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)
NEW STAR BORN IN WOMEN'S WRESTLING
YOKOHAMA (April 26) - A new star in Japanese
women's wrestling is born. Mio Nishimaki,
who at the tender age of 16 has been literally
unbeatable for 10 years, stormed through
the cadet division at the Japan Queens Cup
on April 6 winning all of her matches by
fall. Nishimaki also pinned all of her opponents
at 56 kg at the JOC Cup Junior Olympic meet
on April 26 for an auspicious start to her
high school wrestling career.
And the graduate pf Kansai University's
First Junior High School is only expected
to get better. Nishimaki entered the high
school affiliated with wrestling powerhouse
Chukyo Women's University in April and has
been practicing with 55-kg world champion
Saori Yoshida.
Yoshida, of course, is one of Japan's
leading hopes to bring home a gold medal
when women's wrestling makes its Olympic
debut at the Athens Games next year. Nishimaki
began wrestling at the Suita municipal wrestling
club in Osaka Prefecture and promptly showed
a talent for the sport.
In 1993, she won the children's division
at the national championships for schoolboys
and schoolgirls and ruled over the competition
there for seven years. Then from 2000, Nishimaki
was champion for three straight years in
both the national junior high school championships
and the national junior high school girls
championships. From her first triumph in
the kids division of the Japan Queens Cup,
Nishimaki has won JQC titles 11 years in
a row.
She further kicked off her international
career this January by winning at the Schaub
Women's International in Tourcoing, France.
Speaking of losses, Nishimaki admits "I
lost once to a boy in the western Japan championships."
But beyond that, her only loss was in the
2000 senior national championships where
as a 13-year-old junior high school student
she lost in overtime 3-2 to college-aged
wrestler. Since the rules then allowed junior
high school students to compete in the All-Japan
meet, it is considered in the strictest of
terms to be an official loss.
But there is little objection in general
to saying that in reality Nishimaki has been
砥ndefeated・for a decade. When asked about
the secret to her success, the teenager replies
bashfully "I think it's because I practice
everyday and never take a day off."
But when the Olympics and a gold medal are
mentioned, Nishimaki replies without hesitation
"I think Athens might not be possible,
but I will set my sights for the Beijing
Olympics."
At Chukyo, Nishimaki will be training
with a number of the world's top-ranked wrestlers,
including Yoshida, Rena Iwama (World Cup
champion at 59 kg) and 63-kg world champion
Kaori Icho. With such a stable of teammates,
Nishimaki is certain to be tossed about in
practice and taste the tears of frustration
everyday. But expectations are also high
that it will give her wrestling flight.
Wrestling with the veterans will also
stimulate her wrestling and this synergistic
effect will become the basis for the future
of Japanese success at the middle weights.
And while there are people who are saying
that the other countries are getting stronger
and that Japan will be overtaken as No. 1
in the world by the Beijing Olympics in 2008,
when one sees the ability of Nishimaki, one
can probably say that there is a strong possibility
that these are all just
imaginary fears.
CHINA SET FOR WOMEN'S WORLD CUP IN OCTOBER
TOKYO - China's participation in the
World Cup of women's wrestling in October,
bringing to seven the number of nations set
to compete in the competition.
The World Cup will be held October 11-12
at Yoyogi National Gymnasium and will feature
defending champion Japan, Sweden, Russia,
Germany, Greece and Canada as well as China.
China, which won the team title at the world
championships two years ago, sent its best
wrestlers to the Asian Games last fall and
a host of younger wrestlers to the world
championships in Greece to finish in sixth
place.
China, which won two of the four gold
medals at the Asian Games along with Japan,
has had 15 wrestlers win titles in the world
championships and has been working hard to
further improve its wrestling team in the
run-up to the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
FUKUDA ELECTED HEAD OF JOC担 PERFORMANCE
COMMITTEE
TOKYO (April 3) - The Japanese Olympic
Committee (JOC) on April 3 named Japan Wrestling
Federation president Tomiaki Fukuda the head
of its athletic performance committee.
Fukuda had been the vice chairman of
the committee the previous two years and
elevated to chairman with expectations that
Japan's female wrestlers will bring home
the gold. Meanwhile, Kiyoko Ono, president
of the Japan Female Wrestling Federation,
was elected vice chairman of the athletic
performance committee and also selected the
chairwoman of the newly created Committee
on Women's Sports.