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)
YAMAMOTO SISTERS SPLIT IN TRIAL MATCHES
TOKAMACHI, Niigata Prefecture (June 18)
- Seiko and Miyu Yamamoto, both former world
champions, came away with a win and a loss
in a pair of trial matches at the women’s
national team training camp. Seiko earned
a 6-4 triumph over reigning 55-kg world champion
Saori Yoshida in a highly anticipated match-up
between two of the world’s top wrestlers
for a berth on Japan’s team for the world
championships in New York.
Miyu, however, could not match the fire
in national champion Makiko Sakamoto as the
high school student from Aichi Prefecture
avenged a loss in May to the 28-year-old
veteran with a fall.
Seiko took away the powerful double-leg
takedowns of Yoshida with good use of her
hands and a front headlock that wore down
her rival. She then converted in par terre
twice to take a 5-1 lead at the intermission.
Yoshida answered in the second period by
adding a feint before her takedown attempts
as she cut the deficit to 5-4. Seiko, however,
coolly spun around behind for the final point
as she claimed her second straight win over
Yoshida after a loss in the Japan’s Queen
Cup final.
Seiko’s older sister, Miyu, also got
off to a good start with the first point,
but Sakamoto came back with a double-leg
takedown at the buzzer for a 3-1 lead after
the first period. Sakamoto came out for the
second period with another double-leg that
put Miyu on her back for the fall after only
26 clicks on the clock.
The matches were wrestled at the Nihon
University training camp facilities. The
third trial match will be held in Tokyo on
July 16 before the Japan Wrestling Federation
decides on its line-up for September’s world
championships.
JWF NAMES TEAMS FOR WORLD C’SHIPS
TOKYO (June 24) - The Japan Wrestling
Federation named its teams for this year’s
world championships at a meeting of the JWF
board of directors in Tokyo. The final line-up
for the women’s team will be named after
the final round of trial matches on July
16. The names announced by the JWF for the
women’s squad are all candidates. The teams
are as follow:
Freestyle
Head coach - Hideaki Tomiyama
Coaches - Masakazu Hijikata, Takahiro Wada
55 kg - Chikara Tanabe
60 kg - Ryosuke Ota
66 kg - Kazuhiko Ikematsu
74 kg - Kunihiko Obata
84 kg - Hidekazu Yokoyama
96 kg - Yoshihiro Nakao
120 kg - Kohei Suwama
Greco-roman
Head coach - Atsushi Miyahara
Coaches - Hiromichi Ito, Hiroshi Kado
55 kg - Masatoshi Toyoda
60 kg - Makoto Sasamoto
66 kg - Masaki Imuro
74 kg - Katsuhiko Nagata
84 kg - Shingo Matsumoto
96 kg - Kenzo Kato
120 kg - Katsuaki Suzuki
Women (Candidates)
Head coach - Akira Suzuki
Coaches - Shigeo Kinase, Kazuhito Sakae,
Ryo Kanahama
48 kg - Makiko Sakamoto, Miyu Yamamoto
51 kg - Hitomi Sakamoto, Chiharu Icho
55 kg - Saori Yoshida, Seiko Yamamoto
59 kg - Rena Iwama
63 kg - Kaori Icho
67 kg - Norie Saito
72 kg - Kyoko Hamaguchi
‘100-DAY TRAINING CAMP’ GETS UNDER WAY
TOKYO (June 15) - The Japanese men’s
national wrestling teams kicked off a “100-day
training camp” at the national training
center, the Japan Institute of Sports Science
(JISS), in Tokyo. From the start of the training
until this fall’s world championships, about
10 wrestlers from the national team will
stay at the training center or a nearby hotel
along with national team coaches Takahiro
Wada and Hiromichi Ito.
Each day’s training schedule will begin
at 7 a.m. with breakfast and will include
three practice sessions a day. Some of the
wrestlers will also practice outside of the
training center with the Self-Defense Forces
Physical Training School or with their university
clubs.
During the training camp, nutrition will
be managed by the training center staff.
The national team members will also use the
JISS weight room and other facilities. The
Japan Wrestling Federation held extended
training camps before the 1964 Olympic Games
in Tokyo and the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.
“The difference between Japan and the
world’s top wrestlers is now a single piece
of paper. Somehow we have to give the wrestlers
confidence,” national team director Hideaki
Tomiyama said. “Some of the wrestlers have
families, but if they are not ready to make
the sacrifice, they cannot obtain the kind
of strength to win against the rest of the
world,” Tomiyama added. He then asked the
wrestlers to give their best since the training
camp might seem long, but it is only a brief
time in one’s life.
JAPAN FS TEAM TO WRESTLE IN BELOGLAZOV INT’L
TOKYO (June 25) - Japan’s national team
freestyle wrestlers from 55 kg to 84 kg left
for Russia where they will train with a local
team in Kaliningrad and then wrestle in the
Beloglazov International Tourney. The Beloglazov
tourney is scheduled for July 5-6. The Japanese
team will return to Japan on July 8.