WORLD CHAMP TOSAKA WINS 3RD ALL-JAPAN TITLE ON 2ND DAY OF C’SHIPS
TOKYO (December 22) – World and Asian Games champion Eri TOSAKA capped a distinguished year on the mats with a win over two-time junior world champ Yu MIYAHARA for her third straight national title at the All-Japan Wrestling Championships.
Tosaka, who had been nursing a sore knee since the Asian Games, scored the final points in a 6-3 win over Miyahara in the 48kg final at Yoyogi Gymnasium in Tokyo.
“I thought once about sitting out the championships but then I decided to come here and do my best to win,” Tosaka told reporters. “I gained a lot of confidence at the world championships and Asian Games, but I plan to practice even harder next year in preparation for the Olympic Games.”
Meanwhile, world silver medalist Sara DOSHO bounced back from her loss in the finals in Tashkent for an 8-4 win over former world team member Kayoko KUDO and her fourth national championship crown at 69kg.
In men’s freestyle, each winner bagged their third gold medal in the All-Japan championships. While it was the third straight for Tomotsugu ISHIDA (65kg) and Takeshi YAMAGUCHI (97kg), Incheon 2014 Asian Games bronze medalist Takafumi KOJIMA (70kg) prevailed for the first time since winning in January 2007.
Kojima, 31, who took the 66kg silver medal at the Doha Asian Games in December 2006, won the 2006 version of the national championships after they were postponed to January 2007 because of the Asian Games.
In greco-roman, all three winners were first-time All-Japan champions, although Takehiro KANAKUBO (75kg) was a silver medalist in Incheon and a fifth-place finisher at the 2010 world championships in Moscow.
Senior world team member Arata SONODA (130kg) was a fifth-place at the junior world championships in Zagreb in August, while Takeshi IZUMI (66kg) finished fourth at the Bill Farrell Memorial in November in New York.
Meanwhile, freestyle world team member at 65kg Daichi TAKATANI sat out the All-Japan meet because of an injury. Takatani won a bronze medal at the junior world meet and took a seventh with senior championships in September.
Men’s freestyle
65kg (18 entries)
F1 – Tomotsugu ISHIDA df. Kotaro TANAKA, 3-2
(Ishida wins 3rd All-Japan title in a row)
F3 – Shogo MAEDA df. Noriyuki TAKATSUKA, 4-1
SF – Ishida df. Takatsuka, 3-2
SF – Tanaka df. Maeda, 8-6
70kg (17 entries)
F1 – Takafumi KOJIMA df. Nobuyoshi TAKOJIMA, 4-3
(Kojima wins 3rd All-Japan title, first since 2007)
F3 – Takeya SHINKAWA df. Futoshi YOKOYAMA, 5-2
SF – Kojima df. Shinkawa by TF, 10-0=3:32
SF – Takojima df. Yokoyama, 3-1
97kg (17 entries)
F1 – Takeshi YAMAGUCHI df. Shinichi NAKAI, 13-2
(Yamaguchi wins 3rd All-Japan title in a row)
F3 – Yusuke YOSHIKAWA df. Taiki YAMAMOTO, 2-1
SF – Yamaguchi df. Yamamoto by fall, 1:11 (6-0)
SF – Nakai df. Yoshikawa, 9-3
Greco-Roman
66kg (14 entries)
F1 – Takeshi IZUMI df. Hideyuki OTOIZUMI, 2-1
(Izumi wins 1st All-Japan title)
F3 – Shogo TAKAHASHI df. Hiroki NAGASAKI, 3-0
SF – Otoizumi df. Nagasaki by TF, 8-0=1:29
SF – Izumi df. Takahashi, 4-0
75kg (12 entries)
F1 – Takehiro KANAKUBO df. Hiroyuki SHIMIZU, 4-0
(Kanakubo wins 1st All-Japan title)
F3 – So SAKABE df. Ryosho KAMEI by TF, 8-0=2:18
SF – Kanakubo df. Kamei by fall, 2:03 (8-2)
SF – Shimizu df. Sakabe, 5-0
130kg (10 entries)
F1 – Arata SONODA df. Masahiro TANIDA, 4-0
(Sonoda wins 1st All-Japan title)
F3 – Hirotake TSUDA df. Tsuyoki HISAKA by fall, 3:48 (4-0)
SF – Sonoda df. Hisaka by TF, 8-0=2:35
SF – Tanida df. Tsuda, 3-1
Female Wrestling
48kg (28 entries)
F1 – Eri TOSAKA df. Yu MIYAHARA, 6-3
(Tosaka wins 3rd All-Japan title in a row)
F3 – Yuki IRIE df. Miho IGARASHI, 8-1
SF – Tosaka df. Igarashi, 5-0
SF – Miyahara df. Irie, 10-7
69kg (8 entries)
F1 – Sara DOSHO df. Kayoko KUDO, 8-4
(Dosho wins 4th All-Japan title in a row)
F3 – Yoshiko INOUE df. Masako FURUICHI, 6-0
SF – Dosho df. Inoue, 5-0
SF – Kudo df. Furuichi, 4-2
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