HELSINKI (May 6) – Hirokazu Shinjo lost his opening bout of the “last-chance” world qualification tourney in Helsinki as Japan finished the process with 13 berths for this summer’s wrestling competition at the Olympic Games in London.
Shinjo, wrestling on the final day of the qualifier, fell to Nemanja Pavlovic (SRB) in his opening match in the second round at 120kg in greco-roman and was eliminated from medal contention when the young Serb lost in the quarterfinals to 2004 Olympic champion Khasan Baroev (RUS).
Japan finished the qualification process with five berths in men’s freestyle, four in greco-roman and a full slate of four in women’s freestyle.
Japan secured five berths in the London Olympics – two in men’s freestyle and three in the women’s events — at the world championships last September.
At the Asia qualifier in March, Japan added two more Olympic entries in men’s freestyle, four in greco-roman and one in women’s wresting. Japan added one more ticket to London when Takao Isokawa took second at 96kg in men’s freestyle in Helsinki.
Japan’s 13 entries in London is an improvement over the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in which 10 Japanese wrestlers qualified. Japanese wrestlers brought home six medals from Beijing – two gold, a silver and bronze in women’s wrestling along with a silver and bronze in men’s freestyle.
Results of bouts in involving Japanese entries:
Greco-roman
120kg – SHINJO, Hirokazu (13th, 18 entries)
R1 – bye
R2 – lost to Nemanja Pavlovic (SRB), 1-2 (1-0, 0-2, 0-3)
Shinjo defends in par terre for the first period, but is hit with a false start penalty during the par terre start in the second period. Shinjo comes out aggressive in the third period and locks up a double underhook midway through the stanza. Pavlovic, however, launches Shinjo out of bounds with a back-arching throw for three points and the win.
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