#wrestlenursultan

Gray Stays on Track for 5th World Gold at 76kg as Wiebe Falls by Wayside; Kawai advances

Wednesday, September 18, 2019 - 09:52 By Ken Marantz

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NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan (Sept. 18)---Defending champion Adeline GRAY (USA) remained on track for a fifth world gold overall by making the semifinals at women’s 76kg, but Rio 2016 Olympic champion Erica WIEBE (CAN) will not be around to challenge her following early action on Day 5 at the World Championships. 

Gray racked up a pair of technical falls, the second a 10-0 thrashing of CHANG Hui Tsz (TPE), to advance to the semifinals to be held at the start of the night session at Barys Arena. She will face Aline ROTTER FOCKEN (GER), a European bronze medalist and the 2014 world champion at 69kg.

All wrestlers who advanced to the semifinals in the Olympic weight classes of 57kg and 76kg also secured a berth for their country at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

In a weight class stacked with current and former world medalists, Epp MAEE (EST) and Hiroe MINAGAWA (JPN) survived in the other 76kg bracket and will meet in the other semifinal.

Maee, a 2015 world bronze medalist looking to avoid a third straight fifth-place finish, scored a takedown in the final seconds for a stunning 4-3 win over Wiebe, a bronze medalist a year ago in Budapest.

Trailing 3-1, Maee had shot in on a tackle, but was stopped by Wiebe, who locked on from above. But Maee twisted under and pressing backwards, forced the Canadian over at the edge with :01 on the clock. An unsuccessful challenge made it 4-3. 

Minagawa, who won her second world bronze a year ago in Budapest, scored a takedown with :33 left for a 3-1 win over ZHOU Qian (CHN), who had knocked off top seed and 2018 silver medalist Yasemin ADAR (TUR).

Olympic champion Risako KAWAI (JPN) will meet 2017 world finalist Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) in the 57kg semifinals. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

At 57kg, Rio 2016 and two-time world champion Risako KAWAI (JPN) and reigning champion RONG Ningning (CHN) remained on a possible collision course.

Kawai, the 2018 gold medalist at 59kg who has dropped down to the Olympic weight, will face two-time world medalist Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR), while Rong is pitted against Jowita WRZESIEN (POL).

Adekuoroye earned her place in the final four with a 12-2 technical fall of JONG In Son (PRK), who finished second to Rong at the Asian Championships in April after stunning four-time Olympic champion Kaori ICHO (JPN) in the semifinals. 

Kawai dealt a major blow to Icho’s bid for a fifth Olympic title by beating her for the place on the team to Nur-Sultan. She can clinch Japan’s berth at Tokyo 2020 by winning a medal in the Kazakh capital.

Pooja DHANDA (IND) uses a back trip to defeat Yuzuka INAGAKI (JPN), 11-8. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

In the non-Olympic 59kg, Pooja DHANDA (IND) provided the highlight of the session with a slick backward trip for 4 points that gave her an 11-8 victory over newly crowned world junior champion Yuzuka INAGAKI (JPN). 

Dhanda, the 2018 world bronze medalist at 57kg who failed to make the Indian team at that weight, was trailing 7-6 in the waning seconds when Inagaki looked to pad her lead by getting a single leg and lifting it into the air.

But Dhanda, going to her bag of tricks as a kid wrestler, used her other leg to trip Inagaki backwards for 4 points. Inagaki got behind for a point, but her efforts to turn the Dhanda were in vain, and an unsuccessful challenge resulted in the final score.

“When I was a child, we were training very hard for this [move],” said Dhanda, adding she had not used it for “a very long time.”

She will face 2017 European champion Luibov OVCHAROVA (RUS) for a place in the final. In the quarterfinals, Ocharova ended a close match with 2018 bronze medalist PEI Xingru with a victory by fall.

In the other semifinal, Shoovdor BAATARJAV (MGL), the other bronze medalist a year ago, will take on Linda MORAIS (CAN).

At 65kg, European champion Elis MANOLOVA (AZE) will face Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS) for a place in the final, while Forrest MOLINARI (USA) and Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) will meet in the other semifinal.

Following the semifinals, the night session will feature the medal matches at 50kg, 53kg, 55kg and 72kg. 

Day 5 Results

Women’s Wrestling Pairings

50kg (29 entries)
Gold – Alina VUC (ROU) vs Mariya STADNIK (AZE) 
Bronze – Oksana LIVACH (UKR) vs Valentina ISLAMOVA BRIK (KAZ)
Bronze – Ekaterina POLESHCHUK (RUS) vs SUN Yanan (CHN)

53kg (30 entries)
Gold – Mayu MUKAIDA (JPN) vs PAK Yong Mi (PRK)
Bronze –Vinesh PHOGAT (IND) vs Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE)
Bronze – Roksana ZASINA (POL) vs PANG Qianyu (CHN)

55kg (18 entries)
Gold – Nanami IRIE (JPN) vs Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA)
Bronze –Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS) vs Marina SEDNEVA (KAZ)
Bronze – Bolortuya BAT OCHIR (MGL) vs Bediha GUN (TUR)

57kg (31 entries)
Semifinal – RONG Ningning (CHN) vs Jowita WRZESIEN (POL) 
Semifinal – Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) vs Risako KAWAI (JPN)

59kg (18 entries)
Semifinal – Pooja DHANDA (IND) vs Luibov OVCHAROVA (RUS)
Semifinal – Shoovdor BAATARJAV (MGL) vs Linda MORAIS (CAN)  

65kg (17 entries)
Semifinal – Forrest MOLINARI (USA) vs Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) 
Semifinal – Elis MANOLOVA (AZE) vs Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS) 

72kg (12 entries)
Gold – Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) vs Alina MAKHYNIA (UKR)
Bronze –Masako FURUICHI (JPN) vs Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ)
Bronze – Victoria FRANCIS (USA) vs Paliha PALIHA (CHN)

76kg (31 entries)
Semifinal – Hiroe MINAGAWA (JPN) vs Epp MAEE (EST) 
Semifinal – Aline ROTTER FOCKEN (GER) vs Adeline GRAY (USA) 

#WrestleAthens

Olympic legend Icho returns to Athens to lead Japan’s next generation

Sunday, August 3, 2025 - 09:59 By Vinay Siwach

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ATHENS, Greece (August 2) -- In Athens, home of the Olympics, Kaori ICHO (JPN) is already one of the pantheon of greats.

Having once made history as an athlete here -- winning the first of four Olympic gold medals at the 2004 Olympics -- Icho now sets out to carve a new legacy, this time as coach to the next generation of Japanese talent.

In Athens, she is making her international debut as coach of the Japanese women's team at the World U17 Championships as she returns to the Ano Liossia Olympic Sports Hall, the same venue she won the Olympic gold.

"I have returned to this arena for the first time in 21 years," Icho told United World Wrestling. "I won an [Olympic] gold medal in this arena for the first time."

Icho, who ended her wrestling career in 2019, started coaching after the Tokyo Olympics. She has coached Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) domestically as both Morikawa and Icho are recruited with ALSOK.

Japan managed to win only one gold medal in Women's Wrestling at the World Championships and finished third in the team race. While Japan is not used to finishing at that position in Women's Wrestling, the third-place highlighted that even Japan's second-tier team poses a significant challenge to the world.

The presence of Icho definitely helped the wrestlers, who were not only helped by her experience but the presence of the four-time Olympic champion motivated them.

Japan's world champion in Athens, Hanano OYA (JPN), said that watching Icho win her record fourth gold medal in Rio 2016 inspired her to take up wrestling.

"The reason I started wrestling was because of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics," Oya said. "It was when Kaori achieved her fourth consecutive victory, and I saw it on TV. I started wrestling myself, so I was very happy when she accompanied me and acted as my second coach, and I felt that I had to live up to her expectations."

Kaori ICHO (JPN)Kaori ICHO (JPN) coaches one of the members of the Japanese team. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

For Icho, not being on the mat and coaching from the corner was a different experience.

"I feel really strange being able to come back here as a coach," she said. "This tournament is the World Championships for those under 17 years old. I also became an Olympic gold medalist at this venue when I was 20 and I hope that the young athletes will work hard towards their Olympic dreams."

Back in 2004, the first Olympics when Women's Wrestling became part of it, Icho remembered the nervous and the excitement. The enjoyment, however, came only after she had won the gold.

"It was my first Olympics," she said. "I was very nervous and excited. I was here for about two weeks, from the opening ceremony to the closing ceremony. After winning, I went swimming in the Aegean Sea. It was a very enjoyable Olympics."

Kaori ICHO (JPN)Kaori ICHO (JPN) during a warm-up session of the Japanese team in Athens. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

When she landed at the airport in Athens on Monday, memories from the past came rushing back.

"I don't particularly feel it at the airport, but I wondered if it was this hot," she said. "I wondered what the venue will be like. I was reminiscing about 21 years ago."

Once at the venue, Icho was requested for photos from wrestlers and coaches which she obliged. With her first tournament as coach behind her, Icho is determined to work even harder as she prepares the senior Japan team for the World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, this September.

"Coaches and players asked me to take pictures with them," she said. "I felt stronger coming here. I want to work harder as a coach."