Morikawa reigns at 68kg, all but shatters Kawai's Olympic quest

Friday, June 16, 2023 - 15:17 By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (June 16) -- When the dust settled on the battle royale that is the women's 68kg division of Japanese wrestling, it was Miwa MORIKAWA who emerged unscathed, while Yukako KAWAI's dream of a second straight Olympic gold was left in tatters.

Morikawa defeated Kawai in the final at the Meiji Cup All-Japan Championships on Friday, a victory in the second of Japan's domestic qualifiers for this year's World Championships that refortifies her own chances of ultimately making it to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Morikawa preceded her 3-0 win over the Tokyo Olympic champion at 62kg by knocking off world silver medalist Ami ISHII 8-5 in the semifinals, which avenged a loss to her last December in the final at the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships, the first of the world team qualifiers.

"A half-year ago I lost, and I came to get revenge at this tournament," said Morikawa, the reigning world 65kg champion who had moved up to the Olympic weight class. "I kept in mind that if I lost this time, there would be no Paris."

Winners at both the Emperor's Cup and Meiji Cup earn a place on Japan's team to the World Championships in September in Belgrade, where in the Olympic weight classes, a medal will also mean an automatic ticket to the Paris Olympics. If the winners are different, the two will face off in a playoff slated for July 1.

Morikawa's triumph puts her into a playoff with Ishii, who had beaten her 5-2 at the Emperor's Cup. "I am now back at the start line with Ishii. If I don't win again, it all means nothing," Morikawa said.

Among those booking tickets to Belgrade was world 59kg bronze medalist Sakura MOTOKI, who repeated her triumph at the Emperor's Cup in the equally stacked women's 62kg class by beating Yuzuka INAGAKI in the final.

Brothers Hayato and Takashi ISHIGURO will also be on the plane to Belgrade. Hayato won the freestyle 86kg crown by handing veteran Sohsuke TAKATANI his first loss to a Japanese wrestler in a decade, and elder sibling Takashi followed by triumphing at 97kg.

Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) Miwa MORIKAWA celebrates after beating Emperor's Cup champion Ami ISHII in the 68kg semifinal. (Photo: Japan Wrestling Federation / Takeo Yabuki)

The women's 68kg class got a little more crowded for the Meiji Cup when Kawai, the Tokyo Olympic champion at 62kg, made the surprising jump up to the next Olympic weight after falling to Motoki in the 62kg semifinals at the Emperor's Cup.

Kawai seemed to be managing the extra weight when she finished unbeaten in three matches in her round-robin Nordic group on Thursday -- including a 4-4 victory over Morikawa -- then advanced to the final earlier Friday with a 4-3 victory over the three-time world 72kg medalist Masako FURUICHI.

But the final played out differently, as Morikawa scored an activity point and a double-leg takedown in the first period, then held off Kawai's attacks for a 3-0 victory.

"I've faced her a few times and I had never beaten her," Morikawa said. "This time, I wanted revenge on everyone. I came in with a positive attitude."

Kawai occasionally broke down in tears as she reflected on her bold performance. "I lost, but I gave it my all," said Kawai, whose older sister and fellow Olympic champion Risako KINJO will begin her quest at 57kg on Saturday.

"It was my first time in this weight class. When I look back at how I had wanted to run away and quit, I think it's something that I made it this far."

Morikawa was motivated by her loss at the Emperor's Cup and the harsh love meted out by her coaches, who include four-time Olympic champion Kaori ICHO.

"After the final, [Icho] said, 'You fought well.' She never normally says that," Morikawa said. "At the Emperor's Cup, I didn't move like I usually do and the coaches were especially brutal in their comments. I realized that to win here, if I don't use my strengths, it would be a waste. I thought I have to give everything and be at my best to win, and I was able to do it."

Kawai still has a slim chance to get to Paris, but it is predicated on whoever goes to Belgrade not coming home with a medal. The odds would seem against her, as Japan's women won medals in four of the six Olympic weight classes at the 2019 World Championships that served as the first qualifier for the Tokyo Olympics.

Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) Sakura MOTOKI confirmed her spot at 62kg for the World Championships by winning the Meiji Cup. (Photo: Japan Wrestling Federation / Takeo Yabuki)

Motoki has been dreaming of going to the Olympics since she started wrestling as a toddler, hoping to emulate her father Yasutoshi, who competed at the 2000 Sydney Olympics at Greco 63kg.

"From when I started wrestling when I was little, I have been aiming at the Olympics," the 22- year-old Motoki said. "Everything my coach taught me when I was in elementary school, what my high school coach said, and my coach at Ikuei University, it all culminated in today's result."

Motoki also has some unfinished business at the World Championships, as she still feels the sting of settling for a bronze medal last year in Belgrade, where she was dealt a 7-5 loss in the semifinals by Anastasia NICHITA (MDA).

"Last year, I lost at the World Championships, but I learned a lot from it, and I am determined not to make the same mistakes again," she said.

Motoki scored a takedown followed by a two-point roll in each period to cruise to an 8-2 victory in the final against Yuzuka INAGAKI, who had pulled off a stunning upset of world champion Nonoka OZAKI in the semifinals.

Ozaki, who returned to the mat to take home a bronze medal, said that she will likely try to earn a ticket to the World Championships in a non-Olympic weight class.

According to Japan Wrestling Federation rules, any wrestler who finishes in the top two of an Olympic weight class but does not qualify in that division for Belgrade can opt to challenge for a place in a non-Olympic weight. Those playoffs will be held on July 17.

Hayato ISHIGURO handed Sohsuke TAKATANI his first domestic loss in a decade to win at 86kg. (Photo: Japan Wrestling Federation / Takeo Yabuki)

The Ishiguro brothers can be content with not having to concern themselves with the playoffs after both put on masterful performances to clinch their world places outright.

Hayato Ishiguro, coming off a bronze-medal finish at the Asian Championships in April, scored a takedown and a stepout in the first period, and that was enough to top Takatani 3-0 in the 86kg final.

The 34-year-old Takatani had won his 12th straight Emperor's Cup over four weight classes in December at 92kg but dropped to 86kg in an attempt to make a fourth career Olympics. The 2014 world silver medalist at 74kg, Takatani had not lost to a Japanese opponent since the National Games in October 2013.

"I had faced him several times but I had never beaten him," Ishiguro said. "I had beaten foreign wrestlers who had beaten him and that boosted my confidence, but I still never beat him. Finally, I have topped him, and that makes me feel a mix of relief and joy."

Ishiguro then watched as older sibling Takashi, an Asian bronze medalist in 2021, follow up with a 4-1 victory in the 97kg final over Taira SONODA. Like Hayato, Takashi scored all of his points in the first period, combining a takedown and gut wrench after giving up an activity point.

"I was focused on myself [during the tournament] and didn't see much of his matches, but my final was first so I was able to see his match," Hayato said. "When he won the title, I was happy because it means we can both compete at the World Championships."

In another final, 2022 Asian bronze medalist Katsuaki ENDO avenged a loss in the Emperor's Cup final to Kyotaro SOGABE, this year's Asian silver medalist, by scoring a two-point exposure in his second attempt at par terre for a 3-3 victory on last-point criteria in the Greco-Roman 67kg gold medal bout. The two will go at it again in the July 1 playoff.

Fujinami, Higuchi win away from worlds

The Olympic weight classes are being run over two days, and two of Japan's top medal hopes for Belgrade, but with eyes firmly on Paris, advanced to their respective finals.

Former world champion Akari FUJINAMI followed up her historic victory over Tokyo Olympic champion Mayu SHIDOCHI (formerly MUKAIDA) in the quarterfinals by advancing to the women's 53kg final on Saturday with a victory by fall over Karen SASAKI.

Her two victories stretched Fujinami's current winning streak to 121 matches in a row dating back to her junior high school days in 2017. While she says she has little interest in it, the Japanese media is quick to note she has surpassed the 119-match winning streak put together by three-time Olympic champion and fellow Mie Prefecture native Saori YOSHIDA from December 2001 to January 2008.

Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) Moe KIYOOKA overcame two-time world champion Haruna OKUNO in the 53kg semifinal. (Photo: Japan Wrestling Federation / Takeo Yabuki)

Fujinami's opponent in the final will be fellow 19-year-old Moe KIYOOKA, who gained one of the biggest scalps of her career by knocking off two-time former world champion Haruna OKUNO 4-2 in the other semifinal.

Kiyooka, who is one month and two days Fujinami's senior, has recently established herself as Japan's top wrestler at 55kg, winning both the world U20 and U23 golds and the Emperor's Cup in 2022. Her dropping down to 53kg for the Meiji Cup only added to an already stacked weight class.

Fujinami had moved halfway to Belgrade by beating Okuno in the final of the Emperor's Cup, where Okuno defeated Shidochi. Fujinami all but closed the door to Paris for Shidochi with her victory by fall on Friday in the first-ever meeting between the titans.

Looking ahead to the final, Fujinami commented, "If I don't win tomorrow, it means nothing," Fujinami said. "Winning in Paris is my ultimate goal."

Also moving closer to completing the Emperor's Cup-Meiji Cup double was Rei HIGUCHI, who is in his second Olympic cycle of trying to make up for his disappointing silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Higuchi, the 2022 world champion at freestyle 61kg, has returned to the Olympic weight class of 57kg and -- despite an everlasting struggle to make weight -- advanced to Saturday's final, where he will face Yudai FUJITA.

Higuchi chalked up a 10-5 semifinal victory over Toshihiro HASEGAWA, a 2021 world bronze medalist at 61kg who was the defending Meiji Cup champion.

"I really struggled with losing weight, and that's why I gave up five points in the semifinals," Higuchi said. "I'll focus on the task at hand in the final. I am thinking only of winning."

Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Shohei YABIKU kept his hopes alive of making it to Belgrade by advancing to the Greco 77kg final with a 5-1 victory over Minto MAEDA. He will face world U23 bronze medalist Nao KUSAKA.

Yabiku came up short at the Emperor's Cup after suffering a right knee injury 10 days before the competition. He has since had surgery, but his range of motion remains limited and he said he has to adjust his techniques.

A victory on Saturday would put Yabiku into a playoff with Emperor's Cup champion and two-time Asian bronze medalist Kodai SAKURABA, who was dealt a 5-1 loss in the quarterfinals by Maeda.

Day 2 Results

Freestyle

57kg (13 entries)
Semifinal -- Rei HIGUCHI df. Toshihiro HASEGAWA, 10-5
Semifinal -- Yudai FUJITA df. Yuto NISHIUCHI, 2-1

74kg (14 entries)
Semifinal -- Daichi TAKATANI df. Masaki SATO, 10-5
Semifinal -- Jintaro KINOSHITA df. Yuto MIWA, 2-1

86kg (12 entries)
GOLD -- Hayato ISHIGURO df. Sohsuke TAKATANI, 3-0

BRONZE -- Tatsuya SHIRAI df. Mao OKUI, 7-1
BRONZE -- Fumiya IGARASHI df. Yudai TAKAHASHI, 9-7

97kg (9 entries)
GOLD -- Takashi ISHIGURO df. Taira SONODA, 4-1

BRONZE -- Keivan YOSHIDA df. Hiroto NINOMIYA, 7-5
BRONZE -- Nariya MARUYAMA df. Hibiki ITO by Def.

125kg (4 entries)
GOLD -- Taiki YAMAMOTO (3-0)
SILVER-- Yuji FUKUI (2-1)
BRONZE -- Takuto YASUDA (1-2)

Key match: Taiki YAMAMOTO df. Yuji FUKUI, 2-1 in 3rd round

Greco-Roman

63kg (9 entries)
GOLD -- Ryuto IKEDA df. Chiezo MARUYAMA, 1-1

BRONZE -- Yamato HAGIWARA df. Komei SAWADA, 1-1
BRONZE -- Ryuta KOSHIBA df. Godai MITANI, 8-1

Semifinal -- Chiezo MARUYAMA df. Yamato HAGIWARA by TF, 10-2, 3:42
Semifinal -- Ryuto IKEDA df. Godai MITANI, 5-1

67kg (13 entries)
GOLD -- Katsuaki ENDO df. Kyotaro SOGABE, 3-3

BRONZE -- Ryoma HOJO df. Kensuke SHIMIZU by Def.
BRONZE -- Taishi NARIKUNI df. Yuji UEGAKI, 8-2

77kg (11 entries)
Semifinal -- Shohei YABIKU df. Minto MAEDA, 5-1
Semifinal -- Nao KUSAKA df. Tatsuya FUJII, 7-1

87kg (6 entries)
GOLD -- So SAKABE df. Masato SUMI, 1-1

BRONZE -- Kanta SHIOKAWA df. Daisei ISOE by Fall, 1:26 (4-0)

Semifinal -- Masato SUMI df. Daisei ISOE by TF, 8-0, 1:47
Semifinal -- So SAKABE df . Kanta SHIOKAWA, 5-1

97kg (8 entries)
Semifinal -- Yuta NARA df. Kyo KITAWAKI, TF, 8-0, 1;55
Semifinal -- Yuri NAKAZATO df. Masayuki AMANO, 5-0

130kg (6 entries)
GOLD -- Sota OKUMURA df. Shion OBATA, 1-1

BRONZE -- Koei YAMADA df. Naoto YAMAGUCHI, 2-0

Semifinal -- Sota OKUMURA df. Koei YAMADA by TF, 9-0, 1:59
Semifinal -- Shion OBATA df. Naoto YAMAGUCHI, 4-0

Women

53kg (12 entries)
Semifinal -- Akari FUJINAMI df. Karen SASAKI by Fall, 1:55 (6-1)
Semifinal -- Moe KIYOOKA df. Haruna OKUNO, 4-2

59kg (10 entries)
GOLD -- Sena NAGAMOTO df. Himeka TOKUHARA, 6-3

BRONZE -- Yui SAKANO df. Kanami YAMAUCHI by TF, 9-0, 4:32
BRONZE -- Miyu NAKANISHI df. Sakura YAMAJI, 8-0

Semifinal -- Sena NAGAMOTO df. Yui SAKANO, 6-2
Semifinal -- Himeka TOKUHARA df. Miyu NAKANISHI, 3-0

62kg (13 entries)
GOLD -- Sakura MOTOKI df. Yuzuka INAGAKI, 8-2

BRONZE -- Naomi RUIKE df. Ayana GEMPEI, 5-0
BRONZE -- Nonoka OZAKI df. Suzu SASAKI, TF, 10-0, 4:13

68kg (7 entries)
GOLD -- Miwa MORIKAWA df. Yukako KAWAI, 3-0

BRONZE -- Ami ISHII df. Masako FURUICHI, 5-3

Semifinal -- Miwa MORIKAWA df. Ami ISHII, 8-5
Semifinal -- Yukako KAWAI df. Masako FURUICHI, 4-3

#JapanWrestling

Ozaki grabs Paris ticket at 68kg with thrilling win over Ishii

Sunday, January 28, 2024 - 02:51 By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (January 27) -- Ever since she started wrestling as a schoolgirl, the single-leg takedown has been Nonoka OZAKI's most reliable weapon. It didn't let her down when she needed it most -- with a ticket to the Paris Olympics on the line.

Ozaki launched a last-ditch single-leg in the final nine seconds and it paid off with a takedown, giving the two-time world champion a dramatic 5-4 victory over Ami ISHII in a playoff for Japan's spot in Paris at women's 68kg on Saturday at Tokyo's National Training Center.

"I'm really happy, but it still hasn't sunk in that I've taken a step closer to my dream," said a jubilant Ozaki, for whom the road to Paris has been a roller-coaster of emotions.

Ozaki was the 2022 world champion at 62kg, but missed out during the domestic qualifying process for Paris in that weight class. She then decided to take a shot at 68kg when that became her only remaining option.

Ozaki set up the playoff with Ishii by winning the 68kg title at the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships last December. Ishii, the world silver medalist in 2022, had finished fifth at last year World Championships in Belgrade -- good enough to secure a Paris berth for Japan but not enough to fill it herself.

The victory gave Ozaki her fifth win in five career meetings between the two, who are only three months apart in age. The older Ishii turned 22 in December. Ozaki threw down the gauntlet in their most recent clash, defeating Ishii 6-2 in the first round of the Emperor's Cup.

Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) Ami ISHII scores a go-ahead takedown late in the second period. (Photo by Ikuo Higuchi / Japan Wrestling Federation)

On Saturday, Ishii looked like she might have finally found an answer. Trailing 3-0 in the second period, she received a passivity point, then broke through Ozaki's defenses to score a takedown at the edge in the final seconds that was upheld in an unsuccessful challenge (the Ozaki side wanted it called a stepout) to take a 4-3 lead.

"She got the points in the last 10 seconds and I thought for a moment all was lost," Ozaki said. "During the challenge, I thought, 'I don't want the match to end this way.' Those on my side had a look on their faces of 'you can still do it.'...There was nothing left but to go for it."

During the challenge, the mat chairman also had the clock reset from four seconds and change to 9.89. Ozaki wasted none of it, lunging for the single-leg and quickly finishing it off with a few seconds to spare.

"I didn't practice that, shooting right off the whistle, but I believed in myself," Ozaki said. "It was good they put the clock back to 10 seconds, if it was four seconds, it would have been a problem. I can't say I was calm, but there was nothing else to do. The fact that I didn't have time to think, 'What should I do?' was a good thing."

Ozaki also cut it close with her first-period takedown, which she scored with six seconds left off a counter that she said she practiced in preparation for the match. Ishii likes to work an underhook, and as soon as she made a move for a leg, Ozaki dropped down and clamped on her head, then used her speed to spin behind.

Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) Nonoka OZAKI defeats Ami ISHII in the women's Olympic 68kg playoff. (Photo by Ikuo Higuchi / Japan Wrestling Federation)

For Ishii, the agony of defeat was excruciating. In disbelief, she dropped to the mat and sobbed uncontrollably, which continued even after she was escorted by teammates off the mat. Her wails of anguish reverberated throughout the room, in contrast to Ozaki's celebrations with her contingent.

The playoff was held on one of the six mats in the spacious wrestling room on the basement floor of the National Training Center. Aside from a smattering of media and federation officials, each wrestler was accompanied by a small contingent of fans or teammates.

Ishii just could not seem to process what had happened. Speaking in a barely audible voice through tears to the media, she said, "It's like someone you know has died, but you don't feel like they're gone. I don't feel like Paris is gone, but I have to accept that it is."

Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) Nonoka Ozaki finishes up a quick-fire takedown in the final seconds of the second period to clinch the victory. (Photo by Ikuo Higuchi / Japan Wrestling Federation)

Ozaki could commiserate with her vanquished opponent. She had been on the losing end in a battle for the 62kg place with Ishii's Ikuei University teammate Sakura MOTOKI, a 2022 bronze medalist at 59kg who moved up to the Olympic weight and made it hers. (Another Ikuei wrestler, world champion Tsugumi SAKURAI, will be going to Paris at 57kg.)

"This is a world of competition, and I came here to get the ticket [to Paris] also," Ozaki said. "I know how much she wanted to win, but the competition is harsh and one of us has to lose. I won in the last few seconds, but that could have gone either way. I could have just as easily lost. I am grateful to her for giving me such a high-level match."

Ishii had won the world silver at 68kg in 2022 and could have locked up her place in Paris with a repeat performance last year in Belgrade. The Japan federation had decreed that any wrestler who won a medal in an Olympic weight class would automatically fill the Paris berth themselves.

As it turned out, 68kg was the only women's weight class out of the six in which the Japanese entry did not medal.

Sadly for Ishii, an 8-8 loss in the bronze-medal match to Irina RINGACI (MDA) had dire consequences. Ishii would win the fifth-place playoff to secure the Paris berth for Japan, but it left the door open for others to poach.

Ozaki was also in Belgrade, having decided that she needed to move forward and put her failure at 62kg behind her. She won a spot on Japan's team at the non-Olympic weight of 65kg and picked up her second world gold. But her heart was hardly into it. Of more concern was seeing Motoki clinched her place in Paris by winning the 62kg silver.

"When I look back, it's enough to make me cry, it was so tough," Ozaki said. "Right now I'm happy, but up to last year's World Championships, there was no joy at all in my life. It's like the person I was up to then was lost, it was someone I didn't know like I had run into a wall. I wanted to fight hard but I couldn't make the effort.

"I thought that I don't even want to watch a Paris Olympics that I'm not in. When I won the 65kg playoff here, I had convinced myself that I had to keep moving forward. It wasn't an Olympic weight, but I thought if I could be No. 1 in the world again, it would be an opportunity to start over.

"That's how I felt going to the World Championships. But before my final, the 62kg [berth] was secured. I didn't take a victory lap and I was crying -- it makes me cry now to recall this -- because I was thinking, 'The Olympics is over for me.' I felt resentment. But as I told the media, I was the one responsible and had to accept it. 'I'm not going to retire, and I'll keep fighting,' I said. I had never thought that in the end, I would be going to the Olympics at 68kg."

Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) Ikuei University teammates try to console a devastated Ami Ishii. (Photo by Ken Marantz / United World Wrestling)

Less than two years ago, Ozaki was on top of the world at 62kg, having won 2022 world golds on the senior, U23 and U20 levels over two months. Her eyes were firmly on Paris, and the Japanese press buzzed over her budding rivalry with Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ).

But her well-laid plans began to unravel just a few months later when Motoki decided to make a challenge for the Olympic spot at 62kg in a field that included Tokyo Olympic champion Yukako KAWAI.

After Motoki won their clash at the Emperor's Cup, they never got to meet in the second qualifier -- the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships in June 2023 -- as Ozaki was handed a stunning 6-6 defeat in the quarterfinals by Yuzuku INAGAKI. Motoki won the title to clinch the ticket to Belgrade, and the rest is history.

In preparation for Paris, Ozaki plans to enter one tournament at 68kg, the Asian Championships in Bishkek in April. She is also carrying some injury concerns, having hurt her right knee at the Emperor's Cup and having problems with her left thumb for the past year which she says affects her grip.

But that is all secondary to having made it to the Olympics, even if it means facing opponents larger than she is accustomed to.

"A year ago, I would never have thought of taking the path of 68kg," Ozaki said. "I'm still only 66 kilograms, but I'll work to fill out to 68. Without being inferior in strength, I will use my speed to my advantage. I'll work on counters for underhooks and throws, and maybe even be able to hit some throws of my own. I'll continue to make progress and I'll be ready."

Ozaki, a product of the JOC Academy, took the academic route when it came to choosing a college and currently attends the prestigious Keio University. That means that outside of national team camps, she has to hit the road for training. Her preparation for the playoff took her to Kanagawa University, a club team in Kanagawa Prefecture and a high school in Yamanashi Prefecture. Several of the male wrestlers at the latter were on hand Saturday.

Whether she can win the gold will likely come down to how effective her old friend, the single-leg tackle, will be for her.

"That tackle has been a part of everything I've accomplished up to now," Ozaki said. "It's my weapon, one that I believe in completely. I've always relied on it and won with it. I owe a debt of gratitude to the technique."

Japan's Paris-bound women

50kg: Yui SUSAKI (world champion)
53kg: Akari FUJINAMI (world champion)
57kg: Tsugumi SAKURAI (world champion)
62kg: Sakura MOTOKI (world silver medalist)
68kg: Nonoka OZAKI (world champion 65kg)
76kg: Yuka KAGAMI (world champion)

Morikawa reigns at 68kg, all but shatters Kawai's Olympic quest

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Ozaki grabs Paris ticket at 68kg with thrilling win over Ishii