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)
UPDATE: YOSHIDA WINS WORLD CHAMP SHOWDOWN
AT JQC (Note: Adding results of finals)
TOKYO (February 24) - Saori Yoshida
won the showdown between world champions
to win the 55-kg title at the Japan Queens
Cup competition Tuesday and secured her berth
in this year's Athens Olympic Games.
Yoshida defeated arch-rival
Seiko Yamamoto 6-1 at Komazawa Gymnasium
in Tokyo to join Kyoko Hamaguchi (72 kg)
and Kaori Icho (63) on the Japanese
roster for the debut of women痴 wrestling
in the Olympics.
Chiharu Icho, the
world champion at 51 kg, lost in the finals
at 48 kg to Makiko Sakamoto 3-0 and missed
a chance to finalize her trip to Athens in
August.
Icho and Sakamoto
will square off in a special wrestle-off
April 13 to
decide Japan's 48-kg representative in Athens.
Hamaguchi won her
sixth straight and eighth overall Japan Queens
Cup crown and was named the outstanding wrestler
of the competition.
-----
48 kg (14 entries)
Championship final
Makiko Sakamoto df. Chiharu Icho, 3-0
Third-place final
Miyu Yamamoto df. Misato Shimizu by TF, 13-1,
5:12
Semifinals
Icho df. Shimizu, 3-0
Sakamoto df. Yamamoto, 5-3
-----
51 kg (11 entries)
Championship final
Yuri Kai df. Mika Kunieda by fall, 4:16 (10-7)
Third-place final
Megumi Maehara df. Mika Nagano by fall, 4:03
(10-0)
Semifinals
Kai df. Maehara, 7-1
Kunieda df. Nagano, 3-0
-----
55 kg (7 entries)
Championship final
Saori Yoshida df. Seiko Yamamoto, 6-1
Third-place final
Rena Iwama df. Shizuka Sakuma by fall, 1:56
(7-0)
-----
59 kg (6 entries)
Championship final
Mio Nishimaki df. Ayako Suga by default
Third-place final
Kei Yamana df. Mio Kaibara by TF, 11-0, 1:57
-----
63 kg (10 entries)
Championship final
Kaori Icho df. Ayako Shoda, 6-1
Third-place final
Hatsumi Nakanishi df. Hiroe Suzuki by TF,
10-0, 4:11
Semifinals
Shoda df. Nakanishi by TF, 11-0, 4:59
Icho df. Suzuki by fall, 1:26 (3-0)
-----
67 kg (5 entries,
round-robin)
Championship bout
Mimi Sugawara df. Eri Sakamoto, 4-3, 6:15
3rd - Maki Tsukamoto
4th - Erika Matsukawa
5th - Chiaki Kubo
-----
72 kg (4 entries,
round-robin)
Championship bout
Kyoko Hamaguchi df. Norie Saito by TF, 10-0,
5:53
3rd - Ayako Murashima
4th - Kie Tanaka