#ChinaOpen2018

World Champ Mukaida Helps Japan Jolt to Trio of China Open Golds

Friday, June 22, 2018 - 13:05 By Eric Olanowski

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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

#development

UWW Educators Attend Special NCDA Cohort at NSSU

Friday, May 1, 2026 - 09:09 By United World Wrestling Press

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TOKYO (April 24) -- United World Wrestling's Development Officer Vicent AKA and Education Manager Zach ERRETT recently completed Cohort 9 for the National Coach Developer Academy [NCDA] at the Nippon Sport Science University in Tokyo, Japan.

The NCDA is programme that runs over seven months and includes two sessions at Nippon Sports Science University working with experts in coaching development. It is designed to help participants learn strategies for how to develop and train coaches [train the trainer].

NSSU conducts the programme, that helps train coach developers for different sports and organizations, in partnership with International Council for Coaching Excellence [ICCE] which was created in 1997.

DevelopmentUWW Educators Vincent AKA, left, and Zach ERRETT.

Both Aka and Errett participated with 13 other participants from around the world and different sports. During the programme, both improved their facilitation skills, learned new strategies for training and developing coaches, and designed and implemented a growth development project.

"The training was very interesting and allowed us to grow as a person and ideas for how to organize our system. We were able to learn something we would directly use and to learn from experts in the field," Aka said.

Errett said that the education he received at the NCDA will help them train coaches and educators better in wrestling.

"We had an opportunity to learn from experts in the field of coach development and learn from colleagues around the world," Errett said. "We can use this information to help better train coaches and educators in the future."

Cohort 10, the next edition of the programme, will be attended by UWW Educator Oyan NAZARIANI.

“I am honored to be selected for the NCDA programme," Nazariani said. "At this stage of my career, my focus is on developing structured and sustainable coach education systems. I am particularly excited to deepen my knowledge as a coach developer, strengthen the programme we plan to implement in Azerbaijan, and apply advanced methodologies both in national coaching courses and in international courses I conduct as a UWW Educator across different countries."