JAPAN LOSES, WINS, FINISHES 7TH ON FINAL DAY OF FS WORLD CUP

TEHRAN (February 22) – Japan fell to Georgia, 3-4, in its final pool match-up on the last day of the men's freestyle wrestling World Cup, but rebounded for a 4-3 win over Kazakhstan to take seventh place in the 10-team tourney.

In the fifth and final round of pool matches, Japan's lightweights won the first three weight categories against Georgia, but beginning with Sosuke Takatani's forfeit loss at 74kg, dropped the next four categories to tumble into fourth place in the group.

In the final for seventh place, again Japan's lightweights led off with three wins against Kazakhstan, but this time Takeshi Yamaguchi added a win at 96kg to give Japan the victory and seventh place.

In the individual rankings, Shogo Maeda earned a tie for second place at 60kg with four wins against one loss over the tourney, while Fumitaka Morishita (4-1) and Tomotsugu Ishida (3-2) finished in third place at 55kg and 66kg, respectively.

At last year's World Cup, Japan finished in ninth place as a team, with Olympic champ Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu taking individual honors at 66kg for Japan.

Results of dual meets involving Japan"

R5 – Japan lost to Georgia, 3-4

55kg – Fumitaka Morishita df. Givi Davidovia (GEO), 2-0 (1-0, 1-1)

60kg – Shogo Maeda df. Malkhaz Kurdiani (GEO), 2-1 (0-1, 4-3, 5-5)

66kg – Tomotsugu Ishida df. Malkhaz Zarkua (GEO), 2-1 (0-1, 2-0, 1-0)

74kg – Sosuke Takatani lost to Malkhaz Makarashvili (GEO) by default

84kg – Shinya Matsumoto lost to Nodar Egadza (GEO), 0-2 (1-2, 4-5)

96kg – Takeshi Yamaguchi lost to Tedore Ebanoidze (GEO) by fall, 2P (0-2, F1-5)

120kg – Tomoyuki Oka lost to Tornike Khidesheli (GEO) by fall, 2P (1-1, F0-4)

F7 – Japan df. Kazahkstan, 4-3

55kg – Fumitaka Morishita df. Shokan Shingissov (KAZ), 2-0 (3-0, 2-0)

60kg – Shogo Maeda df. Sayatbek Okassov (KAZ), 2-0 (2-1, 1-0)

66kg – Tomotsugu Ishida df. Dauren Zhumagazyev (KAZ), 2-1 (0-1, 4-0, 1-0)

74kg – Sosuke Takatani lost to Nurlan Bekzhanov (KAZ) by default

84kg – Shinya Matsumoto lost to Aslan Kakhidze (KAZ), 0-2 (0-1, 0-3)

96kg – Takeshi Yamaguchi df. Semyon Semyonov (KAZ) by fall, 3P (1-0, 0-7, F3-1)

120kg – Tomoyuki Oka lost to Dmitriy Popov (KAZ) by fall, 1P (F0-4)

Final round

F1 – Iran df. Russia, 6-1

F3 – United States df. Belarus, 6-1

F5 – Turkey df. Georgia, 6-1

F7 – Japan df. Kazakhstan, 4-3

F9 – Azerbaijan df. Bulgaria, 7-0

Pool A

R5 – Turkey df. Azerbaijan, 5-2; Belarus df. Kazakhstan, 4-3

Rankings: Russia, 4 wins-0 losses; Belarus, 2-2; Turkey, 2-2; Kazakhstan, 1-3; Azerbaijan, 1-3 (2nd place, 4th place determined by head-to-head wins)

Pool B

R5 – Georgia df. Japan, 4-3; United States df. Bulgaria, 7-0

Rankings: Iran, 4 wins-0 losses; United States, 3-1; Georgia, 2-2; Japan, 1-3; Bulgaria, 0-4

Individual champions and rankings of Japanese entries

55kg – Sezer Akguel (TUR); Fumitaka Morishita (3rd place)

60kg – Masoud Esmailpourjouybari (IRI); Shogo Maeda (2nd place, tie)

66kg – Yakup Goer (TUR), Tomotsugu Ishida (3rd)

74kg – Jordan Burroughs (USA), Sosuke Takatani (11th)

84kg – Maxwell Askren (USA), Shinya Matsumoto (9th)

96kg – Tedore Ebanoidze (GEO), Takeshi Yamaguchi (7th)

120kg – Taha Akguel (TUR), Tomoyuki Oka (10th)

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