Kanakubo, Arakida Win No.6 at Meiji Cup Nat’l Invitational

TOKYO (June 19) – Asian Games medalists Takehiro KANAKUBO and Nobuyoshi ARAKIDA won their sixth titles at the Meiji Cup national invitational tournament and virtually assured themselves of selection to the Japanese team for the world championships in September.

Kanakubo, a greco-roman silver medalist in Incheon, defeated 2014 world bronze medal finalist Hiroyuki SHIMIZU, 2-0, in the 75kg final. Arakida, a bronze medalist in freestyle, rolled to his third straight win at 125kg.

With victories at the All-Japan national championships in December, Kanakubo and Arakida are expected to be officially named to the Japanese world team on Sunday, the final day of the invitational.

Other winners at Yoyogi Gymnasium in Tokyo included Asian championships silver medalist Tomotsugu ISHIDA (FS 65kg), Asian bronze medal winner (FS 97kg) and Copa Brasil runner-up Arata SONODA (GR 130kg). All three are expected to be confirmed for the world team on Sunday.

In the women’s events, Kiwa SAKAE (60kg) and Hiroe SUZUKI (75kg) added the Meiji Cup crown to their national championship title and are expected to be named to the world team on Sunday.

At 55kg, Asia champion Anri KIMURA reversed a loss to Hikari SUGAWARA in the national championships with a 3-1 triumph in the invitational final. Kimura of Gunma University becomes the first wrestler from a national university to win a national-level championship title while still a tuden at the school.

Freestyle

65kg (12 entries)

F1 – Tomotsugu ISHIDA df. Takahiro INOUE, 3-2

F3 – Noriyuki TAKATSUKA df. Kotaro TANAKA, 3-0

SF – Ishida df. Takatsuka, 3-0

SF – Inoue df. Tanaka by TF, 10-0, 5:34

97kg (11 entries)

F1 – Takeshi YAMAGUCHI df. Seiji SUZUKI, 6-0

F3 – Yuji FUKUI df. Taira SONODA by TF, 10-0, 2:04

SF – Yamaguchi df. Fukui, 2-0

SF – Suzuki df. Sonoda, 7-0

125kg (7 entries)

F1 – Nobuyoshi ARAKIDA df. Katsutoshi KANAZAWA, 2-0

F3 – Tetsuya TANAKA df. Takahiro SHIMONAKA, 3-0

SF – Arakida df. Shimonaka by fall, 1:49 (4-5)

SF – Kanazawa df. Tanaka by fall, 1:01 (0-4)

Greco-roman

71kg (5 entries)

F1 – Kazuhiro HANAYAMA df. Masaki KONDO, 8-4

F3 – Toshiki MORI df. Shota SUGAWARA, 4-0

SF – Hanayama df. Sugawara, 4-0

SF – Kondo df. Mori, 4-3

75kg (10 entries)

F1 – Takehiro KANAKUBO df. Hiroyuki SHIMIZU, 2-0

F3 – So SAKABE df. Ryusho KAMEI by TF, 8-0, 1:06

SF – Kanakubo df. Kamei by fall, 2:29 (4-2)

SF – Shimizu df. Sakabe, 2-0

130kg (10 entries)

F1 – Arata SONODA df. Masahiro TANIDA by TF, 8-0, 4:48

F3 – Hirotake TSUDA df. Ken SOGABE, 3-0

SF – Sonoda df. Sogabe by TF, 8-0, 0:46

SF – Tanida df. Tsuda, 6-2

Women’s Wrestling

55kg (9 entries)

F1 – Anri KIMURA df. Hikari SUGAWARA, 3-1

F3 – Yuzuru KUMANO df. Momoka KADOYA by fall, 1:52 (2-8)

SF – Sugawara df. Kumano, 4-2

SF – Kimura df. Kadoya, 5-0

60kg (8 entries)

F1 – Kiwa SAKAE df. Ayaka ITO, 6-4

F3 – Yui SAKANO df. Nonoka YONEDA by TF, 10-0, 3:23

SF – Sakae df. Sakano, 4-2

SF – Ito df. Yoneda, 3-1

75kg (7 entries)

F1 – Hiroe SUZUKI df. Chiaki IIJIMA, 4-3

F3 – Rino ABE df. Mami SHINKAI, 8-1

SF – Suzuki df. Shinkai by TF, 10-0, 1:21

SF – Iijima df. Abe by TF, 11-0, 4:07

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