To Our Friends in Wrestling Around the world
By William May
(Japan Amateur Wrestling Federation, Public
Information Committee
Kyodo World Services, senior sports writer:wmay52@hotmail.com)
JOC GIVES 34 MIL. YEN TO WOMEN WRESTLERS
TOKYO (JULY 24) - The Japanese Olympic
Committee (JOC) has decided to give 34 million
yen in support to Japan痴 women wrestlers
as likely gold medal winners at the upcoming
Athens Olympic Games. The money was part
of the 330 million yen budgeted by the Japanese
Education Ministry for the Japan Revival
Project. Judo received the lion's share of
the Olympic revival money with 72 million
yen while swimming received the second largest
slice of 60.5 million yen.
The women's wrestlers earned the third
largest chunk of the support money, followed
by speed skating (31 million yen) and athletics
(17 million yen). Five other sports federations
received money from the project as likely
silver and bronze medal winners in the Olympics.
The JOC gave 10 million yen in support
for each gold medal it expects a sport to
win at the Olympics and 7 million yen for
each silver and bronze medal. JOC forecasters
see three gold medals for judo along with
six silver and bronze medals in Athens. Women's
wrestling is expected to win two gold medals
for Japan and two silver or bronze medals
in the event's Olympic debut.
The women's wrestling event at the 2004
Games in Athens will be held in four weight
categories -- 48, 55, 63 and 72 kg. Japanese
wrestlers won in three of the four weight
categories at the 2002 world championships.
Meanwhile, the Japan Physical Education and
School Health Center has decided to provide
Japan's female wrestlers with 31.77 million
yen in support. The center gave 80 million
yen to judo and 35.06 million yen to speed
skating.
JAPAN TO HOST 2004 ASIAN WOMEN担 C担HIPS
IN MAY
TOKYO (July 23) - The Japan Wrestling
Federation (JWF) announced it will host the
2004 Asian Women痴 Wrestling Championships
in Tokyo on May 22-23. The meet will be held
at the Olympic Memorial Youth Center next
to Tokyo痴 Yoyogi Park. The JWF board of
directors has also approved plans for the
World Cup of Women痴 Wrestling, scheduled
for Tokyo痴 Yoyogi National Gymnasium on
October 11-12.
Seven of the world's top female teams
will compete in a round-robin format. The
top competitors from the World Cup meet will
also take part in a weeklong training camp
at the national training center in Tokyo
from October 13.
Meanwhile, Makiko Sakamoto, Seiko Yamamoto
and Masatoshi Toyoda were added to the list
of elite athletes to receive support from
the Japanese Olympic Committee. The JWF will
shoulder all of the expenses for sending
the three athletes to competitions overseas.
World champions Kyoko Hamaguchi, Saori
Yoshida, Kaori Icho and world runner-up Chiharu
Icho are members of the JOC's elite A group
for support while Asian Games champion Shingo
Matsumoto and bronze medalist Makoto Sasamoto
are listed in category B.
JAPAN TO SEND GR TEAM TO POLAND
TOKYO (July 30) - The Japan Wrestling
Federation will send the greco-roman national
team to Poland for two weeks of training
and then to compete in the Pytlasinski international
tourney in Walbrzych. The Japanese squad
will leave Japan on August 11 for Poland
and will train with some local teams before
competing in the August 23-24 Pytlasinski
meet.
The delegation is comprised of:
Team manager - Atsushi Miyahara
Coach - Hiromichi Ito
Trainer - Yasuyuki Sasaki
Referee - Shigeru Yamamoto
55 kg - Masatoshi Toyoda
60 kg - Makoto Sasamoto
66 kg - Masaki Imuro
74 kg - Katsuhiko Nagata
84 kg - Shingo Matsumoto
96 kg - Kenzo Kato
MATSUMOTO TAKES 6TH IN GERMAN GP MEET
TOKYO (July 22) - Asian Games champion
Shingo Matsumoto capped a two-month training
and study tour of Europe with a sixth-place
finish at the German Greco-roman Grand Prix
competition July 19-20. Matsumoto, wrestling
at 84 kg, breezed through his preliminary
group at the meet being held in Dortmund,
but then fell to former world bronze medalist
Alexander Daragan of Ukraine in the quarterfinals.
The scored with a reverse waistlock throw
in both of my preliminary group wins and
I was surprised that some of the older wrestling
fans from that area asked for my autograph,・Matsumoto
said after his return to Japan. Then the
quarterfinals, I was looking to score with
a lift in the first period, but I didnn't
get it,・the powerfully built 25-year-old
from Ehime said. Then the clinch to start
the second period, I pushed my opponent out
of the ring first, but they gave him the
point because I broke my grip first, Matsumoto
said.
But the latest FILA rules say that even
though I released my grip, I should have
received the point because I continued with
the attack,・he explained, adding that the
chairman of the officiating crew later told
him that they had made a mistake. Despite
the lost point and the loss, Matsumoto remained
positive about his tour of Europe, which
included training camps in Ukraine and Germany.
The learned so much during these last two
months in Europe.
In practice, wrestled against people
who could lift me out of the par terre position
and I learned a lot from that. It was two
months in which I was able to realize the
kind of practice that I could never have
had in Japan,・said Matsumoto, one of Japan's
top hopes to secure a berth for next year's
Olympics at the world championships this
fall.
Returning to Japan along with Matsumoto
was Hiroshi Kado, who ended a year of study
and research in Ukraine as part of the Japanese
Olympic Committee痴 coach development program.
Kado, who was a silver medal winner at the
1995 greco-roman world championships at 48
kg, spent the year studying coaching methodology
in Ukraine.
Matsumoto's results at the German Grand Prix:
1R - bye
2R - df. Mohammed Babulfath, Sweden 4-0
3R - df. Kosta Kostanjevic, Croatia 5-0
QF - lost to Alexander Daragan, Ukraine 0-5
NAGATA WINS AT 84 KG IN SHAKAIJIN NAT'S SHIKI,
Saitama Prefecture (July 12-13) - Sydney
Olympic silver medalist Katsuhiko Nagata
posted four convincing wins at 84 kg and
rolled to an easy title at the shakaijin
national championships. Nagata, who will
represent Japan at 74 kg in October's greco-roman
world championships, was also named the outstanding
wrestler of the meet for non-student senior
wrestlers.
Sogo Seibi, a security company, won the
company division team championship while
the Self-Defense Forces B team edged the
SDF A squad for the club division title.
The women's team title went to Japan Beverage.
Individual greco-roman champions
55 kg - Seiji Yoshida, Kanagawa Club
60 kg - Shingo Hirai, Sogo Seibi
66 kg - Mitsuo Tomiya, Japan Self-Defense
Forces
74 kg - Taichi Suga, Tokyo Metropolitan Police
Dept.
84 kg - Katsuhiko Nagata, New Japan Pro Wrestling
96 kg - Shuhei Taniguchi, Japan SDF
120 kg - Masanori Murotani, Wakayama Club
Individual freestyle champions:
55 kg - Masanori Toita, Dappe Club
60 kg - Shin段chi Inoue, Tokyo MPD
66 kg - Takayuki Ikeda, Yamagata Club
74 kg - Yukihiro Toida, Kokushikan Club
84 kg - Yutaka Suzuki, Japan SDF
96 kg - Takenori Yokoyama, Kurashiki Club
120 kg - Taiki Fukuda, Sogo Seibi
Individual women痴 champions:
48 kg - Misato Shimizu, Japan Beverage
51 kg - Chieko Toriumi, Yoyogi Club
55 kg - Kazumi Sugawara, Shieikan
59 kg - Mio Kaihara, Yoyogi Club
72 kg - Kyoko Hamaguchi, Japan Beverage
(No entries at 63 and 67 kg)