To Our Friends in Wrestling Around the world

                    

By William May
(Japan Amateur Wrestling Federation, Public Information Committee
Kyodo World Services, senior sports writer:wmay52@hotmail.com


U.S. TO REPLACE SWEDEN IN WOMEN’S WORLD CUP



     TOKYO (September 24) - The United States will replace Sweden in the World Cup of women’s wrestling to be held October 11-12 in Tokyo. Organizers of the event announced that Sweden, runner-up in the team standings at last year’s world championships in Greece, had asked to pull out of the competition after a series of injuries at this year’s world meet in New York.

    In place of Sweden, the United States will send its world championships squad that won a gold medal, four silver and two bronze in New York. The U.S. team tied Japan in the team standings with 62 points, but had to settle for the second-place trophy on the basis of Japan’s larger number of gold medals (5).

    Meanwhile, organizers also announced that former FILA female wrestler of the year Hitomi Sakamoto will be replaced on the Japanese squad at 51 kg by Asian championships gold medalist Ninako Hattori.
 
   The Japanese squad, seeking its third straight World Cup title, is holding a training camp from September 25 to October at its Tokamachi site in Niigata Prefecture.

FUKUDA TO KEY POST WITH OLYMPIANS TO ATHENS


    TOKYO (September 22) - Tomiaki Fukuda, president of the Japan Wrestling Federation, was elected general manager of the Japanese delegation for next year’s Olympic Games in Athens, the Japanese Olympic Committee announced.

    Fukuda will be attending his fourth Olympics as an official with the Japanese delegation. Fukuda was the head coach of Japan’s freestyle team for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and was a member of the JOC headquarters staff for the Japanese delegation at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and again for the 2000 Games in Sydney.

    The Japanese chef de mission will be JOC president Tsunekazu Takeda and the deputy chief of the Japanese delegation will be JOC executive director Tsutomu Hayashi.

    The Athens Games are set for August 13-19, 2004.

NIHON UNIV. WINS COLLEGIATE DUAL MEET TITLE


    TOKYO (September 22) - Nihon University upended three-time defending champion Nippon Sports Science University in the second round and rolled to its ninth collegiate dual meet championship.

    Nihon University, or Nichidai, romped 6-1 over Senshu University at Komazawa Gymnasium to claim its first championship since 1997. Kokushikan University took third and Chuo University was fourth. Takushoku University, which won the East Japan Collegiate Championship title in May fell in the second round 3-4 to Senshu.

CORRECTION: ISOKAWA 11TH FROSH TO WIN OPEN TITLE


    TOKYO - We reported in last month’s wrestling news that Takao Isokawa of Takushoku University was the 10th freshman to win in the collegiate open wrestling championships.

    We have learned since then that Toshiaki Ishikawa of Nihon University also won a title as a first-year student in 1977, making this year’s 84-kg champion Isokawa the 11th freshman to win in the collegiate open. We apologize for any inconvenience that may have resulted from this error.

    (Note: The names of previous champions in the collegiate open have been recorded without reference to their academic year.  We, therefore, have had to rely on the memories of persons connected with the different competitions to complete our records. We understand that there may be more freshman winners in the 1960s and 1970s and ask people who might have information regarding this question to contact the Japan Wrestling Federation.)

    The list of freshman champions in the collegiate open as we currently know it: Akira Miyahara (Meiji University, 1971), Katsuhiko Uno (Nippon Physical Education College, 1971), Toshiaki Ishikawa (Nihon University, 1977), Satoru Goizuka (Daito Bunka University, 1979), Tamon Honda (NU, 1982), Takashi Kobayashi (NU, 1982), Kosei Akaishi (NU, 1983), Kazuyuki Fujita (NU, 1989), Hisashi Fujita (Yamanashi Gakuin University, 1998), Kunihiko Obata (YGU, 1999), Takao Isokawa (Takushoku University, 2003).