Ozaki grabs Paris ticket at 68kg with thrilling win over Ishii

Sunday, January 28, 2024 - 02:51 By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (January 27) -- Ever since she started wrestling as a schoolgirl, the single-leg takedown has been Nonoka OZAKI's most reliable weapon. It didn't let her down when she needed it most -- with a ticket to the Paris Olympics on the line.

Ozaki launched a last-ditch single-leg in the final nine seconds and it paid off with a takedown, giving the two-time world champion a dramatic 5-4 victory over Ami ISHII in a playoff for Japan's spot in Paris at women's 68kg on Saturday at Tokyo's National Training Center.

"I'm really happy, but it still hasn't sunk in that I've taken a step closer to my dream," said a jubilant Ozaki, for whom the road to Paris has been a roller-coaster of emotions.

Ozaki was the 2022 world champion at 62kg, but missed out during the domestic qualifying process for Paris in that weight class. She then decided to take a shot at 68kg when that became her only remaining option.

Ozaki set up the playoff with Ishii by winning the 68kg title at the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships last December. Ishii, the world silver medalist in 2022, had finished fifth at last year World Championships in Belgrade -- good enough to secure a Paris berth for Japan but not enough to fill it herself.

The victory gave Ozaki her fifth win in five career meetings between the two, who are only three months apart in age. The older Ishii turned 22 in December. Ozaki threw down the gauntlet in their most recent clash, defeating Ishii 6-2 in the first round of the Emperor's Cup.

Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) Ami ISHII scores a go-ahead takedown late in the second period. (Photo by Ikuo Higuchi / Japan Wrestling Federation)

On Saturday, Ishii looked like she might have finally found an answer. Trailing 3-0 in the second period, she received a passivity point, then broke through Ozaki's defenses to score a takedown at the edge in the final seconds that was upheld in an unsuccessful challenge (the Ozaki side wanted it called a stepout) to take a 4-3 lead.

"She got the points in the last 10 seconds and I thought for a moment all was lost," Ozaki said. "During the challenge, I thought, 'I don't want the match to end this way.' Those on my side had a look on their faces of 'you can still do it.'...There was nothing left but to go for it."

During the challenge, the mat chairman also had the clock reset from four seconds and change to 9.89. Ozaki wasted none of it, lunging for the single-leg and quickly finishing it off with a few seconds to spare.

"I didn't practice that, shooting right off the whistle, but I believed in myself," Ozaki said. "It was good they put the clock back to 10 seconds, if it was four seconds, it would have been a problem. I can't say I was calm, but there was nothing else to do. The fact that I didn't have time to think, 'What should I do?' was a good thing."

Ozaki also cut it close with her first-period takedown, which she scored with six seconds left off a counter that she said she practiced in preparation for the match. Ishii likes to work an underhook, and as soon as she made a move for a leg, Ozaki dropped down and clamped on her head, then used her speed to spin behind.

Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) Nonoka OZAKI defeats Ami ISHII in the women's Olympic 68kg playoff. (Photo by Ikuo Higuchi / Japan Wrestling Federation)

For Ishii, the agony of defeat was excruciating. In disbelief, she dropped to the mat and sobbed uncontrollably, which continued even after she was escorted by teammates off the mat. Her wails of anguish reverberated throughout the room, in contrast to Ozaki's celebrations with her contingent.

The playoff was held on one of the six mats in the spacious wrestling room on the basement floor of the National Training Center. Aside from a smattering of media and federation officials, each wrestler was accompanied by a small contingent of fans or teammates.

Ishii just could not seem to process what had happened. Speaking in a barely audible voice through tears to the media, she said, "It's like someone you know has died, but you don't feel like they're gone. I don't feel like Paris is gone, but I have to accept that it is."

Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) Nonoka Ozaki finishes up a quick-fire takedown in the final seconds of the second period to clinch the victory. (Photo by Ikuo Higuchi / Japan Wrestling Federation)

Ozaki could commiserate with her vanquished opponent. She had been on the losing end in a battle for the 62kg place with Ishii's Ikuei University teammate Sakura MOTOKI, a 2022 bronze medalist at 59kg who moved up to the Olympic weight and made it hers. (Another Ikuei wrestler, world champion Tsugumi SAKURAI, will be going to Paris at 57kg.)

"This is a world of competition, and I came here to get the ticket [to Paris] also," Ozaki said. "I know how much she wanted to win, but the competition is harsh and one of us has to lose. I won in the last few seconds, but that could have gone either way. I could have just as easily lost. I am grateful to her for giving me such a high-level match."

Ishii had won the world silver at 68kg in 2022 and could have locked up her place in Paris with a repeat performance last year in Belgrade. The Japan federation had decreed that any wrestler who won a medal in an Olympic weight class would automatically fill the Paris berth themselves.

As it turned out, 68kg was the only women's weight class out of the six in which the Japanese entry did not medal.

Sadly for Ishii, an 8-8 loss in the bronze-medal match to Irina RINGACI (MDA) had dire consequences. Ishii would win the fifth-place playoff to secure the Paris berth for Japan, but it left the door open for others to poach.

Ozaki was also in Belgrade, having decided that she needed to move forward and put her failure at 62kg behind her. She won a spot on Japan's team at the non-Olympic weight of 65kg and picked up her second world gold. But her heart was hardly into it. Of more concern was seeing Motoki clinched her place in Paris by winning the 62kg silver.

"When I look back, it's enough to make me cry, it was so tough," Ozaki said. "Right now I'm happy, but up to last year's World Championships, there was no joy at all in my life. It's like the person I was up to then was lost, it was someone I didn't know like I had run into a wall. I wanted to fight hard but I couldn't make the effort.

"I thought that I don't even want to watch a Paris Olympics that I'm not in. When I won the 65kg playoff here, I had convinced myself that I had to keep moving forward. It wasn't an Olympic weight, but I thought if I could be No. 1 in the world again, it would be an opportunity to start over.

"That's how I felt going to the World Championships. But before my final, the 62kg [berth] was secured. I didn't take a victory lap and I was crying -- it makes me cry now to recall this -- because I was thinking, 'The Olympics is over for me.' I felt resentment. But as I told the media, I was the one responsible and had to accept it. 'I'm not going to retire, and I'll keep fighting,' I said. I had never thought that in the end, I would be going to the Olympics at 68kg."

Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) Ikuei University teammates try to console a devastated Ami Ishii. (Photo by Ken Marantz / United World Wrestling)

Less than two years ago, Ozaki was on top of the world at 62kg, having won 2022 world golds on the senior, U23 and U20 levels over two months. Her eyes were firmly on Paris, and the Japanese press buzzed over her budding rivalry with Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ).

But her well-laid plans began to unravel just a few months later when Motoki decided to make a challenge for the Olympic spot at 62kg in a field that included Tokyo Olympic champion Yukako KAWAI.

After Motoki won their clash at the Emperor's Cup, they never got to meet in the second qualifier -- the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships in June 2023 -- as Ozaki was handed a stunning 6-6 defeat in the quarterfinals by Yuzuku INAGAKI. Motoki won the title to clinch the ticket to Belgrade, and the rest is history.

In preparation for Paris, Ozaki plans to enter one tournament at 68kg, the Asian Championships in Bishkek in April. She is also carrying some injury concerns, having hurt her right knee at the Emperor's Cup and having problems with her left thumb for the past year which she says affects her grip.

But that is all secondary to having made it to the Olympics, even if it means facing opponents larger than she is accustomed to.

"A year ago, I would never have thought of taking the path of 68kg," Ozaki said. "I'm still only 66 kilograms, but I'll work to fill out to 68. Without being inferior in strength, I will use my speed to my advantage. I'll work on counters for underhooks and throws, and maybe even be able to hit some throws of my own. I'll continue to make progress and I'll be ready."

Ozaki, a product of the JOC Academy, took the academic route when it came to choosing a college and currently attends the prestigious Keio University. That means that outside of national team camps, she has to hit the road for training. Her preparation for the playoff took her to Kanagawa University, a club team in Kanagawa Prefecture and a high school in Yamanashi Prefecture. Several of the male wrestlers at the latter were on hand Saturday.

Whether she can win the gold will likely come down to how effective her old friend, the single-leg tackle, will be for her.

"That tackle has been a part of everything I've accomplished up to now," Ozaki said. "It's my weapon, one that I believe in completely. I've always relied on it and won with it. I owe a debt of gratitude to the technique."

Japan's Paris-bound women

50kg: Yui SUSAKI (world champion)
53kg: Akari FUJINAMI (world champion)
57kg: Tsugumi SAKURAI (world champion)
62kg: Sakura MOTOKI (world silver medalist)
68kg: Nonoka OZAKI (world champion 65kg)
76kg: Yuka KAGAMI (world champion)

#JapanWrestling

Fujinami cruises in test run at 57kg, earns ticket to World U23

Tuesday, April 15, 2025 - 07:47 By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (April 14) -- Paris Olympic champion Akari FUJINAMI took her new, slightly bulked-up body out for its first spin on Sunday, and it was just as high-performance as ever.

Fujinami, the reigning world and Olympic champion at women's 53kg, made her first official foray into the next Olympic weight class of 57kg, and cruised to victory in the U23 division at the Japan Junior Queens Cup in Tokyo.

"It was my first tournament at 57kg and, as the starting point at [this weight], I feel this was a good tournament to get an idea of my power at 57kg and the method for making the adjustment, all while maintaining the right amount of tension," Fujinami said.

The tournament also saw the return to the mat of Paris 62kg champion Sakura MOTOKI, who also prevailed in the U23 tournament, while recently crowned senior Asian champion Sakura ONISHI earned a chance to repeat as world U20 champion, and one-time heavyweight prodigy Ayano MORO returned in triumph at U20 from a 16-month injury absence.

Fujinami needed just two wins to win her title, winning both matches by 10-0 decision in the first period. That extended her current winning streak to 141 straight victories dating back to a loss in the final at the national junior high school championships in June 2017.

The victory also earned the 21-year-old star a place on Japan's team to the World U23 Championships, to be held Oct. 20-26 in Novi Sad, Serbia, which gives her a shot at one of the few major titles she hasn't already won.

The Junior Queens Cup, held over two days at the Tokyo Budokan in eastern Tokyo, featured competition in the four age-group divisions, U15, U17, U20 and U23, and was serving as the world qualifiers in the latter three and the Asian Championships for all four.

It was Fujinami's first individual competition since winning the 53kg gold medal at the Paris Olympics in August last year, when she added to her senior world titles from 2021 and 2023. She capped the day by finishing off Kanon YAMASHITA 10-0 in the final just inside the first-period buzzer.

"Of course, winning the title here was among my objectives," said Fujinami, who has started her third year at Nippon Sports Science University. "But I wanted to use the time here to get an actual feel for the 57kg weight class.

"In practice, I often train with others in heavier weight classes, but there is a difference between practice and actual matches. And I wanted to get that match feeling. For sure, I could feel the four-kilogram difference, but it didn't seem that big."

Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) makes her debut at 57kg at the Japan Junior Queens Cup. (Photo: Ikuo Higuchi / wrestling-spirits.jp)

Her only previous action since Paris was at a collegiate team tournament. Because it had just three weight classes, many participants, including Fujinami, wrestled outside of their usual division. She won both of her matches by fall.

More significantly, it was at that event that Fujinami made the eye-opening announcement that she was moving up to 57kg, citing the difficulty of cutting weight, as well as the historic aspect that no woman wrestler has ever won a second straight Olympic gold after moving to a higher weight class.

Fujinami, who said she never considered making a detour at 55kg, has been spending time looking for the right balance of adding weight while not losing the speed and agility that have become her trademark.

"I won't be making big changes to my style of wrestling and what has worked for me, but I will adopt and add things that fit my style so I can make progress and get to point where I'm stronger at 57kg,"she said.

The Junior Queens Cup provided the first test run in preparation for a much bigger challenge coming up. Fujinami is certain to face a significantly higher level of competition at the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships in June, which will serve as the second of two domestic qualifiers for this year senior World Championships.

"The Meiji Cup in June will be the big test, and I realized here the aspects in which I want to get stronger," Fujinami said.

The world champion also said she is working on expanding her repertoire of techniques. "I want to expand my wrestling. I want to raise the level of my attacks so I can score points in different ways.

"There were things that worked and things that didn't work in these two matches. One thing I tried to work on was using an underhook, but it didn't go very well. I'll look at the video and make adjustments. I want to have more ways to score points beyond my specialty tackle."

Akari FUJINAMI (JPN), third from left, with other 57kg medalists. (Photo: Ikuo Higuchi / wrestling-spirits.jp)

One thing Fujinami doesn't want to do is dwell on the past -- she particularly doesn't like to talk about the winning streak. Her focus is forward, and constantly striving to improve.

"The Paris Olympics are done and in the past and I have begun my next challenge," she said. "Of course, there is the next Olympics. But before that, my thinking is to keep making progress and exceed my past self."

The elephant in the room regarding her move up to 57kg is that it puts her on a collision course with Tsugumi SAKURAI, the Paris gold medalist in that weight class. Fujinami has already beaten Sakurai, but not for such stakes as will be involved in the run-up to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Asked if there were any wrestlers at 57kg that she looked forward to facing, she replied, "Actually, there are not really any particular wrestlers that I think like that. It's more about me finding out what kind of wrestling I can do at 57kg. I have my own expectations, and I want to exceed who I was at 53kg."

One aspect of her move to 57kg that appeals to Fujinami is that she no longer has to spend time obsessing over her weight, time that can be put to much better use.

"When I was at 53kg, I would have to start focusing on cutting weight from one month before [a tournament] and that would dictate my lifestyle," she said. "But at 57kg, I can continue my regular life, which allows me to focus on the wrestling aspect."

Sakura MOTOKI (JPN), left, won the 62kg gold at the Junior Queens Cup to qualify for the World U23 Championships. (Photo: Ikuo Higuchi / wrestling-spirits.jp)

Motoki stays on track to 'Golden Grand Slam'

For Motoki, the hiatus she took after the Olympics allowed her to enjoy some culinary excesses that she normally has to avoid. She was able to get back into decent enough shape, although for better or worse, it did not play much of a factor as her weight class only had two entrants.

"I had a half-year blank since my last match at the Olympics," said Motoki, who defeated Nagisa ITO by fall in 1:02. "After getting back into shape, I thought this was good timing for getting my body back into live-match mode. I was a bit nervous.

"Partly due to cutting weight, I felt my movement was dull in the morning, but I had a long time until my match, so I was able to recover. When I was warming up, I thought, 'I feel good.' Physically, I was in pretty good condition."

Motoki also plans to enter the Meiji Cup, where she could renew her rivalry with Paris 68kg bronze medalist Nonoka OZAKI, whom she beat out for the Olympic 62kg spot. But, she said, her focus is actually more on the U23 worlds.

"This year is the last I can compete in U23," she said. "You can wrestle at the senior worlds at any age, so I'm in no rush for that. I think it's best to do it when I'm ready, both physically and technically."

A victory at the world U23 would keep Motoki on track to a feat accomplished by just two other wrestlers in history. Only compatriot Yui SUSAKI and Amit ELOR (USA) have achieved the "Golden Grand Slam" of titles on all four age-group levels along with an Olympic gold.

Motoki already has world U17 (2018) and U20 (2022) titles, and arguably got the hardest one out of the way by winning the gold in Paris. She came up short twice previously at the senior worlds, taking a bronze in 2022 and silver in 2023.

Among the other U23 winners on Sunday were senior world 55kg champion Moe KIYOOKA, who returned to that weight class after taking a silver medal at 53kg at the Asian Championships in March, and Ami ISHII at 68kg. Ishii, the world 72kg champion, has recovered from the injury that caused her to become a late withdrawal in Amman.

Sakura ONISHI (JPN) wrestles at the U20 tournament of the Junior Queens Cup. (Photo: Ikuo Higuchi / wrestling-spirits.jp)

Onishi adds to hectic schedule

In the U20 tournament on Saturday, Onishi said it was a bit difficult to turn the switch back on so fast following her golden run at 59kg at the Asian Championships.

"There was a bit of pressure," Onishi said. "After returning from the Asian Championships, I wasn't sure how to get back into the mode. That made the matches tougher here. But I was able to come around with advice and support from those around me and win the title."

Onishi, a teammate of Fujinami's at NSSU, won all three of her matches by fall or technical fall, although in the final, she gave up a 4-point counter back roll to high schooler Sae NOGUCHI as she was driving for a takedown. "That scared me for a second," Onishi said. "Finishing up my tackles has been an issue and she found an opening."

Onishi, winner at the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships last December, will also look to clinch a ticket to the senior worlds with a victory at the Meiji Cup. That makes for quite a hectic schedule looking ahead.

"I have collegiate events also, but my ultimate goal is to definitely win the championship at the senior worlds," Onishi said. " To do that, I have to win the title at the Meiji Cup. I know that I've set a hard schedule for myself."

Ayona MORO (JPN) Ayana MORO (JPN) won the 76kg gold in the U20 tournament, her first since the 2023 Emperor’s Cup. (Photo: Ikuo Higuchi / wrestling-spirits.jp)

Moro, who won the U20 title at 76kg with three wins in a combined 89 seconds, has spent much of the past year rehabbing from a serious neck injury and other ailments.

The 2022 world U20 champion was competing for the first time since winning the 72kg gold at the Emperor's Cup in December 2023. She had hurt her neck in the playoff with eventual Paris Olympic chamion Yuka KAGAMI for the 2023 world team in July of that year.

She decided to put the pain temporarily aside to enter the Emperor's Cup, then started rehab. She returned intermittently to the mat, but kept reinjuring the neck. On top of that, she is asthmatic and had a bout of pneumonia that left her with a constant cough. She finally returned to full-fledged training in March this year.

"I wasn't able to do much sparring [in training], I did some light rolling around and weight training, and kept up with my rehab," said Moro, who this year left Yamanashi Gakuin University and currently trains at her high school alma mater Abe Gakuin.

"I knew I wouldn't lose on strength. I tend to think negatively, but today I was unusually confident I could do well."

When told about the aggregate quickness of her victories, including a victory in the final by fall in 19 seconds over Chisato YOSHIDA, she responded, "I didn't know that. I was too nervous, it was my first time on the mat in a long time. It was so scary on the mat. I don't remember anything."

Yuu KATSUME (JPN), a world U17 champion at 46kg, won at 49kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Potential future stars to keep an eye on

For those wanting a hint of potential stars of the future, they would be well advised to keep in mind this name: Yuu KATSUME.

Katsume swept to the U17 title at 49kg, putting her in position to win a second world title in that age group after striking gold at 46kg last year. She preceded that by winning back-to-back Asian U15 golds in 2022 and 2023.

Katsume, now a third-year student at the high school affiliated with Shigakkan University, is in the midst of putting together a Fujinami-esque winning streak.

Her most recent loss came in the fifth grade of elementary school, and that was when she entered a boys' tournament just to get a higher level of competition.

While she doesn't know the exact number of consecutive wins she has -- she added four more on Saturday, which she won by a combined score of 37-0 -- she figures it is "around 70."

Katsume will turn 17 in May, making her eligible to compete at the Emperor's Cup in December, which will also mark her senior-level debut.

Another potential star has a quite familiar name. The newly crowned 50kg champion in the U15 division was Tsukino SAKURAI, who had Paris Olympic gold medalist -- and older sister -- Tsugumi in her corner.

Tsukino is a product of the same Kochi City wrestling club run by her father in western Japan that produced not only Tsugumi, but fellow Olympic gold medalist Kotaro KIYOOKA as well as his sister Moe.

"Everyone on the team put in a lot of time and effort to help make me stronger," Tsukino said. "I'm happy to win a qualifier for an international tournament for the first time."

As is common among younger siblings, her goal is to not only catch up to her older sister, but to exceed her. (A middle sister, Hanano, recently retired after a modestly successful career at 50kg.)

"She's been to a lot of international tournaments, even the Olympics, and has won them," Tsukino said. "That makes me happy, but she has also become my goal and I want to do better than her."

Ozaki grabs Paris ticket at 68kg with thrilling win over Ishii

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Fujinami cruises in test run at 57kg, earns ticket to World U23