris, where she failed to win a medal at 63kg. But to do that, she can’t repeat her performance from Saturday.

“The way I wrestled this time was no good,” she said. “At this point, I will lose right away like I did last year. I have to start over from the beginning.”

Yuhi FUJINAMI suffered a broken cheek bone and had to withdraw from the tournament. (Photo by Sachiko Hotaka)

Fujinami withdraws, puts fate into playoff

In a surprise, Yuhi FUJINAMI, a Paris 2017 bronze medalist at 70kg in freestyle, withdrew from the competition in the 74kg class, opting to put his fate on a return to the world championships on a playoff.

Fujinami suffered a broken cheek bone below his right eye when he was struck with an elbow during practice in early May. He wrestled in a pair of duel meets for Yamanashi Gakuin University, but protected the injury by not shooting for takedowns. He hopes to be fully recovered by the time of the playoff.

Fujinami told the press that he came to the decision on Sunday, in consultation with his family at the national junior high school championships as it was gathered in support of his younger sister Akari, who won a gold medal.

In Fujinami’s absence, Ken HOSAKA won the title with an 11-3 victory over teenager Yuto MIWA. In the semifinals, Hosaka needed a stepover with :03 left for the two points that gave him a 4-4 win over Ryuki YOSHIDA.

Fujinami and Hosaka will meet in the playoff, which will be a rematch of the Emperor’s Cup final, which Fujinami won by technical fall.

The other freestyle title up for grabs on Saturday, at 97kg, went to Naoya AKAGUMA, who rolled to a 9-0 victory in the final over Taira SONODA.

In the semifinals, Akaguma scored a late takedown for a 3-3 win over Emperor’s Cup winner Takeshi YAMAGUCHI, setting up a playoff between the two for the ticket to Budapest.

Asian silver medalist Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (67kg) and Shohei YABIKU (77kg) in Greco-Roman, and Katsuki SAKAGAMI (57kg) in women’s wrestling all completed the national title double to grab places on the team to Budapest.

Results from Day 3

Freestyle

74kg (12 entries)
Gold – Ken HOSAKA df. Yuto MIWA, 11-3

Bronze – Hayato OGATA and Ryuki YOSHIDA

Semifinal – Yuto MIWA df. Hayato OGATA, 5-0
Semifinal – Ken HOSAKA df. Ryuki YOSHIDA, 4x-4

97kg (12 entries)
Gold – Naoya AKAGUMA df. Taira SONODA, 9-0

Bronze – Takeshi YAMAGUCHI and Hiroto NINOMIYA

Semifinal – Naoya AKAGUMA df. Takeshi YAMAGUCHI, 3x-3
Semifinal – Taira SONODA df. Hiroto NINOMIYA by Def.

Greco-Roman

55kg (10 entries)
Gold – Shota TANOKURA df. Shota OGAWA, 7-0

Bronze – Tomoya MARUYAMA and Hiromu KATAGIRI

Semifinal – Shota TANOKURA df. Tomoya MARUYAMA by TF, 8-0, 1:50
Semifinal – Shota OGAWA df. Hiromu KATAGIRI by TF, 10-2, 2:20

67kg (10 entries)
Gold – Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA df. Shogo TAKAHASHI by TF, 9-1, 4:17

Bronze – Daiki KOBAYASHI and Katsuyoshi KAWASE

Semifinal – Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA df. Daiki KOBAYASHI by TF, 10-1, 2:07
Semifinal – Shogo TAKAHASHI df. Katsuyoshi KAWASE, 5-3

77kg (12 entries)
Gold – Shohei YABIKU df. So SAKABE, 2x-2

Bronze – Kenryu KUZUYA and Takeshi IZUMI

Semifinal – Shohei YABIKU df. Kenryu KUZUYA by TF, 8-0, 1:27
Semifinal – So SAKABE df. Takeshi IZUMI by Fall, 3:30 (5-3)

Women’s Wrestling

57kg (6 entries)
Gold – Katsuki SAKAGAMI df. Akie HANAI, 4-1

Bronze – Sae NANJO and Chiho HAMADA

Semifinal – Katsuki SAKAGAMI df. Sae NANJO, 8x-8
Semifinal – Akie HANAI df. Chiho HAMADA, 2-0

62kg (7 entries)
Gold – Yukako KAWAI df. Yurika ITO, 4-1

Bronze – Atena KODAMA and Honoka IMAGAWA

Semifinal – Yurika ITO df. Atena KODAMA by TF, 11-0, 4:09
Semifinal – Yukako KAWAI df. Honoka IMAGAWA, 4-0

68kg (5 entries)
Gold – Rio WATARI df. Chiaki SEKI, 3-2

Bronze – Miwa MORIKAWA and Mai HAYAKAWA

Semifinal – Chiaki SEKI df. Miwa MORIKAWA, 7-2
Semifinal – Rio WATARI df. Mai HAYAKAWA, 7-0

Higuchi earns first trip to Worlds; Sakurai squeezes through

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Watari Makes Emotional–and Victorious–Comeback from Cancer at Meiji Cup