#WrestleAlmaty

Japan Announces Squads for Asian Olympic Qualifier, Asian Championships

By Japan Wrestling Federation

Two-time world champion Yui SUSAKI heads a contingent of 10 Japanese who will aim to earn tickets to the Tokyo Olympics at next month's Asian Qualifying tournament in Kazakhstan, the Japan Wrestling Federation announced.

The federation also announced the squad to be dispatched to the Asian Championships that will follow the Olympic qualifier at the same venue in the Kazakh city of Almaty. Among those entries are seven wrestlers who have already qualified for the Tokyo Games, four of whom are also defending Asian champions.

The Olympic qualifying tournament will be held April 9-11, with competition in the six Olympic weight classes in each style. That will be followed by the Asian Championships, to run April 13-18 in all 10 weight classes.

It will mark the first time Japan has sent a team overseas since last year's Asian Championships in New Delhi in February 2020.

For the Tokyo Olympics, Japan has already qualified at freestyle 65kg and 74kg, Greco-Roman 60kg and women 53kg, 57kg, 62kg, 68kg and 76kg, based on results from the 2019 World Championships. The top two finishers at the continental qualifier will earn Olympic berths for their country.

Susaki will be looking to earn her first Olympic spot at women's 50kg. She and the others earned the right by winning titles at the 2019 national championships. Even when the Tokyo Games were postponed a year, they were allowed to keep their places.

Also hoping to qualify for Tokyo will be 2016 Rio Olympic silver medalist Rei HIGUCHI at freestyle 57kg and Sosuke TAKATANI, who will be aiming to make his third Olympics and first at freestyle 86kg.

The team for the Asian Championships consists mainly of the champions at the most recent national championships held in December 2020. In cases where the champion opted out or was unavailable, the runner-up or a third-place finisher filled the spot.

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Takuto OTOGURO, Japan's '18 world champion, will wrestle at 65kg at the Asian Championships. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

The wrestlers who have already qualified for the Tokyo Olympics and are entered for the Asian Championships are brothers Takuto and Keisuke OTOGURO at freestyle 65kg and 74kg, respectively, and the female quintet of Mayu MUKAIDA (53kg), Risako KAWAI (57kg), Yukako KAWAI (62kg), Sara DOSHO (68kg) and Hiroe MINAGAWA (76g).

Kenichiro FUMITA, Japan's lone current Olympic qualifier in Greco-Roman, has opted to skip the tournament and the chance to defend his 2020 Asian title at 60kg. He earned his Olympic ticket by winning the 2019 world title.

Takuto Otoguro, the Kawai sisters and Minagawa are the reigning Asian champions in their weight classes. Mukaida will be looking to improve on her silver medal from 2020.

At the 2020 tournament in New Delhi, Japan took home seven medals in freestyle, but with the exception of Otoguro, none of the other medalists earned a return trip this year. Also missing out are two women's champions from 2020, Miho IGARASHI and Naomi RUIKE.

Here are the squads:

Asian Olympic Qualifying Tournament  (April 9-11, Almaty)

Greco-Roman
67kg: Shogo TAKAHASHI
77kg: Shohei YABIKU
87kg : Masato SUMI
97kg: Yuta NARA
130kg: Arata SONODA

Women
50kg : Yui SUSAKI

Freestyle
57kg : Rei HIGUCHI
86kg : Sosuke TAKATANI
97kg : Naoya AKAGUMA
125kg : Tetsuya TANAKA

Asian Championships (April 13-18, Almaty)

Greco-Roman
55kg: Yu SHIOTANI
60kg: Ayata SUZUKI
63kg: Kensuke SHIMIZU
67kg: Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA
72kg: Taishi HORIE
77kg: Kodai SAKURABA
82kg: Satoki MUKAI
87kg: So SAKABE
97kg: Masayuki AMANO
130kg: Sota OKUMURA

Women
50kg: Remina YOSHIMOTO
53kg: Mayu MUKAIDA
55kg: Tsugumi SAKURAI
57kg: Risako KAWAI
59kg: Akie HANAI
62kg: Yukako KAWAI
65kg: Miwa MORIKAWA
68kg: Sara DOSHO
72kg: Masako FURUICHI
76kg: Hiroe MINAGAWA

Freestyle
57kg: Yuto TAKESHITA
61kg: Shoya SHIMAE
65kg: Takuto OTOGURO
70kg: Jintaro MOTOYAMA
74kg: Keisuke OTOGURO
79kg: Ryuki YOSHIDA
86kg: Hayato ISHIGURO
92kg: Yuto IZUTSU
97kg: Takashi ISHIGURO
125kg: Taiki YAMAMOTO

#WrestleNoviSad

U23 World Championships 2025 Day 5 FS & WW Highlights

By Vinay Siwach

NOVI SAD, Serbia (October 23) -- The U23 World Championships enters day five with two Freestyle weight classes -- 74kg and 92kg and three in women's wrestling -- 53kg, 59kg and 62kg.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | DAY 4 RESULTS

14:40: European champion Iryna BONDAR (UKR) finds a way to beat Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR) in the final 40 seconds. Kolawale was lead 3-0 but Bondar with two different takedowns to win 4-3.

14:30: Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) seems to be unbothered by the weight change as he puts on a clinic to win his 74kg quarterfinals against Mohammad BAKHSHI (JPN), 11-0. Aoyagi now into the semifinals

14:25: Mobin AZIMI (IRI) puts Iran in the semifinals after a technical superiority win over Joshua BARR (USA). Azimi led 1-1 on criteria but Barr began the second period with a takedown. But Azimi kept the pressure and scored a takedown, and used a high gut-wrench to score five turns and complete a 13-3 win and advance to the 92kg semifinals

14:20: There is no way 

14:15: Mukhamed KHANIEV (AZE) with a 10-0 victory over SACHIN (IND) and move into the semifinals at 92kg. Khaniev with three go-behinds before launching a big throw and turn to win via technical superiority.

14:10: Mitchell MESENBRINK (USA) with another technical superiority win as he beats Omar MOURAD (EGY), 12-2, to enter the 74kg semifinals.

14:00: Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN) and Magomed KHANIEV (AZE) face-off in the quarterfinals at 74kg. Both wrestlers exchange takedowns with Asluev leading 2-2 on criteria. Khaniev gets on a leg attack and manages to trip Asluev without control. It is, however, scored two points for Khaniev which gives him a 4-2 lead. Asluev manages to leg attack Khaniev but no points as both wrestlers go out of bounds in par terre. Bahrain challenges the call but it is lost, giving a 5-2 lead to Khaniev. Khaniev gets hit with caution and one point for fleeing, and the bout resumes in par terre. Asluev was about to turn Khaniev but loses his grip and Khaniev gets the two points for exposure which is also his winning points in his 7-3 win

13:35: SARIKA (IND) with a late takedown against Alexis JANIAK (USA) to clinch a 6-4 victory in their 59kg bout. Sarika set up Janiak a couple of times but failed to finish until the final takedown which resulted in victory. 

13:30: Returning silver medalist Ruka NATAMI (JPN) got a solid challenge from Olivia LICHTI (CAN) in her opening 59kg bout. Natami managed to counter Licthi's attacks and score her points in the 8-1 win but Litchi can be proud of her world debut

13:15: Mobin AZIMI (IRI) books a spot in quarterfinals at 92kg against Joshua BARR (USA) after an 8-1 victory over Sadig MUSTAFAZADE (AZE). Big four pointer for Azimi in that win.

12:50: Iryna BONDAR (UKR) with a quick takedown and turn to lead 4-1 against SAVITA (IND) after being put on activity clock in the 62kg match. Savit starts the second period with a takedown to  make the score 4-3. Bondar defends that lead for the last two minutes to advance to the quarterfinals.

12:45: Mitchell MESENBRINK (USA) gets his double-leg attacks to win his 1/8 finals against PARVINDER (IND), 10-0, at 74kg. He finished with a lace turn to get the last two points.

12:30: Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN) comes back from 3-1 down to beat Ion MARCU (MDA), 11-5, at 74kg. Asluev moves into the quarterfinals and keeps Magomed BAITUKAEV (UWW) alive

12:25: Magomed KHANIEV (AZE) with some masterful defense against Grigor CHOLAKYAN (ARM) and he scores on counters to beat the Armenian 14-5. Khaniev now in the quarterfinals.

12:20: Moving into the next round of 74kg bouts and we have world champion Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) doing what he does best. He beats Baitemir TULEBERDIEV (KGZ) 11-0 to advance to the quarterfinals.

11:40: Sakura MOTOKI (JPN), chasing a historic gold to complete the Golden Grand Slam, begins with a fall over world bronze medalist Nigina SABIROVA (UZB) at 62kg.

11:30: Mobin AZIMI (IRI) upsets U20 world champion Sherzod POYONOV (UZB) at 92kg. Mix of stepouts and takedowns in his 7-1 victory.

11:15: U20 world champion and senior European champion Iryna BONDAR (UKR) and Selvi ILYASOGLU (TUR) involved in a little heated match. Bondar wanted twice for aggressive fouls but she manages to beat Ilyasoglu via fall at 62kg.

10:55: Former U20 world champion Mitchell MESENBRINK (USA) begins his chase for a first world U23 title with a 12-2 win over Aliaksandr HULNIK (UWW) at 74kg.

U23 World Championships 74kg

10:50: Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN), world champion at 70kg, makes his debut at 74kg at the U23 World Championships. He begins slow but manages to up the pace in the second period and beat Petar PETKOV (BUL), 10-0.

10:40: Muhammed OZMUS (TUR) has pulled off a mini upset at 74kg as he beats Manuel WAGIN (GER), 10-2, two chest wrap attempts from Wagin costed him eight points and one for the lost challenge in that defeat.

10:30: Magomed KHANIEV (AZE) has more steady start at 74kg. He starts with a 10-0 controlled win against Georgios IOAKEIMIDIS (GRE). Khaniev will now be the favorite to reach the final from top half of that bracket.

10:20: We are off to very unexpected start at 74kg. Magomed BAITUKAEV (UWW), one of the favorites for gold at 74kg, goes down 3-3 against Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN) in the opening bout. He led 3-0 but Asluev tied it in the second period, taking a criteria lead. He defended the lead to win.

10:00: The fifth day in Novi Sad can witness history. Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) is chasing the gold and join the elite group of wrestlers to win all world titles and the Olympic gold medal.