TOKYO (December 22) - Beijing Olympic hopeful Tomohiro Matsunaga(the red of right photo) held off all-comers at 55 kg for his fourth straight
senior freestyle title at the all-Japan national championships.Meanwhile, Athens Olympic gold medalist Kaori Icho made it six in a row, breezing through the women’s field at 63 kg on the second day of competition at Yoyogi No. 2 Gymnasium in Tokyo.
Matsunaga faced down stiff challenges from Shinichi Yumoto, the winner of two big name meets in Europe last summer, and 2006 national team member Hideki Taoka in the semifinals and final, respectively. Matsunaga edged Yumoto with a takedown from the clinch in the first period and a force-out point in the second, while a leg attack and lift for three points and a go-behind counter were enough to seal the match against Taoka.
“Attacking the legs and scoring points mean nothing if you don’t win the match,” Matsunaga said after the final, referring to his hard-fought loss to Uzbekistan’s Dilshod Mansurov and early exit from the world championships in September.
Looking ahead to the Asian championships in March, Matsunaga remarked vowed to win and secure a berth in Olympic Games in Beijing next summer.
Also, in freestyle, Kazuyuki Nagashima held off Kyoto high school phenom Sosuke Takatani for his second title at 74 kg and Yutaka Suzuki defeated 2006 world team member Shinya Matsumoto to repeat as 84-kg national champion.
In greco-roman, Yuki Iwasaki regained his 74-kg crown with a 1-1, 1-1 win against defending champion Tsukasa Tsurumaki, with both periods decided on last point criteria. Hirokazu Shinjo was his first championship in three years in a similar fashion at 120 kg.
In the women’s competition, world champions Chiharu and Kaori Icho rolled
to convincing wins at 48 and 63 kg, respectively, but it was Kaori(the
red of left photo) who lit up scoreboard, ending each period she wrestled
short of two minutes with a fall or technical fall. “Before today’s competition,
I was thinking I wanted to dominate my opponents,” said Kaori, who won
her sixth straight all-Japan title to go with her six world and Olympic
championships.But, after the 63-kg final, Kaori did not speak much about her victory. Instead, she reiterated the Icho sisters’ dream of winning Olympic gold medals together in Beijing.
Kaori’s older sister had her hands full in the final against long-time rival Makiko Sakamoto, before taking a 1-0, 1-0 win from a pair of clinches for her third straight and fourth overall championship at 48 kg. She has a fifth all-Japan title at 51 kg.
