TOKYO (May 30)---After seeing both of her siblings have to settle for second places, Yasuha MATSUYUKI was determined to give the family a champion. After doing that, she proceeded to earn a chance to make a name for herself at this year's World Championships.
Matsuyuki claimed the women's 76kg title at the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships on the final day Sunday by beating an injury-slowed Yuka KAGAMI in the final, then repeated the victory in a playoff for the place on Japan's world team.
"I was determined that no matter what, I was going to win the title, then win the playoff and get the spot for the World Championships," said the 21-year-old Matsuyuki, a three-time world junior medalist.
Matsuyuki's 3-1 victory over Kagami in the final avenged a loss to the 2019 world junior and Asian champion at the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships last December, thus setting up the showdown for the world team spot.
In the playoff, Matsuyuki scored with a stepout, then on the activity clock on each side of the break as Kagami's movements were limited by an ankle injury suffered five days ago. Late points stopping a desperation throw attempt by Kagami made the final score 5-0.
"Her wrestling style was different than usual," Matsuyuki acknowledged. "I didn't hear anything directly from her, but I thought she must have some kind of injury. She usually goes for tackles, but she didn't try any."
Kagami said she was injured in practice and had considered withdrawing up to the last minute. But with a berth at the World Championships on the line, the 19-year-old thought she might be able to somehow manage. It was harder than she imagined.
"I couldn't attack so I had to come up with a plan to score one or two points," Kagami said. "I knew I was going to draw cautions. I just tried to do what I could."
The two All-Japan tournaments, the Emperor's Cup and Meiji Cup, serve as domestic qualifiers for the team to the World Championships. A playoff was held in weight classes in which the champions were different, as long as they also entered the Meiji Cup. None of the 12 wrestlers who qualified for the Tokyo Olympics took part.
On Day 2 of the four-day tournament held without spectators at Tokyo's Komazawa Gym, Matsuyuki's older brother Taisei advanced to the final at freestyle 86kg, but missed a chance to force a playoff when he lost to Emperor's Cup champion Hayato ISHIGURO -- who will be joined on the flight to Oslo by his older brother Takashi, who won the 97kg title Sunday.
A day later, the Matsuyuki clan suffered another setback with Yasuha's twin sister Naruha lost in the women's 68kg final to Rin MIYAJI, then again to her in the world team playoff.
In a family meeting before her final, Yasuha said, "We said, we can't all finish second. That motivated me to make sure we won at least one title. We still have never all won at the same tournament. That's something we want to do."
Born in Aichi Prefecture in central Japan, the Matsuyuki twins entered their first national tournament while in fifth grade. They are both currently students at collegiate powerhouse Shigakkan University.
How did they decide who would wrestle in which weight class?
"From the time we were little and both entered national tournaments, generally I entered the heavier weight class," Yasuha said. "It just became natural. I was a little heavier, and we didn't have to talk about it."
Naruha, a 2019 world junior champion, was the first of the two to make it to a senior World Championships, placing eighth at 72kg in Budapest in 2018. Yasuha knows she has her work cut out for herself in Oslo.
"The way I am now, I don't think I can win," Yasuha said. "To win as many matches as I can, I need to step up my training."
Share your thoughts.
Comments