HANADA TAKES BRONZE ON FINAL DAY OF ASIA JR C’SHIPS

JAKARTA (June 11-12) – Nihon University student Yoshihiro Hanada grabbed a bronze medal in men's freestyle on the final day of the Asian junior wrestling championships, concluding a lackluster performance by the Japanese men with only one medal in 16 events — freestyle and greco-roman.

Hanada defeated Mukhamadsidik Djuraev (UZB), a bronze medal winner in last year's Asian cadet championships, in the 60kg quarterfinals. And then after a loss in the semifinals, bounced back to edge 2010 Asia cadet runner-up Batyr Orazgylev (TKM) in the bronze-medal final.

Kyoto high school wrestler Gento Nakamura advanced to semifinals with a pair of wins, but lost back-to-back matches and had to settle for fifth place overall at 50kg.

Hanada's medal was the only piece of hardware going home with the Japanese men's squad, a considerable drop-off from the five bronze medals won last year and the two silver and two bronze earned in 2009.

Men's freestyle
50kg – NAKAMURA, Gento (5th, 11 entries)
R1 – df. M. Iqbal (INA), 2-0 (6-0, 2-1)
R2 – df. Ruslanbek Mamedov (UZB) by fall, 2P (4-5, F3-0)
SF – lost to Deepak (IND) by fall, 2P (0-4, F0-4)
F3 – lost to Batchuluun Maidar (MGL) by fall, 2P (4-2, F0-5)

55kg – KINJO, Kiryu (did not place, 12 entries)
R1 – df. Nodirbek Saparov (UZB), 2-1 (6-5, 0-2, 3-3)
R2 – lost to Mohammad Tahmasebizadeh (IRI), 0-2 (1-2, 1-2)
c1 – lost to Samat Nadyrbekuulu (KGZ), 0-2 (0-1, 1-4)

60kg – HANADA, Yoshihiro (Bronze, 13 entries)
R1 – df. Kumar Anil (IND), 2-1 (0-3, 4-3, 3-1)
R2 – df. Mukhamadsidik Djuraev (UZB), 2-0 (3-1, 4-0)
SF – lost to Meizhan Ashirov (KAZ), 0-2 (1-1, 0-1)
F3 – df. Batyr Orazgylev (TKM), 2-0 (1-1, 1-0)

66kg – KURANO, Shinnosuke (dnp, 12 entries)
R1 – lost to Aidar Baldanbayev (KAZ), 1-2 (1-0, 3-3, 0-1)

74kg – MORI, Tatsuya (dnp, 11 entries)
R1 – bye
R2 – lost to Bolor-Erdene Nomindalai (MGL), 0-2 (0-5, 0-7)

84kg – HOSOYA, Shotaro (dnp, 14 entries)
R1 – df. Arzuubek Karybekov (KGZ) by TF, 2-0 (6-0, 6-0)
R2 – lost to Kumar Anil (IND), 0-2 (0-1, 1-3)

96kg – YAMAMOTO, Koki (dnp, 8 entries)
R1 – lost to Inkar Yermukambet (KAZ), 0-2 (0-6, 2-4)

120kg – YOKOSE, Yuta (dnp, 7 entries)
R1 – lost to Mamet Ibragimov (KAZ), 0-2 (0-6, 0-2)