BRATISLAVA (February 1) - Results of Japanese wrestlers at the 1st Olympic qualification tournament for freestyle wrestling at Sport Hall Mladost in Bratislava:
84 kg - YOKOYAMA, Hidekazu (Akita Shogyo high school, teacher)
QF - df. Kamal Shalorus (GBR) by fall, 1:25 (10-0)
Yokoyama, looking to qualify for this summer's Olympic Games, grabbed the first point of the match with a tackle going out of bounds. He then took advantage of his par terre chance by rolling up nine points with gut wrenches and ankle laces. Yokoyama then wrapped up his opponent with a reverse knee lock to apply the fall. The victory put Yokoyama into his second Olympic Games. He wrestled on the Japanese greco-roman team at the Atlanta Games in 1996.
SF - df. Moon Eui-Jae (KOR) by default, 0:00
After qualifying himself for Athens, Sydney silver medalist Moon forfeited his semifinal match because of two sore knees.
F1 v. Eldar Assanov (UKR)
Assanov finished 14th at the 2002 world championships but was also runner-up in the 1997 world meet.
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96 kg - KODAIRA, Kiyotaka (Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department
QF - lost to Rustam Aghayev (AZE), 1-9
Kodaira got off on the wrong foot against the young Aghayev, getting tripped to his back for a 4-0 deficit. He tried to come back in the second period, but Aghayev turned some nifty counters to win going away 9-1.
Re - df. Taymuraz Tigiev (RUS) by default, 0:00
Tigiev injured his elbow when he was thrown in a quarterfinal loss to Fatih Cakiroglu of Turkey.
F5 - lost to Rolf Scherrer (SUI), 3-1
Kodaira put up the good fight, but could no get anything going against the muscular Scherrer. Kodaira was successful in tying up Scherrer's arms, but was unable to finish any of the situations for points. Scherrer, who was eighth in the 2002 world championships, scored three points -- each of them as the wrestlers went off the mat. Kodaira has to settle for sixth place and is forced to turn his attention to Sofia, February 14-15, and the final Olympic qualifying competition.
