Susaki Aims to Gain Olympic Spot with Golden Performance

Thursday, April 8, 2021 - 14:15 By Ken Marantz

ALMATY, Kazakhstan (April 8) --- Two-time world champion Yui SUSAKI (JPN) can see a silver lining in the year-long postponement of the Asian qualifying tournament for the Tokyo Olympics.

And while a silver medal in Almaty would be good enough to earn her a first trip to Olympics, the 21-year-old star has no intention of coming home with anything but the gold.

"When the Asian qualifying and Tokyo Olympics were postponed for a year, I felt I was given that amount of time to get stronger and I kept practicing," Susaki said in an online press conference earlier this week.

"As for not having matches, it gave me time to address the little issues that I couldn't do up to now. I was able to work on fine points and from that standpoint, I feel like I've grown in the past year."

Susaki will be aiming to secure a berth for Japan at 50kg, the only one of the six women's weight classes in which the Asian powerhouse did not clinch a spot at the 2019 world championships.

The women's tournament will be on the second day of the three-day tournament April 9-11, which will start with Greco-Roman and end with freestyle.

"It's good and I'm ready for matches," Susaki said of her current condition. "From the start of the year, I've had good practices in preparation as the tournament gets closer."

The tournament will mark her first international event since the 2019 World Cup, and first overall since the All-Japan Championships in December 2019, where she defeated rival Yuki IRIE (JPN) to earn the right to enter the Olympic qualifier.

"It's my first tournament in awhile, so I'm really looking forward to it," Susaki said. "The Olympics are on the line, so everyone is putting everything into this tournament. I will concentrate on each match as it comes and work my way to the title.

"I'm grateful to be able to make the challenge for the Tokyo Olympics. I want to definitely win and gain an Olympic berth, and come home with a smile."

Susaki will certainly be favored to grab one of the two spots available for Asia at the qualifying tournament. She will not contend with opponents from host Kazakhstan or China, as both of those countries qualified at the Nursultan worlds.

Regardless of the competition, and notwithstanding the fact that she does not need to do it, going for the gold has been her mantra since she started the sport, and has many more times than not also been the result. Since junior high school, she has lost only three times --- all to compatriot Irie. She is undefeated against the rest of humanity.

"To have come this far, no matter how it's done, I want to win the title and make the Olympic team," Susaki said. "From the time that the Tokyo Olympics were decided, I've regarded it as an event I definitely want to participate in and win the gold medal."

Susaki's main competition looks to come from 2020 Yarygin Grand Prix champion Namuuntsetseg TSOGT OCHIR (MGL) and 2019 Yasur Dogu winner Seema SEEMA (IND).

Following the postponement, Susaki tried to stay focused on the task at hand, even though it was difficult as the Tokyo region went through two states of emergency and there were limited opportunities for match experience, as no Japanese wrestlers made trips abroad for competition.

"Over this past year, so many things happened, like there was a state of emergency declared and I had to go back home," Susaki said. "Would the Olympics be held or not? The situation was changing all the time. So it was a hectic year.

"But I could see my family and meet my friends, so as long as there was this 'support', I could stay strong through now. A lot happened, but because of those around me, I realized that they made me what I am today. As such, I want to repay them even in a small way by making it to the Olympics."

Without getting ahead of herself, Susaki is already looking forward to what awaits her after the tournament.

"When the Asian qualifying is over, I want to come back to Japan and eat all kinds of goodies, like sushi, pizza, cake. After I secure the Olympic spot, I think that everything will taste great."

U23 Asian and world champion Mohammad Reza GERAEI (IRI) will compete at 67kg. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

Paths to Olympic spots varies

Of the Asian nations, host Kazakhstan and Japan secured the most Olympic berths at the world championships with eight each. Iran has sewn up six places, followed by China (5), India (4), Uzbekistan (3) and Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan and the People's Republic of Korea (2).

For some hopefuls in Almaty, the path to the Olympics will be somewhat easier. There is one weight class in each style in which Asian nations have already secured four spots---freestyle 65kg, Greco 60kg and women 53kg.

Conversely, the Greco 67kg and 97kg divisions had no qualifiers, meaning all nations will be vying for the coveted spots, while there was only one qualifier each at freestyle 97kg and Greco 130kg.

Greco 67kg will feature veteran RYU Hansoo, the 2013 world champion at 66kg who has won a combined five titles at the Asian Games and Asian Championships, most recently in 2020 in New Delhi. Now 33, he is looking for one more trip to the Olympics, having finished fifth at Rio 2016.

Also entered in that weight class is Mohammad Reza GERAEI (IRI), the 2019 world U-23 and Asian champion at 72kg, and Meirzhan SHERMAKHANBET (KAZ), who finished second to Ryu at the 2019 Asian Championships, as well as 2020 Asian bronze medalist Ashu ASHU (IND) and 2019 world 72kg silver medalist Aram VARDANYAN (UZB).

Shogo TAKAHASHI (JPN), a 2019 Asian bronze medalist, has the added incentive of attempting to qualify for an Olympics on home soil.

Along with Rio 2016 silver medalist Rei HIGUCHI (JPN), who is aiming to qualify at freestyle 57kg, another Japanese wrestler in the spotlight is Sosuke TAKATANI (JPN), the 2014 world silver medalist at freestyle 74kg who will try to make it to a third Olympics, this time at 86kg.

Like Susaki, his goal is to not only to qualify, but to win the tournament. His reasoning is that he took second the two previous times, but failed to medal at the Olympics. "It is bad luck," he said. "Now I'm going to be in 1st place and go to the Olympics."

Among those standing in his way are Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ), a 2018 Asian bronze medalist who was fifth last year, and Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL), an Asian bronze medalist in 2019.

Also worth watching will be American-born Domenic ABOU NADER (LBN), a silver medalist at the 2018 Asian Games. The former All-American at Michigan University will aim to become the first wrestler from Lebanon to qualify for the Olympics since 1980 and seventh in history.

In women's wrestling, it will be interesting to see how up-and-coming Sonam MALIK (IND) fares at 62kg. The 2019 world cadet champion at 65kg knocked off Rio 2016 silver medalist Sakshi MALIK (IND) 8-7 at the Indian national trials in Lucknow.

"Sakshi Malik is our role model, she won the medal at the Olympics," Sonam told Indian media. "My coach said, 'You have nothing to lose' and give your best in the match. It was in my mind that I want to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics."

In Almaty, she can expect tough competition from Ayaulym KASSYMOVA (KAZ), the silver medalist at last year's Asian Championships, and Nabira ESENBAEVA (UZB), a 2019 Asian bronze medalist along with Sakshi.

Japan Wrestling

High schooler Yoshida completes historic Japan national title double

Thursday, December 19, 2024 - 15:00 By Ken Marantz

Taizo YOSHIDA, left, battles Yuya OKAJIMA in the Greco 82kg final. (photo by Takeo YABUKI / JWF)

TOKYO (December 19) -- As the wrestling world still buzzes about those four gold medals won by Japanese men at the Paris Olympics, a rising star is emerging who looks capable of showing that there will more of that ahead.

Teenager Taizo YOSHIDA, already a senior Asian champion, became just the fourth high schooler in history to win a men's title at the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships when he triumphed at Greco 82kg on Thursday in Tokyo.

Meanwhile, Ami ISHII and Miwa MORIKAWA, who both medaled at the Non-Olympic Weight Category World Championships after failing to qualify for the Paris Olympics, regained the women's 68kg and 65kg titles, respectively.

The 18-year-old Yoshida recorded three straight technical falls before defeating veteran Yuya OKAJIMA 5-0 in the final on the opening day of the four-day tournament at Tokyo's Yoyogi No. 2 Gym that is serving as the first of two domestic qualifiers for next year's World Championships.

The other world qualifier is the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships, which will be held in June next year. Having won that tournament this year, Yoshida's victory on Thursday made him the only male high schooler to achieve the Emperor's-Meiji double.

"To win both the Meiji Cup and Emperor's Cup as a high schooler is quite a feat, and I achieved it," said Yoshida, who lost a close match in the final at last year's Emperor's Cup. "To be able to say I was the first makes me really happy."

Yoshida made his first mark on the global stage by winning the world U17 gold at 80kg in 2023. That was just a prelude for what was to come in 2024, as he won the gold at the Asian Championships, then took a bronze at the world U20 and finished fifth at the senior worlds.

He said that working on his par terre wrestling has made a difference. "Up to the Meiji Cup, I was at a level where I couldn't get a roll even once. But I worked on improving my ground wrestling, and I think this was the payoff."

Yoshida is from the same rural high school in western Japan that produced Paris Olympic champion Nao KUSAKA, and he will follow in Kusaka's footsteps and enroll at powerhouse Nippon Sports Science University (known informally as Nittaidai) in the spring as he begins his quest for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

"Takamatsu Kita High School is really out in the country, and we had few members on the [wrestling] team and not a good practice environment," Yoshida said. "But out of that an Olympic champion emerged, and that makes me believe that it is possible for me.

"I will be in my senior year of college at the time of the Los Angeles Olympics. The training situation will be at a much higher level at Nittaidai, and as a culmination of my four years, I want to win an Olympic title along with Nao."

While victory laps are not standard procedure at the Emperor's Cup, Yoshida made an exception by taking one that was more a tribute to Kusaka -- instead of a Japanese flag, he ran a quick lap with one of the towels that Kusaka's supporters brandished in Paris.

"It wasn't very exciting, but it made him happy. Maybe he'll buy me something," Yoshida joked.

JPN1 Ami ISHII scores a takedown on Mahiro YOSHITAKE in the women's 68kg final. (photo by Takeo YABUKI / JWF)

Ishii captures 7th straight major tournament title

Ishii, coming off winning her first world title with a victory at 72kg in Tirana -- which she preceded the week before by capturing the world U23 gold at 68kg -- easily plowed through a thin field to regain the 68kg Emperor's Cup crown that she won in 2023.

Ishii, who still feels the sting of a crushing, last-second loss to Nonoka OZAKI in a playoff for the Paris Olympic 68kg berth, won both of her round-robin group matches 10-0, then repeated that score in routing Asian 65kg champion Mahiro YOSHITAKE in the final.

"I lost in the qualifying for Paris, and I have set a goal of going to the Los Angeles Olympics and winning the gold," Ishii said. "My main objective is getting to Los Angeles and it started by winning today at the Emperor's Cup by focusing on each and every match."

The pain of missing out on Paris was so sharp that Ishii revealed that she did not even watch the wrestling competition, with the exception of her Ikuei University teammates Tsugumi SAKURAI and Sakura MOTOKI, who both went on to win gold medals.

"Half of me didn't want to, but I had worked so hard with Sakura and Tsugumi to make us all better, so of course I had to support them. But I didn't watch anyone else," she said, adding that she did watch other Olympic sports.

Since the playoff in January, Ishii has been among the busiest of Japan's top wrestlers. While the Olympic medalists have been barely seen outside of television appearances and hometown events -- only Ozaki is entered in this year's Emperor's Cup -- Ishii entered seven high-level tournaments, as well as a few small regional events, and won them all.

"There was no pressure that if I lost, I wouldn't qualify for something else. I was really happy to take part. And it was half-joking, half-serious, but after my first win after the playoff, I would say I was on my way to beating Akari FUJINAMI's winning streak, which was 127 at the time. Right now I am at 27 in a row."

JPN2 Miwa MORIKAWA, right, holds off Momoko KITADE in the women's 65kg final. (photo by Takeo YABUKI / JWF)

Morikawa, the 2022 world champion at 65kg, had also tried to make the Olympic team at 68kg, a quest that ended with a loss in last year's Emperor's Cup final to Ozaki. She then won a playoff to get to the non-Olympic worlds at 65kg, where she took a bronze home from Tirana.

On Thursday, Morikawa was not overly dominating. In the final, she scored four stepouts -- one with a fleeing point tacked on -- in a 5-0 victory over Momoko KITADE.

"I had aimed for winning by technical superiority, but this whole tournament, nothing went right for me," Morikawa said. "But I think I have some clear issues to work on in the future."

Morikawa has twice been foiled in a bid to make it to the Olympics, and is determined to not have to endure a third time. The domestic qualifying for Los Angeles will start with the 2026 Emperor's Cup, so for now, she will stay at 65kg and work on sharpening her game and rebuilding confidence.

"To be honest, there are strong wrestlers in every weight class. I want to dominate this weight class and, with the qualifying for Los Angeles starting [in two years], I am only thinking about improving."

jpg Yoshinosuke AOYAGI works to turn Toki OGAWA in the freestyle 70kg final. (photo by Takeo YABUKI / JWF)

Aoyagi cruises to 3rd straight freestyle 70kg crown

Another medalist from the non-Olympic worlds who made it to the top of the podium was Yoshinosuke AOYAGI, who won a third straight crown at 70kg by defeating Toki OGAWA by 10-0 technical fall in the final.

For Aoyagi, it capped a productive year in which he won a silver medal at the Asian Championships, won the title at the Meiji Cup, finished third at the world U23 (a year after placing second), then took a silver at the non-Olympic worlds in Tirana.

"I feel like I won because the flow of my matches went really well," Aoyagi said.

Acknowledging that his overseas success this year has boosted his confidence, he added that he feels pressure from within the training group at Yamanashi Gakuin University, from which he graduated last spring. That includes Kaito MORITA, who he faced and defeated 5-0 in the semifinals.

"There are guys coming up from within my own team that are steadily turning up the heat," Aoyagi said. "The semifinal was tough; to be honest, it scared me. In the final, you never know what will happen."

At freestyle 65kg, Kaisei TANABE, whose father Chikara was a bronze medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics, defeated world U23 silver medalist Kaiji OGINO 2-0 in the final to add that title to the one he won last year at 61kg.

In the semifinals, Tanabe scored a 7-2 victory over two-time world U20 champion Yuto NISHIUCHI, who had beaten him at the collegiate championships in August.

The 61kg title went to Takara SUDA in the absence of world champion and Yamanashi Gakuin teammate Masanosuke ONO, who is still recovering from a broken foot suffered en route to winning the gold in Tirana.

Day 1 Results

Freestyle

61kg (16 entries)
GOLD -- Takara SUDA df. Hiroyuki ISHIHARA, 5-2
BRONZE -- Akito MUKAIDA df. Toshihiro HASEGAWA, 6-3
BRONZE -- Takeru OIKAWA df. Haruto OURA, 4-0

65kg (17 entries)
GOLD -- Kaisei TANABE df. Kaiji OGINO, 2-0
BRONZE -- Yuto NISHIUCHI df. Reiji UCHIDA by TF, 10-0, 3:15
BRONZE -- Ryuto SAKAKI df. Yuta MIYAZAKI, 7-0

70kg (20 entries)
GOLD -- Yoshinosuke AOYAGI df. Toki OGAWA by TF, 10-0, 1:14
BRONZE -- Kanata YAMAGUCHI df. Kaito MORITA by TF, 11-0, 2:21
BRONZE -- Yuma TOMIYAMA df. Yuto MIWA, 9-6

Greco-Roman

82kg (17 entries)
GOLD -- Taizo YOSHIDA df. Yuya OKAJIMA, 5-0
BRONZE -- Konosuke TANIZAKI df. Yuto SAWADA by TF, 8-0, 1:35
BRONZE -- Reon KAKEGAWA df. Yudai KOBORI by TF, 9-0, 1:46

87kg (9 entries)
GOLD -- So SAKABE df. Daisei ISOE by TF, 8-0, 1:27
BRONZE -- Isshin ONITSUKA df. Kou FUKUSHIMA by TF, 9-1, 4:13
BRONZE -- Akira YOSHIZAWA df. Sora SATO by TF, 8-0, 3:50

97kg (12 entries)
GOLD -- Yuri NAKAZATO df. Takahiro TSURUTA, 2-1
BRONZE -- Kanta SHIOKAWA df. Hikaru ISOTANI by TF, 9-0, 1:11
BRONZE -- Riku NAKAHARA df. Sorato KANAZAWA, 11-5

Women's Wrestling

65kg (9 entries)
GOLD -- Miwa MORIKAWA df. Momoko KITADE, 5-0
BRONZE -- Nana IKEHATA df. Miyu YOSHIKAWA, 4-4
BRONZE -- Rin TERAMOTO df. Horu SATO by TF, 11-0, 4:41

68kg (6 entries)
GOLD -- Ami ISHII df. Mahiro YOSHITAKE by TF, 10-0, 2:24
BRONZE -- Seia MOCHINAGA df. Kaede MATSUYAMA, 3-1

Susaki Aims to Gain Olympic Spot with Golden Performance

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High schooler Yoshida completes historic Japan national title double