#WrestleTokyo

Tokyo 2020 Test Event Starts with Minor Kinks, Vengeance for Japan’s Sakano

Thursday, October 3, 2019 - 13:17 By Ken Marantz

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CHIBA, Japan (Oct. 3)---The wrestling venue for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics got its first taste of action with the start of a three-day women’s tournament, with the competition on the mat overshadowing the kind of technological glitches that often pop up in a test event.

Yui SAKANO (JPN) provided the surprise of the day in Hall 5 of Makuhari Messe, a sprawling convention center in western Chiba city down the coast from Tokyo, when she avenged a loss from three years ago to newly minted world bronze medalist PEI Xingru (CHN) in the 62kg semifinals. 

Venue manager Yasukazu FUJIMORI, assessing the first day of the three-day test event in the six Olympic weight classes for women, said, “The training for the staff and volunteers went well. The problem was with the technology.” 

He pointed out bugs with the printer and scoreboards, the type that come out during operational trials and are fixable as the UWW and Olympic systems are integrated. 

Of bigger concern for Fujimori was the low number of wrestlers drawn to the tournament. Coming so close to the recently completed World Championships in Kazakhstan, only half the countries who had expressed interest in participating actually made the trip. 

“It’s a bit of a lonely tournament,” Fujimori said. “We wanted 16 entries [per weight class] but only have eight [or nine],” adding that reductions in the budget by the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee for its “Ready Steady Tokyo” series of test events also was a factor.

Fujimori expressed his gratitude to China, which, among the six nations here, sent several top wrestlers, including five medalists from Nur-Sultan. 

ZHOU Qian (CHN) defeated 2018 world champion Justina DI STASIO (CAN), 2-2, and will wrestle for gold at 76kg. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

“I wanted to get a feel for the atmosphere of this venue and the weather in Japan,” ZHOU Qian (CHN), a two-time former world medalist, said after making the 76kg final. “Maybe there will be some difference [next year], but it will help a lot to prepare next time.” 

When the wrestlers got on the mat, of course, they put aside the external factors and focus on the task at hand, just as they would for any tournament. 

Sakano, the 2017 world U23 champion at 60kg, was only offered a place at the tournament 10 days ago. And when she saw who was among her competition at 62kg, she became extra motivated.

Three years ago at the World Championships for non-Olympic weights, Sakano lost 8-6 in the semifinals to China’s Pei, who went on to win that title. Pei would add bronze medals at 59kg last year in Budapest and last month at Nur-Sultan.

On Thursday, Pei scored a go-behind takedown to take a 2-0 lead into the second period. But Sakano used a nifty barrel roll to go ahead 4-2 and came very close to ending the match with a fall. 

“I wanted to use a different move, but the chance came up,” Sakano said. “I was losing anyway so I just went for it.”

Pei escaped the predicament, but could only gain a point for fleeing in the closing seconds and came out on the short end of a 4-3 score. 

“I remember it,” Sakano said of the 2016 loss to Pei. “When I saw the draw, I thought this was a good chance for revenge as I hadn’t faced her in the three years [since the world championships].”

In the final on Saturday, Sakano will be looking for another measure of revenge. She will be facing 2018 world junior champion Atena KODAMA (JPN), who defeated her at last year’s All-Japan Championships. 

Kodama advanced with a 5-3 victory over Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR) after scoring all of her points in the second period, mainly with a deadly low single.  

Yui SAKANO (JPN) scored a stunning 4-3 win over world bronze medalist PEI Xingru (CHN) in the 62kg semifinals. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

In the morning session, Sakano scored a victory by fall over LUO Xiaojuan, this year’s Asian champion at 65kg. Pei, meanwhile, had her hands full with Mallory VELTE (USA) in a clash of current and former world bronze medalists before coming away with a 4-1 victory. 

Kodama, a 2018 world junior champion, defeated Yarygin Grand Prix runner-up Anna SHCHERBAKOVA (RUS) 8-1, twice fighting off whizzer attempts that ended up with the Russian on her back. 

The 76kg final will be an all-China affair between Paliha PALIHA (CHN) and Zhou, who each advanced with very different wins.

Paliha, a world bronze medalist at 72kg, overwhelmed high schooler Mizuki NAGASHIMA (JPN) by 12-2 technical fall, while Zhou needed a spin-behind takedown with five seconds left to stun 2018 world 72kg champion Justina DI STASIO (CAN) 2-2 on criteria. 

Asked what she was thinking as the clock ticked down, Zhou smiled and said in English, “I want to win.”

At 68kg, WANG Xiaoqian (CHN) stormed into the final with the most dominant performance of the day, and will face Naruha MATSUYUKI (JPN) for the gold. 

Wang, a world bronze medalist at 65kg, needed just 30 seconds to dispose of Alina RUDNYTSKA LEVYTSKA (UKR), a 2018 world junior bronze medalist, by 10-0 technical fall, then defeated Alexandra GLAUDE (USA) by fall. 

Matsuyuki, one of twin sisters in the tournament, pancaked Alena STARODUBTSEVA (RUS) for two points early in their semifinal before holding on for a 3-0 win. 

Day 1 Results

Women’s Wrestling

62kg (8 entries)
Semifinal – Yui SAKANO (JPN) df. PEI Xingru (CHN), 4-3
Semifinal – Atena KODAMA (JPN) df. Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR), 5-3

68kg (8 entries)
Semifinal – WANG Xiaoqian (CHN) df. Alexandra GLAUDE (USA) by Fall, 2:50 (6-0) 
Semifinal – Naruha MATSUYUKI (JPN) df. Alena STARODUBTSEVA (RUS), 3-0

76kg (9 entries)
Semifinal – Paliha PALIHA (CHN) df. Mizuki NAGASHIMA (JPN) by TF, 12-2, 4:35 
Semifinal – ZHOU Qian (CHN) df. Justina DI STASIO (CAN), 2-2

#WrestleTirana

Elor wins eighth world title, sets sights on Paris Olympics

Friday, October 27, 2023 - 21:38 By Vinay Siwach

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TIRANA, Albania (October 27) -- If you were logging in to watch Amit ELOR (USA) compete in the 72kg final of the U23 World Championships, most likely you missed the final. That's because she was lightning fast in winning the bout in mere 21 seconds.

And if you think that was quick, Elor finished her first bout in 16 seconds and the second in 18 seconds. Only her semifinal against Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL) was for six minutes. Out of the 24 minutes for four bouts, Elor spent only six minutes and 55 seconds on the mat to win the U23 World Championships in Tirana, Albania on Friday.

ALSO READ: Despite nine wrestlers, Japan wins team title

At the age of 19, Amit Elor now holds an impressive record of eight world titles across different age groups, including two senior, two U23, three U20, and one U17 world gold.

While her remarkable stats speak about her dominance on the mat, Elor herself has kept no record of her international wins or scores.

"Maybe I should go over," she says. "We used to do it in high school. And ever since I got into international wrestling, I haven't thought about it as much. But it would be really cool to look back and see how many matches they've had and how many wins and losses. I remember the competitions, but not always every single match unless it was really meaningful."

Amit ELOR (USA)Amit ELOR (USA) used the lace to win her 72kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

For most, the final would mean a lot but for Elor, the semifinal at the U23 World Championships against Choluj was the stand-out match. Choluj managed to stop Elor from scoring a fall or win via technical superiority and lost only 5-0.

"Probably my semi-final had a strong opponent and our styles matched up against each other," she says. "It was kind of similar styles which made it difficult. A lot of hand-fighting. I had some injuries from senior Worlds that made it difficult to hand fight. But I stayed composed and in good position and I was able to win."

The final against Jyoti BERWAL (UWW) was unbelievably one-sided as by the time Berwal could try any move on Elor, the American had laced her for a 10-0 victory.

With that, Elor extended her international career record to 38-1, the one loss coming at the U17 World Championships in 2019. "I'll get it next year," a 16-year-old Elor would say back then. She won the gold at the next U17 Worlds without conceding a point.

"It's not easy," Elor says. "There's so much work involved that leads up to the competition. There's a lot of pressure and I want to do my best and I have high expectations for myself. When you go out there and you wrestle it seems so short and easy but that's just the result of all the work leading up to the competition."

In the lead-up to the U23 Worlds, Elor trained with six-time world champion Adeline GRAY (USA), trained at her home in California and also used her experience at the U20 and senior worlds which she called the 'perfect preparation.'

"Training with Adeline has been amazing for me," she says. "I am constantly learning so much from her. Not just about wrestling but about being an athlete and taking care of yourself. She is a very confident, strong person and so I've kind of learned how to think more for myself and what I need as an athlete.

"The two World Championships were perfect preparation for this."

It was the same script last year in which Elor won three world titles, becoming the first from the U.S. to win all the world titles. She just repeated the three-peat.

 

But the season is not over for her. Elor will soon be challenging herself to make the Olympic weight of 68kg (72kg is not an Olympic weight) in her bid to be at Paris 2024. 

"The most important thing for me is that I feel my best when I'm wrestling," she says. "Right now my plan is to drop my weight to 68kg and see how I feel there. That's going to be a big challenge, a different weight."

Elor says she has not reduced weight for a competition. Though she spent her early days in international wrestling at 68kg, that was at the U17 level.

"I was 68kg in 2021, so it's nothing new but it's still been two years," she says. "It's going to be challenging but I'm really excited and I'm ready to do everything I possibly can because it's the Olympic year."

Being at the Olympics will make Elor the second wrestler in the world to win all world titles and also compete at the Games. A gold in Paris will put her next to Yui SUSAKI (JPN), the only wrestler to have won all world titles and the Olympic gold. 

But just to be in Paris, Elor will have a marathon stretch. In the U.S., she will have to first wrestle at the team trials to be at the Pan-Am Olympic Qualifiers in March. If the country qualifies the weight for Paris, Elor will have to go through the Olympic Team Trials in April.

"Unfortunately, 68kg wasn't qualified yet for the Olympics," she says. "There's going to be a wrestle-off in February and whoever wins will go to Pan Ams and try to qualify the weight there. I would really need to work more on my speed and coordination and definitely add more to my arsenal. I'll wrestle in the wrestle-off at 68 and see how I do."