Kawai Topples Icho in Playoff for World Team; Otoguro In, Susaki Out

Sunday, July 7, 2019 - 21:47 By Ken Marantz

WAKO, Saitama (July 6)---Risako KAWAI all but dealt a death blow to Kaori ICHO's quest for an epoch-making fifth straight Olympic gold medal. It's now in Kawai's hands to finish the job in two months.

For the second time in three weeks, Kawai toppled her fellow Olympic champion, scoring a 3-3 victory on big-point criteria to earn the women's 57kg berth on Japan's team to the World Championships in Kazakhstan in September.

"I really don't remember much about it, but I'm glad I won," Kawai said at a post-match press conference. "Over this past year, things happened around me that I had never imagined would occur. I had changed the environment around me, and in December, I thought about quitting wrestling and talked it over with my family. I'm glad that I didn't."

The showdown was one of six on a special day of playoffs for tickets to the World Championships in Olympic weight classes, which also saw Takuto OTOGURO earn a shot at keeping the freestyle 65kg crown he won a year ago, while Yui SUSAKI was denied a chance for a third straight women's 50kg world title.

The playoffs in Wako, Saitama Prefecture, about 20 kilometers north of Tokyo, paired the winners of the two national competitions that serve as qualifiers for the World Championships. In the 12 other Olympic divisions, one wrestler won both tourneys to clinch an automatic berth.

Icho had beaten Kawai 3-2 with a dramatic takedown in the final 10 seconds at the All-Japan Championships (Emperor's Cup) in December, a loss that nearly led Kawai to abandon the sport. But she turned the tables in June at the All-Japan Invitational Championships (Meiji Cup), holding on for a 6-4 win to set up the playoff.

"It has been three weeks since the Meiji Cup," Kawai said. "I knew Kaori would approach it differently, and I carefully considered what I would do as I prepared. Strategically, it didn't really go as I had pictured. But in the end, what I had practiced as always came out naturally."

As for her strategy, Kawai said it was to "get in on tackles and firmly finish off the takedown. But it wasn't that easy."

In the nationally televised wrestle-off, Kawai was the aggressor and got in deep with a number of single-leg attempts, only to see Icho squirm free. With just over a minute left in the match, the score was still 1-1, with both points scored on the activity clock and Kawai ahead on last-point.

Just as she did in the Meiji Cup with time running out, the 35-year-old Icho dug deep with the determination that had earned her 10 world titles dating back to 2002 and went on the attack.

Icho got in deep on a single leg, but Kawai clamped down and, applying a reverse nelson, managed to gain a 2-point exposure with 50 seconds left. Icho worked her way out of the predicament and behind for a point to cut the lead to 3-2, but her frenetic efforts for a takedown in the final seconds could only result in a stepout that left her on the short end of a 3-3 score.

"It's disappointing, but I did what I needed to do to get here and prepared well, so I have no regrets," said Icho, who took a hiatus following the Rio 2016 Olympics and only returned to competition last September.

"I don't think that I was weak. Risako was strong. From the time I decided to come back, there was the difficulty of filling in a two-year blank combined with a desire that never left, and this is where I am now.

"As an experience, it was a fulfilling one year. Many friends, family and others came to this arena to give me support, and I went into this wanting to give them a chance to see me at the World Championships and Tokyo Olympics. As I won't be able to show them, that's what hurts."

Actually, the light at the end of the Tokyo 2020 tunnel has not completely gone out for Icho, although it's been reduced to a speck. The Japan federation has decreed that any Japanese wrestler winning a medal at the World Championships will automatically earn a place on the Tokyo 2020 team---which greatly enhanced the incentive to make it to the Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan.

The door for Icho would reopen in the unlikely event that Kawai, the 63kg champion at Rio 2016 and 59kg gold medalist at last year's worlds in Budapest, fails to win a medal in Nur-Sultan. In that case, the qualifying process would go back to the beginning.

For Kawai, the victory keeps alive her dreams of appearing in the Olympics with younger sister Yukako, a world silver medalist who already secured her ticket at 62kg. Risako had taken a gamble by going down to 57kg and challenging Icho, and it paid off with the two victories that Yukako watched at matside.

The playoffs for the undecided places in the non-Olympic weights will be held July 21. Because so many top wrestlers funneled into the Olympic weights, the federation decided that, in order to send the strongest possible team to Kazakhstan, it will allow those who finished as runner-up in an Olympic weight at either the Emperor's Cup or Meiji Cup to enter the wrestle-offs at a non-Olympic weight.

That means that technically Icho could try to make the team at, say, 59kg in an attempt to win a first world title since 2015, although there have been no indications that she will do so.

Otoguro avenges loss; Irie finally gets best of Susaki

In other featured matches on a day of high drama, world champ Otoguro bounced back from his loss in the Meiji Cup final to Rei HIGUCHI by chalking up a solid 5-0 victory to fill the 65kg berth.

Otoguro, his preparations affected by knee problem that kept him out of the Freestyle World Cup and the Asian Championships, had been dealt a devastating 15-5 technical fall loss three weeks ago by Higuchi, the Rio 2016 silver medalist at 57kg.

That was Otoguro's first loss to a Japanese opponent since junior high school, but he showed he was ready this time around with his third victory over Higuchi in 2 1/2 years.

Leading 2-0 in the second period from a pair of points off the activity clock, Otoguro sliced in on a low double for a takedown with 1:40 left. He then held off Higuchi's late attacks, adding a stepout in the waning seconds for the final margin of victory.

"I wasn't accustomed to losing, and it was so devastating, it was like I had no idea what to do," said Otoguro, who shed very different tears after this victory. "So many people helped me out, and I'm happy I could come out with a win through their support."

While the Kawai-Icho clash has garnished the most national attention, the budding rivalry at women's 50kg has been no less intense, and this time Asian champion Yuki IRIE came out on top.

Irie chalked up her third career victory over Susaki---the only losses of Susaki's career on any level dating back to junior high school---winning 6-1 to earn her first trip to a World Championships.

Irie has been a recent thorn in Susaki's side, but the reigning world champion always came up with the big win needed to get to the major events. It was almost exactly a year ago that Susaki knocked off Irie in a playoff en route to defending her world title in Budapest.

And after pulling out of the Emperor's Cup due to an elbow injury, Susaki faced a must-win situation at the Meiji Cup to keep alive her hopes of appearing at Tokyo 2020. She did it in dramatic fashion, scoring a 4-point move with two seconds left to beat Irie 6-2 in the quarterfinals, before whipping Rio 2016 champion Eri TOSAKA in the final to set up the playoff.

This time, there would be no mistakes by Irie, and no miracle finish for Susaki.

In the first period, just after losing a point on the activity clock, Irie scored a takedown to take a 2-1 lead into the second period. With 1:20 left, she scored another takedown, then topped that off with a roll to make it 6-1, which is how it ended, leaving the 20-year-old Susaki in tears.

"There were so many people supporting me, my only feeling is that I have to apologize to them," Susaki said between sobs.

The 26-year-old Irie, who capped her gold-medal run at the Asian Championships in April in China with a victory over Rio 2016 bronze medalist SUN Yanan (CHN), has tradition on her side in a bid to medal in Nur-Sultan and clinch a Tokyo 2020 spot---Japan has made the podium in the lightest women's weight class at every World Championships dating back to 2005 except one (2009).

"The Olympic [berth] has still not been secured, so I'm happy, but first I have to focus on the World Championships," Irie said. "It will be my first World Championships, so I will prepare so I can fight without being nervous."

In other playoffs, Mao OKUI scored a dramatic upset over former world bronze medalist Yuhi FUJINAMI in freestyle 74kg, winning 5-4 with a takedown at the buzzer to earn his first trip to the World Championships.

Okui trailed 3-0 early in the second period, then twice got behind a standing Fujinami, only to fail to break him down to the mat for a takedown. Both times he executed a roll at the edge, but each one was ruled to have been launched out of bounds; the first gave Fujinami a point for an unsuccessful challenge and the other one for himself for a stepout.

Down 4-3 with 10 seconds left, a flurry starting with Okui's single-leg attempt ended with Fujinami, a 2017 world bronze medalist at 70kg, on all fours. At the buzzer, Okui pulled off a roll---this time well in bounds---that was confirmed by video to be in time.

"I thought, 'If I don't get it now, everything I've done up to now will have no meaning,' and I just went for the tackle," Okui said.

At the Meiji Cup, Okui scored a victory by fall in the semifinals over a less-than-par Fujinami, who was still recovering from a knee injury suffered at the Asian Championships and a back injury suffered a week before the tournament.

At freestyle 125kg, Nobuyoshi ARAKIDA spun behind off a front headlock for a late takedown and a 4-1 win over Yasuhiro YAMAMOTO to earn his fifth trip to the World Championships and first in five years.

That reversed the outcome of a playoff last year between the two that Yamamoto won by the same score.

Shohei YABIKU, a former world junior bronze medalist, will look for his first hardware on the senior level in three tries after defeating Naotsugu SHOJI by 9-0 technical fall at Greco-Roman 77kg.

#WrestleParis

Paris 2024: Ramazanov denies Yazdani, Higuchi completes 57kg turnaround

Saturday, August 10, 2024 - 00:42 By Ken Marantz

PARIS (August 9) -- Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) and his aching shoulder missed out on a second Olympic gold medal and was relegated to a second silver instead, and David TAYLOR (USA) was nowhere in sight. Magomed RAMAZANOV (BUL) is the new king of the freestyle 86kg class.

Russian-born Ramazanov outdueled a less-than-100 percent Yazdani in notching a 7-1 victory in the final on Friday at the Paris Olympics, giving Bulgaria its second gold in two nights.

"It was really something for me," said Ramazanov, the 2020 European 79kg silver medalist who began competing for Bulgaria this year. "I come from a little town, and my family worked really hard for me to get here. It is really an honor. I got the gold medal for them."

Japan grabbed the two other gold medals up for grabs at the Champs de Mars Arena, with Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) completing an arduous eight-year journey to an elusive freestyle 57kg gold and two-time reigning world champion Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN) winning the women's 57kg title in her Olympic debut.

Magomed RAMAZANOV (BUL) and Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) at the podium of 86kg in Paris. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Yazdani, one of the biggest stars of the sport whose many laurels include the 74kg gold from Rio 2016 and a silver at 86kg three years ago in Tokyo, was in obvious discomfort from the get-go of his clash with the 31-year-old Ramazanov.

Almost immediately after the start, the Iranian signaled for a timeout, clutching his upper right arm. While managing to keep the score close, and even tentatively leading at one point, he stopped the match five times for treatment on his shoulder.

"It was hard for him, but he was a great fighter with his other arm," Ramazanov said. "In the Olympics, you don’t get to choose the conditions, you just have to compete, and that’s what makes this sport so hard."

Yazdani gave up an activity point in the first period -- just barely failing to complete a takedown in the process -- but got one himself in the second to lead 1-1 on criteria.

Ramazanov put the pressure on and tripped Yazdani for a takedown while trapping the Iranian's foot underneath him at an odd angle, keeping him in a sitting position. That allowed the Bulgarian to use a crossface to tilt Yazdani backward for two exposures and a 7-1 lead.

With 30 seconds left, Yazdani conceded that it was over. He put his hands on his knees as the seconds ticked down to the inevitable. He gave Ramazanov a hug of respect.

Ramazanov dedicated the gold medal to his father who died when he was still a child.

"It was really hard, I had to fight elite wrestlers, but today it was destiny, and I want to thank god and dedicate this medal to my father, who died a few years ago," Ramazanov said. "I think he would be very proud of me."

He also paid tribute to his adopted country. "Bulgaria is my second home," he said. "This country gave me this amazing opportunity to compete in the Olympics with the best athletes around the world. It’s really hard psychologically because you don’t know if you’ll get to the next Olympics, and it’s so hard to qualify."

Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) kisses his gold medal at the 57kg medal ceremony. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

At freestyle 57kg, Higuchi won a showdown with an equally determined Spencer LEE (USA) 4-2 to capture the gold medal that eluded him at the 2016 Rio Olympics and for which he spent the ensuing years on a path of trials and tribulations.

"I was able to have fun wrestling," Higuchi said. "I think that in my career, this was my highest level performance. It was a great tournament."

Higuchi was able to limit Lee's attacks to a pair of stepouts in the first period, the first one while Lee was on the activity clock. In the second period, Higuchi managed to stay grounded so that there would be no points as he went over the edge.

Meanwhile, Higuchi took the initiative himself in the second period, launching a double-leg takedown attempt that Lee tried to counter by rolling over the top. But Higuchi rolled through it and Lee landed on his back, giving Higuchi 2 points and a momentary chance for a fall.

That gave Higuchi the lead 2-2 on criteria, and he managed to hold on, adding a takedown with two seconds left off a desperation throw attempt.

Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) tackles Spencer LEE (USA) in the 57kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

After Rio, Higuchi moved up to 61kg, winning an Asian title, with an eye on making the Tokyo Olympics at 65kg. He won the world U23 gold at 65kg in 2018, and defeated Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) at one point, but in the end lost out to the eventual Tokyo gold medalist.

The only option for going to his home Olympics was to drop down to 57kg, but he famously failed to make weight at the Asian Olympic Qualifier, a shock only made worse when he later lost a playoff for Japan's Olympic spot to Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN).

Still in his prime, he spent the next two years at 61kg, winning his first senior world crown in 2022, then made the drop back to 57kg with the aim of being on the mat in Paris.

This time he became more attentive to his nutrition and diet, which got a boost when he got married in May last year. It paid off with a world silver in Belgrade that clinched his ticket to Paris.

"The road to getting the gold medal was not easy at all," said Higuchi, who became a father in February. "I suffered many losses and I had the failure to make weight. I had many setbacks and moments of despair.

"But I was absolutely confident I could win the gold medal. My coaches and teammates supported me and this is a medal I could get because of so many people. I will never think this is
a gold medal that I won by myself."

With Higuchi's win, current students or alumni of his alma mater Nippon Sports Science University now account for four wrestling golds in Paris. He was preceded by Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) and Nao KUSAKA (JPN) in Greco and Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) in women's wrestling.

Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN) celebrates after winning the 57kg final at the Paris Olympics. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Sakurai later added Japan's fifth gold overall through five days of competition in Paris with a 6-0 victory over Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) in a repeat of the women's 57kg final at last year's World Championships in Belgrade.

"I practiced just for this moment, and I was able to be here because of the support of many people," said Sakurai, who defeated two-time Olympic champion Risako KAWAI (now KINJO) (JPN) in the process of qualifying for Paris. "I'm really glad I won the title."

Sakurai, employing a 2-on-1 while standing that pretty much neutralized Nichita's offense, opened the scoring by shooting for a single-leg takedown, then stepping over for an exposure when Nichita attempted a counter-lift.

Sakurai had the 2-on-1 when the two went to the mat and Nichita tried to go over and hook the far leg. But Sakurai bucked her to the mat and went behind to make it 4-0 at the break. In the second period, Sakurai added a single-leg takedown while conceding nothing to clinch the gold.

After her victory lap, Sakurai went to the stands for a group hug with her father and her coach at Ikuei University, Yoshimaro YANAGAWA, who could have another Olympic champion after Ikuei's Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) made the women's 62kg final earlier in the session.

"He said, 'You did great,'" Sakurai said of Yanagawa. "For this Olympics, he sacrificed so much time for us. He made us train hard and kept pushing us. I'm glad I could get it done. I was able to put out on the mat what I had done up to now."

Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN) wrestles Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) in the 57kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Sakurai suffered a setback in her Olympic preparations when she lost in the final at the Asian Championships in April to Yongxin FENG (CHN), but managed to right the ship in time for Paris. It was her first international loss since the 2019 Asian Junior (U20) Championships.

Despite missing out on the gold, Nichita earned a place in Moldovan history by becoming just its second Olympic wrestling medalist ever and the first woman.

"So many people came today to support me, and I'm really grateful for that," Nichita said. "I'm really sorry that I didn't win the gold medal, but next time I will try my best to win the gold.

"All of my life I dreamed about this, and I went through a lot of pain and trauma, and here I am today, with a medal."

Helen MAROULIS (USA) celebrates after winning her bronze-medal bout at 57kg in Paris. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Maroulis quickly bags bronze for 3rd Olympic medal

Helen MAROULIS (USA) needed just 24 seconds to win a third Olympic medal, taking a second straight women's 57kg bronze with victory by fall over Hannah TAYLOR (CAN).

Maroulis hit a textbook-perfect fireman's carry to send Taylor to her back, then clamped down to secure the fall less than a half-minute after the start.

The three-time former world champion added the Paris bronze to the gold she won at Rio 2016 with a historic win over legend Saori YOSHIDA (JPN) and her bronze from Tokyo three years ago.

Kexin HONG (CHN) needed a bit more time to secure the other women's 57kg bronze, rolling to a 10-0 victory over Giullia PENALBER (BRA) in 1:57.

The two bronze medalists at 86kg -- Aaron BROOKS (USA) and Daruen KURUGLIEV (GRE). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

World U23 champion Aaron BROOKS (USA), who needed to beat Tokyo Olympic champion David TAYLOR (USA) just to earn his ticket to Paris, defeated Asian silver medalist Javrail SHAPIEV (UZB) 5-0 to take home a freestyle 86kg bronze medal.

Brooks received an activity point in the first period, then added a stepout early in the second. Put on the clock himself, Brooks scored a double-leg takedown to make it 4-0, then added a late stepout to relegate Shapiev to a second straight fifth-place finish at the Olympics.

Asked if the competition in his first major senior event was tougher than he had expected, Brooks replied, "I never try to expect anything. When you are going on the mat with expectations and they are not met, it's where you can have those climaxes and drop-offs.

"It's the Olympics. They are what they are. It's a tough competition."

The other 86kg bronze went to Russian-born Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE), who survived a valiant late surge by Tokyo bronze medalist Myles AMINE (SMR) in a 5-4 victory that gave Greece its first Olympic wrestling medal since Athens 2000.

Kurugliev appeared to be cruising to a victory on the back of a first-period takedown and 2-point exposure off a second-period scramble. With the clock ticking down, Amine completed a takedown with :07 on the clock, but wasn't done there.

He got behind again, but Kurugliev somehow managed to keep his knees off the mat as they went out of the ring, limiting Amine to a stepout and fleeing point that made it 4-4 but left him on the short end on criteria. An unsuccessful challenge added the final point.

"I would like to thank Greece, this country that gave me this opportunity," Kurugliev said. "Thank you very much to all of you. I'm very happy to have won this medal. Of course, I tried to win gold, but bronze is fine, and I'm quite happy."

AMAN (IND) became India's youngest Olympic medalist in individual sports. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Asian champion Aman SEHRAWAT (IND), the lone Indian male wrestler to qualify for Paris, assured that the country would win a medal for the fifth straight Olympics, winning a takedown-a-thon over Darian CRUZ (PUR) 13-5 to take a bronze at freestyle 57kg.

Sehrawat scored three takedowns in each period, adding a late stepout with a fleeing point tacked on, to deny the U.S.-raised Cruz's bid to become just the second Olympic wrestling medalist for Puerto Rico. Cruz, an NCAA champion at Lehigh University in the U.S., chalked up two takedowns of his own.

Gulomjon ABDULLAEV (UZB), who also did some collegiate wrestling in the U.S., picked up the other 57kg bronze with a 5-1 win over Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ) that was closer than the score indicates.

Abdullaev got an activity point and stepout in the first period, and led 2-1 in the second after giving up a point on the activity clock. Fighting off everything Almaz Uulu threw at him down the stretch, he got a last-second 2 by stopping a desperation throw attempt, with an unsuccessful challenge point added on.

Day 5 Results

Freestyle

57kg
GOLD: Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) df. Spencer LEE (USA), 4-2

BRONZE: Aman SEHRAWAT (IND) df. Darian CRUZ (PUR), 13-5
BRONZE: Gulomjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) df. Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ), 5-1

74kg
SF1: Daichi TAKATANI (JPN) df. Kyle DAKE (USA), 20-12
SF2: Razambek JAMALOV (UZB) df. Viktor RASSADIN (TJK), 8-2

86kg
GOLD: Magomed RAMAZANOV (BUL) df. Hassan YAZDANI (IRI), 7-1

BRONZE: Aaron BROOKS (USA) df. Javrail SHAPIEV (UZB), 5-0
BRONZE: Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE) df. Myles AMINE (SMR), 5-4

125kg
SF1: Amir ZARE (IRI) df. Taha AKGUL (TUR), 2-1
SF2: Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) df. Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE), 7-0

Women's Wrestling

57kg
GOLD: Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN) df. Anastasia NICHITA (MDA), 6-0

BRONZE: Helen MAROULIS (USA) df. Hannah TAYLOR (CAN) by Fall, :24 (4-0)
BRONZE: Kexin HONG (CHN) df. Giullia PENALBER (BRA) by TF, 10-0, 1:57

62kg
SF1: Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) df. Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ), 9-2
SF2: Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) df. Grace BULLEN (NOR) by Fall, 4:26 (7-7)

Kawai Topples Icho in Playoff for World Team; Otoguro In, Susaki Out

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Paris 2024: Ramazanov denies Yazdani, Higuchi completes 57kg turnaround