Kawai Gets Best of Icho, but Faces Quick Rematch with More at Stake

Saturday, December 22, 2018 - 15:04 By Ken Marantz

TOKYO---In a match that left something to be desired considering the hype, Risako KAWAI got the best of fellow Olympic champion Kaori ICHO. She’ll have to show tomorrow she can do it again for much higher stakes.

Kawai defeated Icho in the highly anticipated clash between the titans of women’s wrestling, scoring a dull 2-1 victory in the opening match of their 57kg round-robin group at the All-Japan Championships in Tokyo.

The two both then beat Sae NANJO, the third wrestler in their group, to advance to the semifinals. They both won, setting up an instant rematch on the final day of the four-day tournament that is also serving as the first stage in Japan’s qualifying process for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

“This is the first tournament that has Olympic implications, so no matter who you have to face, this is a weight class that has drawn those who want to go to the Olympics,” Kawai said. “I have the title of Olympic gold medalist, but I can think about that. If I don’t win here, it doesn’t mean anything.”

Kawai, coming off winning a second straight world title at Budapest in October and third overall, hardly outwrestled the four-time Olympic gold medalist per se; it’s more like she just did a better job of showing she was trying.

The match had no technical points, as all scoring came with the opponent on the activity clock----Kawai had the fortune of seeing Icho flagged twice, despite the fact that Kawai herself initiated zero attacks.

It’s one thing to play it safe against a four-time Olympic champion. But Kawai repeated that performance against world junior silver medalist Nanjo, winning by the same score, with the same points, and without a takedown attempt. Icho defeated Nanjo 6-2 in a much more active match.

Kawai finally showed some life in the semifinals, where she used a takedown-ankle roll combination for a 4-0 win over world junior champion Hanako SAWA, while Icho advanced with a 3-0 victory over Akie HANAI.

“I’m sure this is drawing a lot of attention, but the fact is, it is Kaori and I who are the ones who have to perform,” Kawai said. “I’d like it to be exciting if possible.”

Yuki IRIE defeated Rio Olympic champion Eri TOSAKA, 4-4, putting her in the 50kg gold-medal bout. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

In the other match of global interest, Yuki IRIE repeated her victory from last spring over Rio 2016 champion Eri TOSAKA, winning 4-4 on big-point criteria to advance to the final of the women’s 50kg division, which had lost world champion Yui SUSAKI to an elbow injury.

Irie twice followed giving up a point on the activity clock by scoring a takedown, when Tosaka scored a takedown with :15 left. But it wasn’t enough for the former world champion, who underwent foot surgery after the Rio Olympics.

Tosaka will now need to win the All-Japan Invitational Championships in June to force a playoff with Irie for the ticket to the 2019 world championships, where winning a medal will earn an automatic berth on Japan’s team to the Tokyo 2020.

“The next six months will go fast,” she said. “If I don’t win there, I can’t go to the Tokyo Olympics. First of all, I have to win in June and get into the playoff.”

Yuki TAKAHASHI, 2017 world champion and 2018 world bronze medalist won his third straight Emperor's Cup title. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

Meanwhile, Budapest 2018 bronze medalist Yuki TAKAHASHI barely came away with his third straight title at freestyle 57kg.

Takahashi, the Paris 2017 world gold medalist, was trailing 4-4 on criteria when teenaged opponent Kaiki YAMAGUCHI, trying desperately to fend him off, was assessed a 1-point penalty with :02 left. An unsuccessful challenge left Takahashi the winner by a final score of 6-4.

“To have the final finish like that, it makes me wonder how I would do at the worlds,” Takahashi said. “This tournament has links to the Olympics, so I think that brought out some extra nerves and I didn’t move like I wanted, and my matches were sloppy.”

Takahashi was acquainted with Yamaguchi, having beaten him 4-0 in a tough semifinal battle last year when he was still in high school.

“The fact that I could still win even without wrestling at my best gives me a confidence boost,” Takahashi said.

On the heels of Susaki’s shocking withdrawal, the tournament lost another marquee match-up when women’s 53kg world champion Haruna OKUNO pulled out prior to her match due to a stomach virus.

Okuno had been due for a clash with fellow world champion Mayu MUKAIDA, who dropped down from 55kg to the Olympic weight class. Had they met, it would have been only the 11thtime in Japan wrestling history that two reigning world champions faced each other in a domestic tournament.

Mukaida launched her bid for a third straight national title---she won at 53kg in 2016---with a 12-2 technical fall victory over world junior champion Umi IMAI, then overcome a tough challenge from Momoka KADOYA, winning 3-0. In the final, she will face Nanami IRIE, Yuki’s younger sister.

Yuhi FUJINAMI, 2017 world bronze medalist, won back-to-back Emperor's Cup titles with a fall over Ken HOSAKA in the 74kg finals. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

Yuhi FUJINAMI, a 2017 world bronze medalist who finished out of the medals this year, successfully defended his freestyle 74kg title with a victory by fall over Ken HOSAKA in the final.

Hosaka surprised the defending champion with an early takedown, but Fujinami quickly evened the score. He then clamped a headlock on Hosaka and, while his opponent looked close at one time to escaping the predicament, Fujinami reapplied the pressure and ended the match in 1:44.

The other freestyle title at stake went to world university champion Yudai FUJITA, who defeated last year’s runner-up Shingo ARIMOTO, 6-0, in the 61kg final for his first national crown.

The day’s Greco golds went to Hiromu KATAGIRI (55kg), Shogo TAKAHASHI (67kg) and Naotsugu SHOJI (77kg). It was the first for Katagiri and Shoji, while Takahashi previously won at 66kg in 2016.

Meanwhile, the tournament, also known as the Emperor’s Cup, saw the return of Rio 2018 champion Sara Dosho in her first competition since suffering a shoulder injury at the Women’s World Cup in March.

Dosho, who underwent surgery and had her shoulder heavily taped, won both of her matches on the day in the women’s 68kg class, which has just five entries and is using a round-robin format.

Dosho beat Umi FUKUSHIMA, 6-1, and Chiaki SEKI, 2-1, and will finish up the competition Sunday by facing fellow Rio Olympian Rio WATARI in her final match, which will likely decide the gold medal. Watari also won twice.

Hiroe MINAGAWA, who won a second straight world bronze in Budapest, maintained her dominance of the women’s heaviest weight class by beating Yasuha MATSUYUKI, 3-0, in what was essentially the 76kg gold-medal match.

Minagawa’s victory gave her a 4-0 record in the five-women round-robin group for her third straight national title and fifth overall. Matsuyuki, a world junior bronze medalist, finished as runner-up at 3-1.

Takuto OTOGURO, the reigning world champion, will wrestle Daichi TAKATANI for the 65kg Emperor's Cup title.

Japan’s lone reigning male world champion, Takuto OTOGURO, advanced to the freestyle 65kg final with a solid 8-3 victory in the semifinals over world U23 champion Rei HIGUCHI, the Rio 2016 silver medalist at 57kg.

Standing in OTOGURO’s path to a first national title is defending champion Daichi TAKATANI, who lost to Otoguro in a playoff last July for the place on Japan’s team to Budapest and will be looking for revenge.

Sunday will also see the latest installment of the Great Greco Rivalry at 60kg between Rio 2016 silver medalist Shinobu OTA and Paris 2017 world champion Kenichiro FUMITA, who have split their last eight matches dating back to 2014.

Ota advanced to the final with a pair of technical fall victories, while Fumita scored a technical fall, then came out on top of a wild bout with high schooler Kyotaro SOGABE, emerging as a 13-8 winner when the dust cleared.

Day３Results

Freestyle

57kg (19 entries)
Final: Yuki TAKAHASHI df. Kaiki YAMAGUCHI, 6-4
3rdPlace: Daiki ARAKI df. Kotaro KIYOOKA, 3-1
3rdPlace: Kazuya KOYANAGI df. Toshihiro HASEGAWA, 4-3

61kg (18 entries)
Final: Yudai FUJITA df. Shingo ARIMOTO, 6-0
3rdPlace: Joji NAGATA df. Yushi NAKAMURA, 2-1
3rdPlace: Yo NAKATA df. Takumi YOSHIMURA, 2-1

65kg (27 entries)
Semifinals
Takuto OTOGURO df. Rei HIGUCHI, 8-3
Daichi TAKATANI df. Koki SHIMIZU, 8-7

70kg (14 entries)
Final: Kojiro SHIGA df. Haruki SEINO, 5-2
3rdPlace: Keisuke OTOGURO df. Hidetaka SAKANO, 5-3
3rdPlace: Shin HARAGUCHI df. Ryo YONEZAWA, 4-3
Semifinals
Seino df. Otoguro, 6-4
Shiga df. Yonezawa, 3-2

74kg (19 entries)
Final: Yuhi FUJINAMI df. Ken HOSAKA by Fall, 1:44 (4-2)
3rdPlace: Mao OKUI df. Ryuki YOSHIDA, 3-2
3rdPlace: Yuto MIWA df. Masato MIZUNO, 3-0

Greco-Roman

55kg (14 entries)
Final: Hiromu KATAGIRI df. Ken MATSUI, 5-0
3rdPlace: Shota OGAWA df. Kaito INABA, 4-3
3rdPlace: Ryota SAITO df. Kenta KOSAKA by Fall, 2:16 (6-0)
Semifinals
Katagiri df. Ogawa, 8-1
Matsui df. Kosaka by TF, 8-0, 4:28

6o kg (13 entries)
Semifinals
Shinobu OTA df. Kazuki YABE by TF, 9-0, 5:27
Kenichiro FUMITA df. Kyotaro SOGABE, 13-8

67kg (21 entries)

Final: Shogo TAKAHASHI df. Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA, 4-2
3rdPlace: Takahiro YAMAMOTO df. Yusuke KITAOKA, 6-1
3rdPlace: Masuto KAWANA df. Yuji UEGAKI, 5-1

77kg (16 entries)
Final: Naotsugu SHOJI df. Kodai SAKURABA, 4-0
3rdPlace: Shohei YABIKU df. Amane SHIMOYAMADA by TF, 9-0, 2:08
3rdPlace: Yuya MAETA df. Yudai KOMURO by TF, 11-0, 2:06

Women’s Wrestling

50kg (8 entries)
Semifinals
Yuki IRIE df. Eri TOSAKA, 4-4
Kika KAGATA df. Miho IGARASHI, 5-0

53kg (8 entries)
Semifinals
Nanami IRIE df. Katsura KONISHI by TF, 10-0, 1:02
Mayu MUKAIDA df. Momoka KADOYA, 3-0

57kg (7 entries)
Semifinals
Kaori ICHO df. Akie HANAI, 3-0
Risako KAWAI df. Hanako SAWA, 6-0

65kg (4 entries)
Round-Robin (Final Standings)
1. Naomi RUIKE (3-0, 11 pts)
2. Misuzu ENOMOTO (2-1, 7)
3. Miki KAWAUCHI (1-2, 3)
Key Match: Ruike df. Enomoto, 2-0 in 2ndround

68kg (5 entries)
Round-Robin (through 3 rounds)
1. Rio WATARI (2-0, 6 pts); 2. Sara DOSHO (2-0, 6); 3. Chiaki SEKI (1-2, 5); 4. Umi FUKUSHIMA (1-2, 5); 5. Rin MIYAJI (0-2, 2)

76kg (5 entries)
Round-Robin (Final Standings)
1. Hiroe MINAGAWA (4-0, 16 pts)
2. Yasuha MATSUYUKI (3-1, 10)
3. Masako FURUICHI (2-2, 8)
Key Match: Minagawa df. Matsuyuki, 3-0 in 5thround

#JapanWrestling

Ozaki Gets Best of Motoki in Showdown, Sets Up Final against Onishi

Saturday, May 23, 2026 - 09:10 By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (May 23) -- Nonoka OZAKI won her latest showdown with Paris Olympic champion Sakura MOTOKI, and this time there was no having to cut it close.

Ozaki broke open a close match in the second period, pulling away to an 8-2 victory to advance to the women’s 62kg final at the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships on Saturday in Tokyo.

"I’m used to being patient before getting going, and in the second period I was able to seize the momentum,” Ozaki said.

The victory put Ozaki into Sunday’s final, where a victory over world 59kg champion Sakura ONISHI will secure her place on Japan’s team to both the Asian Games, to be hosted by Japan, and the World Championships.

Others advancing to their respective finals on the third day of the four-day tournament at Tokyo’s Komazawa Gym were Paris Olympic gold medalists Kotaro KIYOOKA at Freestyle 65kg, Akari FUJINAMI at women’s 57kg and Nao KUSAKA at Greco 77kg, along with Paris bronze medalist Yui SUSAKI at women’s 50kg.

The much-anticipated clash between Ozaki and Motoki was the feature match of the session, and came a round earlier than expected after Onishi upended Motoki 9-7 in their Nordic round-robin group opener.

After a staid first period in which the lone score was an activity point for Motoki, Ozaki stepped up her game and scored a quick takedown to start the second period. When Motoki tried to spin out of an underhook, Ozaki stopped her for 2.

Motoki kept that movement going and got behind for a 1-point reversal, only for Ozaki to stuff a roll attempt for a 2-point exposure to go up 6-2. Ozaki then got behind for a final takedown to complete a solid victory.

The last time they faced each other was in December at the Emperor’s Cup All-Japan Championships, which along with the Meiji Cup, serve as the qualifiers for this year’s Asian Games and World Championships. A victory at both means an automatic place on the Japan team; if the winners are different, a playoff is held between them.

Last December, Ozaki pulled off a late 3-3 victory in the final over Motoki, which earned her a ticket to last month’s Asian Championships, where she won her third career continental gold.

It also avenged a loss by the identical score at last year’s Meiji Cup, which Motoki followed up by beating Ozaki in 6-5 in a nail-biting playoff. With those wins, Motoki secured a ticket to the World Championships in Zagreb, where she won the gold medal.

“I didn’t want to have similar gap in scores like in the previous tournaments or have a one-point difference,” Ozaki said. “I wanted to win after building up a big lead.”

Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN) reached the 65kg final and will take on Kaisei TANABE (JPN) for the gold medal. (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp / Takeo Yabuki)

The other Paris medalists – Kiyooka, Fujinami, Kusaka and Susaki – were all Emperor’s Cup champions and can secure their Asian Games and world team spots without a playoff with victories in Sunday’s finals.

Kiyooka had his hands full in advancing to the Freestyle 65kg final with a 3-1 victory in the semifinals over 2024 world U23 silver medalist Kaiji OGINO.

Ogino was leading in the second period on criteria after each received an activity point, when Kiyooka launched an attack that sent Ogino reeling off the mat for a stepout, to which a fleeing point was added.

Kiyooka said that Ogino put up a defense that resembled that of rival Rahman AMOUDZAD (IRI), who lost to Kiyooka in the final in Paris but gained revenge by relegating him to the silver at the Zagreb Worlds.

“I really felt it as we were going at it,” Kiyooka said. “But being able to overcome that is a big step.”

In Sunday’s final, Kiyooka will face fellow Nippon Sports Science University alumnus Kaisei TANABE, who advanced with an 8-2 victory over world U23 silver medalist Takara SUDA.

Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) moved into the 57kg final after a 10-0 win over Sara NATAMI (JPN). (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp / Takeo Yabuki)

Fujinami, still depending mostly on takedowns as she makes the physical adjustment to 57kg after winning the Paris gold at 53kg, cruised into the final with a 10-0 whitewash of Sara NATAMI.

With her second victory by technical superiority of the day, Fujinami extended her current win streak to 152 matches, dating back to her junior high school days.

In the final, she will face Sena NAGAMOTO, the Emperor’s Cup champion at 59kg who has made the bold move to drop down to 57kg and challenge the seemingly invincible Fujinami.

Nagamoto advanced with a 2-0 victory over Himeka TOKUHARA, who famously put Fujinami into the most danger of having her streak broken by nearly pinning her in the final at the Emperor's Cup, only for Fujinami to survive the predicament and rebound to beat her.

Kusaka looked to be cruising in his semifinal at Greco-Roman 77kg against Kodai SAKURABA, only to give up a 4-point throw from par terre in the second period. Still, the Zagreb silver medalist managed to hang for a 6-5 win.

In the gold-medal match, Kusaka will face Isami HORIKITA in a rematch of the Emperor’s Cup final.

Susaki encountered a slight blip in her 12-2 victory over Umi ITO in the women’s 50kg semifinals, which earned her a trip to the final against world U20 champion Rinka OGAWA.

Susaki led 2-0 late in the first period when she got stuck attempting a front headlock roll, giving Ito 2 points and the lead on criteria. But Susaki shook off the foible and piled up the points in the second period to finish off Ito.

At Freestyle 74kg, world champions Yoshinosuke AOYAGI and Kota TAKAHASHI both advanced to the final to set up a rematch of their high-level championship match at the Emperor’s Cup.

Aoyagi, who moved up to the Olympic weight after winning the world title at 70kg, won by fall over Ryoya YAMASHITA, while Takahashi, the reigning world champ at 74kg, eked out a 3-1 win over Hikaru TAKATA.

Yu KATSUME (JPN), 18, suffered her first-ever loss since July 2019. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

Future Prospect Katsume Falls Short

Earlier, at 50kg, highly touted high schooler Yu KATSUME made her long-awaited senior debut, but came up on the short end of a 3-1 decision in the quarterfinals to Morishita. Only a second-period go-behind takedown by Morishita separated the two, with each receiving an activity point.

“It was a match that I feel I could have won,” Katsume said. “I feel it’s not like I can’t compete here.”

The loss ended a remarkable winning streak for Katsume, the 2024 world U17 champion at 46kg who had not lost since she was in the fifth grade of elementary school back in July 2019. She had put up Susak and Fujinami-like numbers, winning 22 straight tournaments on various age group levels.

Katsume, who turned 18 earlier this month, was familiar with her opponent. She is a senior at the high school attached to Shigakkan University, which Morishita attends, and the teams practice together.

“We know each other styles, so I wasn’t sure how the match would go,” Katsume said. “I thought I could do it, but I didn’t do the attacking wrestling that I usually do.”

As for suffering a rare defeat, Katsume commented, “I’m the younger one, and I had never entered a senior tournament. My opponent had been to finals [on this level], so the pressure was on her. Looking at it that way, I thought I could win.”

Kawai Gets Best of Icho, but Faces Quick Rematch with More at Stake

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Ozaki Gets Best of Motoki in Showdown, Sets Up Final against Onishi