World Champ Mukaida Helps Japan Jolt to Trio of China Open Golds
Friday, June 22, 2018 - 13:05 By Eric Olanowski
TAIYUAN, China (June 22) - World champion Mayu MuKAIDA (JPN), alongside YU MIYAHARA (JPN) and Yuzuru KUMANO (JPN) jolted Japan to a trio of China Open gold medals on the opening day of competition in Taiyuan’s Shanxi Sports Center.
In the finals, Mukaida used a quartet of takedowns and a pushout with under ten seconds left to grab the 9-1 victory over China’s U23 world runner-up and Ivan Yarygin champion, ZHANG Qi.
Mukaida, who's only suffered two international losses since 2015 outscored her opponents 29-1 through her three matches on the day. When asked what worked for her this weekend, Mukaida said, "I just concentrated on one match at a time, and I was able to wrestle freely. I was able to do what I wanted."
Yu Miyahara collected Japan's second gold medal of the night in a rematch of the Ivan Yarygin semifinals where she once again defeated Ekaterina POLESHCHUK (RUS). This time, it was for the 53kg China Open gold medal. Though the Russian wrestler improved on January’s 10-0 defeat, Miyahara’s double leg takedown and side headlock roll were good enough to claim the 4-1 victory.
Yuzuru Kumano gave Japan their third and final gold medal from the first day of competition with a 9-3 thumping of Russia’s Veronika CHUMIKOVA in the 59kg gold-medal bout.
RONG Ningning (CHN) presented the host nation with their first gold medal after sticking Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS) in the 57kg championship bout. “I felt very excited to win this gold medal. I brought glory to this Chinese team.”
After winning the Ivan Yarygin and Asian Championship at 59kg, Rong decided to move down to compete at 57kg. “The 2kg difference was not hard to make. It was just a few extra runs. But, I felt light. This is going to be my weight class moving forward to the Asian Games and the World Championships.”
The final gold medal of the day went to Romania's Alina Emilia VUC. Vuc, the runner-up at the 2018 European Championships and Klippan Lady Open bronze medalist finally claimed the gold medal she’s been chasing all year with a 1-0 win over China’s ZHU Jiang.
50kg
GOLD – Alina VUC (ROU) df. ZHU Jiang (CHN), 1-0
BRONZE - Aktenge KEUNIMYAEVA (UZB) df. Dauletbike YAKHSHIMURATOVA (UZB), 3-1
53kg
GOLD – YU MIYAHARA (JPN) df. Ekaterina POLESHCHUK (RUS), 4-1
BRONZE – PANG Qianyu (CHN) df. LOU Lannuan (CHN), via fall
BRONZE – LIU Yujiao (CHN) df. Mercedesz DENES (HUN), 10-0
55kg
GOLD – Mayu MUKAIDA (JPN) df. ZHANG Qi (CHN), 9-1
BRONZE – OH Hyemin (KOR) df. Ramona GALAMBOS (HUN)
BRONZE – OUYANG Junling (CHN) df. Zalina SIDAKOVA (BLR), 5-2
57kg
GOLD – RONG Ningning (CHN) df. Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS), 5-0
BRONZE – UM Jieun (KOR) df. Kateryna ZHYDACHEVSKA (ROU), 3-3
BRONZE - Tetyana KIT (UKR) df. Xingru PEI (CHN), via injury default
59kg
GOLD – Yuzuru KUMANO (JPN) df. Veronika CHUMIKOVA (RUS), 9-3
BRONZE – Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) df. WANG Yuan (CHN), 11-0
BRONZE – ZHANG Yue (CHN) df. SUN Xinyuan (CHN), 8-6
Gold medalist at 79kg in 2024, Nan CAO (CHN) will be wrestling at 86kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov) 
Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ) is the defending champion at 87kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)
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