Rio Olympic champion Dosho announces retirement

Friday, March 31, 2023 - 19:30 By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (March 30) -- Sara DOSHO (JPN), a gold medalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics whose bid for further glory was hampered by a shoulder injury suffered in 2018 from which she never fully recovered, announced her retirement on her Twitter account Thursday.

The 28-year-old Dosho, who now goes by her married name of OKADA, won the women's 69kg gold in Rio, following up on the lone senior world title that she captured in 2017 in Paris. She also won a world silver in 2014 and bronzes in 2013 and 2015.

"Looking back at my life in wrestling, I can say with pride that I gave it my all," wrote Dosho, who next month will start a new life as a civil servant in her hometown of Matsusaka City, Mie Prefecture, in central Japan.

Dosho, who needed to win a domestic playoff at 68kg to make the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, came up well short of an Olympic repeat when she finished fifth. Her loss in a bronze-medal match to Alla CHERKASOVA (UKR) would prove to be the final match of her career.

"It's been 21 years since I started wrestling at age 7," Dosho wrote. "I have devoted everything to wrestling.

"After the Tokyo Olympics ended, I thought I would like to aim to get back to the big stage again. But as the days went on, my physical condition and the effects of the shoulder and all the little injuries that built up kept me from giving all I could to wrestling as I did before, and that led to this decision."

Dosho had seemed well positioned for a run at a second straight Olympic gold when she injured her left shoulder on the opening day of the World Cup in March 2018 in Takasaki, Japan.

Dosho managed to hold on and defeat Danielle LAPPAGE (CAN) 2-1 in the match, but was forced to skip the gold-medal match the following day against China, which Japan won 6-4 for its fourth straight title. The team captain, she could only join the celebration on the mat.

The injury necessitated surgery, forcing her to miss that year's World Championships in Budapest and abdicate her throne. She was able to return in time for the All-Japan

Championships in December that year, where she barely managed to secure her eighth straight but final national title.

As one who relies on a strong tackle attack, Dosho was forced on the defensive in her final years and never regained her previous dominance. She captured a fourth gold at the Asian Championships in Xi'an, China, in April 2019, but five months later had to settle for a disappointing fifth place at the World Championships in Nur-Sultan.

Her loss in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Tamyra MENSAH-STOCK (USA) ended a 41-match winning streak that spanned four years and dated back to the 2015 World Championships in Las Vegas.

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While the fifth place in Nur-Sultan earned Japan a spot at 68kg at the Tokyo Olympics, failing to win a medal meant Dosho did not earn the place for herself outright. She needed to win the All-Japan to clinch the spot, but was instead dealt a one-sided 9-2 loss in the semifinals by Miwa MORIKAWA.

That put the 68kg berth up for grabs in a playoff between the two. Dosho, who was coming off an injured knee suffered two months earlier, scored her only technical points with a counter for a takedown and beat Morikawa 3-1. The one-year delay of the Tokyo Games benefitted her in terms of allowing her time to recover, but it wasn't enough to strike gold again.

She faced Mensah-Stock in the first round, and again the American dominated the encounter. Dosho defeated long-time Asian rival Feng ZHOU (CHN) in the repechage, but lost by fall to Cherkasova in the bronze-medal match. Ironically, it was Cherkasova who won the world title in 2018 that Dosho missed.

Dosho started wrestling at the Ichishi Wrestling Club in Mie Prefecture that produced three-time Olympic champion Saori YOSHIDA (JPN) and many other stars. She won three national titles in the elementary school grades, then won the national high school crown in each of her three years at Shigakukan High School, the feeder to powerhouse Shigakkan University.

In her freshman year at Shigakkan, she won the first of four senior world medals with a third place at the 2013 World Championships in Budapest. The next year she finished second at 69kg to Aline FOCKEN (GER), a loss she would avenge three years later in the final in Paris.

Heading into the next stage of her life, Dosho recently resigned from Toshin Housing Co., the Aichi Prefecture-based housing construction company that sponsors the

wrestling team that she joined in 2017 out of Shigakkan. Among her teammates were fellow Olympic champion Eri TOSAKA and Sae NANJO.

Dosho now enters the world of civil service, working in the Matsusaka municipal office in the sports promotion section of the board of education. According to Japanese media, Dosho was not recruited, instead applying for the job to take advantage of a program that promotes the return of people who have moved to big cities to their local areas.

"When her application came through the internet and I saw the name, I was surprised," the head of the personnel department was quoted as saying by The Tokyo Shimbun, adding that in their interview, "She said she wants to work on promoting sports using the experience she has acquired in the Olympics and elsewhere."

The daily reported that Matsusaka Mayor Masato TAKEGAMI said, "I hope she does work that gives dreams to children."

#WrestleBelgrade

Host Serbia puts two into GR finals on opening day of Worlds

Saturday, September 10, 2022 - 20:16 By Ken Marantz

BELGRADE, Serbia (September 10) -- The opening act of the World Championships was a smash for the home team, as host Serbia saw two wrestlers advance to the finals of the four Greco-Roman weight classes that kicked off the tournament on Saturday in Belgrade.

Defending champion Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB) put himself in a position for a repeat of the 87kg gold medal he won last year in Oslo, while Iran-born Ali ARSALAN (SRB) earned a shot at a first world title at 72kg.

Azerbaijan will also have two wrestlers in action on the first night of finals at Stark Arena on Sunday when Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) will look to regain the world 55kg title that he won in 2018, and European bronze medalist Ulvi GANIZADE (AZE) will go for gold at 72kg.

Meanwhile, Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) made his first world final at 77kg, earning a clash with surprising Zoltan LEVAI (HUN), who denied Serbia a third finalist when he knocked off former world champion Viktor NEMES (SRB).

Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB) won his 87kg semifinal 4-3. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Datunashvili, sporting his trademark cornrow braids, had to scrape his way into the 87kg final, where he will try to prevent European champion Turpan BISULTANOV (DEN) from becoming Denmark's first-ever world champion in Greco-Roman.

"For the Serbian people, for Serbian sports, I want to win it tomorrow," Datunashvili said.

All three of Datsunashvili's matches went the distance, including a 4-3 nail-biter in the semifinals over 2021 world U23 silver medalist David LOSONCZI (HUN). His ability to stay calm under pressure earned the Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist a trip back to the finals.

Against Losonczi, Datunashvili barely managed to gain a 2-point exposure from par terre, then managed to hang on after Losonczi scored a stepout that had a one-point fleeing penalty tacked on and cut the gap to a point.

Turpan BISULTANOV (DEN), blue, defeated Ali CENGIZ (TUR) 6-0 in the semifinal. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

In the final match of the session, Bisultanov took advantage of a rare second passivity call in his favor against Ali CENGIZ (TUR), scoring a 4-point throw in the second period to secure a 6-0 victory. That made him the first Dane to make a world Greco final since 2015 when Mark MADSEN (DEN) won the fourth and last of his silver medals at 74-75kg.

"I am very looking forward to it [the final]," Bisultanov said. "I was thinking that he or Hungarian will go to the final and yeah, they were both in the semifinals and had a very close match. I don't know, we will see what happens tomorrow, I and my coaches will see what we can do and I will do my best tomorrow."

Bisultanov said the vocal group of Danish fans in the venue will take away some of the home-field advantage of his opponent.

"Of course, every time you are at home you feel more energy, you have to do something for your home, for your fans," he said. "But luckily I got my crazy Danish fans here. I hope my fans will beat the Serbian fans, and I'll beat him as well."

Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) celebrates after scoring a 9-0 win over Max NOWRY (USA) in the 55kg semifinal. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

At 55kg, the final will be a clash between the two bronze medalists from Oslo 2021 -- both former world champions, as well -- although Azizli will seem to have the upper hand on Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO), having beaten him six months ago in the final at the European Championships.

Azizli stormed into the final with his third technical fall of the day, overwhelming Max NOWRY (USA) 9-0 in 1:44 in the first semifinal. Put on top in par terre, Azizli went right to work, ripping off a pair of gut wrenches before transitioning to a 4-point throw.

Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO) will try to win his second world title on Sunday. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Tsurtsumia, the 2019 world champion, advanced to the final with a 5-3 victory over Asian silver medalist Amangali BEKBOLATOV (KAZ). Tsurtsumia fell behind 3-3 on criteria when he gave up a defensive takedown early in the second period, but he immediately came back with a stepout to regain the lead.

The final will be the third meeting between Azizli and Tsurtsumia in two years. The two also met in the quarterfinals of the 2021 European Championships, with Azizli winning 10-1 en route to a bronze medal.

"I've lost to Azizli around seven or even eight times," Tsurtsumia said. "But it doesn't matter, because tomorrow I will wrestle till the very end. I'm not going to tell you now what exactly I'm gonna do, but you will see it all tomorrow. I'll take revenge."

Ali ARSALAN (SRB) pinned Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA) in the 72kg semifinal. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

In the 72kg semifinals, Arsalan had the play of the day when he used a slick duck-under to a half-nelson that put Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA) onto his back, where he secured a fall at 2:33.

That had come after Arsalan, a 2017 Asian bronze medalist who began competing for Serbia last year, had scored a reversal from the bottom of par terre.

"First of all, I am so glad that I made it to the final, it's really good for me," Arsalan said, "but it's not enough for me. I should recover myself and my body and my mind. Tomorrow I should be myself on the mat."

Earlier in the day, Arsalan defeated Robert FRITSCH (HUN) 7-3 to avenge a loss in the quarterfinals of the European Championships in June, where he won a bronze medal.

Ganizade made the final by edging Selcuk CAN (TUR) 4-3 in a battle of 2020 European bronze medalists. Both scored 2-point throws from par terre, but Ganizade added a stepout after his to provide the margin of difference.

Olympic silver medalist Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ), red, defeated Hyeonwoo KIM (KOR) 4-1 in the 77kg semifinal. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

At 77kg, Makhmudov and Levai made it through a grueling gauntlet of 33 entries which saw three world medalists from 2021, including the champion at 72kg, and an Olympic bronze medalist fall by the wayside.

"Tomorrow there will be revenge against Zoltan Levai," Makhmudov said. "I already lost to him once and I defeated him once as well. I want to do my best to show the Kyrgyz soul, to show what our wrestlers are capable of."

Makhmudov once again confirmed a changing of the guard in Asia when the 23-year-old knocked off veteran Hyeonwoo KIM (KOR) 4-1 in the semifinals. After a successful defense from the bottom of par terre, Makhmudov scored with a roll during his turn on top.

"I am really satisfied with today's performance," said Makhmudov, who beat Kim in the semifinals of the Asian Championships in April, where he won his second continental title.

Kim won a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics and bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Zoltan LEVAI (HUN) celebrates after beating Viktor NEMES (SRB) 3-1 in the 72kg semifinal. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Levai finished off a long and exhausting day by beating Nemes 3-1 in the other semifinal. It was his fifth match of the day, which started with a 3-3 win over 2021 world 72kg champion Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM).

It's been a good year for Levai. He came into Belgrade having won international tournaments in Rome, Warsaw and Mladenovac, Serbia, over a three-month span through August.

At least Amoyan still has a shot at a bronze medal. Among those who didn't make it to the repechage were 2021 silver medalist Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE), 2021 bronze medalist Mohammadali GERAEI (IRI) and Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Shohei YABIKU (JPN).

On Sunday, competition through the semifinals will be held in Greco 63kg, 67kg, 82kg and 97kg.

Day 1 Greco-Roman Results

55kg (18 entries)

Semifinals
Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) df. Max NOWRY (USA) by TF, 9-0, 1:44
Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO) df. Amangali BEKBOLATOV (KAZ), 5-3

72kg (25 entries)

Semifinals
Ali ARSALAN (SRB) df. Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA) by fall, 2:33 (5-1)
Ulvi GANIZADE (AZE) df. Selcuk CAN (TUR), 4-3

77kg (33 entries)

Semifinals
Zoltan LEVAI (HUN) df. Viktor NEMES (SRB), 3-1
Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) df. Hyeonwoo KIM (KOR), 4-1

87kg (30 entries)

Semifinals
Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB) df. David LOSONCZI (HUN), 4-3
Turpan BISULTANOV (DEN) df. Ali CENGIZ (TUR), 6-0

Rio Olympic champion Dosho announces retirement

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Host Serbia puts two into GR finals on opening day of Worlds