JAPAN INVITED TO INAUGURAL JUNIOR WORLD CUP MET IN MAY
TOKYO (January 15) – Japan has been named for the inaugural junior World Cup meet scheduled for Germany in May, the Japan Wrestling Federation reported. The meet to be held May 27-28 in Plauen, Germany will be the first for wrestlers 20 years old and younger and will feature competition only in men's freestyle. Subsequent World Cups will be held with all three styles beginning in 2012.
Japan qualified for the World Cup by way of its seventh-place finish in last year's junior world championships. The eight-team field will include Russia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Iran, the United States and host Germany.
“This is a huge honor,” said JWF executive director Yuji Takada. “We hope to send a squad comprised mostly of winners from the JOC Cup junior national championships.” The junior nationals are held in April.
The freestyle team will be the first Japanese men's team to be compete in a World Cup meet since 1998, when the senior men competed in the men's freestyle World Cup. The Japanese women have competed in every World Cup meet since the first meet in 2001.
