KAZAN, Russia (July 15) – Shota TANOKURA (JPN) rebounded from a quarterfinal loss with two wins and a bronze medal at 55kg as the greco-roman competition got under way at the Universiade.
TANOKURA, currently No. 9 in the FILA World Rankings, fell to junior world silver medalist Victor CIOBANU (MDA) in the quarterfinals, but came back with a pair of wins, including a 6-0 triumph over Pan American champion Max NOWRY (USA).
TANOKURA, currently ranked No.9 in the FILA World Rankings, earned a medal in his third international outing in a row, after winning the Hungarian Grand Prix in February and taking the silver medal in the Asian championships in April.
Hideyuki OTOIZUMI, a former teammate of TANOKURA at Nippon Sports Sciences University, opened with a pair of wins but lost to Afshin BYABANGARD (IRI), last year’s silver medalist in the Asian championships. BYABANGARD lost in the semifinals, denying OTOIZUMI a position in the consolation bracket.
Japan’s other two entries Yuki SUZUKI (JPN) at 84kg and heavyweight Shori MAEKAWA (JPN) each lost their opening bouts and did not get a chance to wrestle in the repechage rounds.
Greco-roman
55kg – TANOKURA, Shota (Bronze, 16 entries)
R1 – df. Sergii DZIUBA (UKR) by TF, 8-0
R2 – lost to Victor CIOBANU (MDA) by TF, 0-6
c1 – df. Ivan LONCARIC (CRO) by TF, 7-0
F3 – df. Max NOWRY (USA), 6-0
66kg – OTOIZUMI, Hideyuki (7th, 25 entries)
R1 – df. Milen DIMITROV (BUL) by TF, 7-0
R2 – df. df. Krisztian JAGER (HUN) by fall (time unavailable)
R3 – lost to Afshin BYABANGARD (IRI) by TF, 0-8
84kg – SUZUKI, Yuki (22nd, 26 entries)
R1 – lost to Yanarbek KENYEEV (KGZ) by TF, 0-8
120kg – MAEKAWA, Shori (12th, 18 entries)
R1 – bye
R2 – lost to Vachik YEGHIAZARYAN (ARM) by TF, 3-10
==End Item