TOKYO (February 24) - Saori Yoshida won the showdown between world champions to win the 55-kg title at the Japan Queens Cup competition Tuesday and secured her berth in this year's Athens Olympic Games.
Yoshida defeated arch-rival Seiko Yamamoto 6-1 at Komazawa Gymnasium in Tokyo to join Kyoko Hamaguchi (72 kg) and Kaori Icho (63) on the Japanese
roster for the debut of women痴 wrestling in the Olympics.
Chiharu Icho, the world champion at 51 kg, lost in the finals at 48 kg to Makiko Sakamoto 3-0 and missed a chance to finalize her trip to Athens in
August.
Icho and Sakamoto will square off in a special wrestle-off April 13 to
decide Japan's 48-kg representative in Athens.
Hamaguchi won her sixth straight and eighth overall Japan Queens Cup crown and was named the outstanding wrestler of the competition.
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48 kg (14 entries)
Championship final
Makiko Sakamoto df. Chiharu Icho, 3-0
Third-place final
Miyu Yamamoto df. Misato Shimizu by TF, 13-1, 5:12
Semifinals
Icho df. Shimizu, 3-0
Sakamoto df. Yamamoto, 5-3
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51 kg (11 entries)
Championship final
Yuri Kai df. Mika Kunieda by fall, 4:16 (10-7)
Third-place final
Megumi Maehara df. Mika Nagano by fall, 4:03 (10-0)
Semifinals
Kai df. Maehara, 7-1
Kunieda df. Nagano, 3-0
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55 kg (7 entries)
Championship final
Saori Yoshida df. Seiko Yamamoto, 6-1
Third-place final
Rena Iwama df. Shizuka Sakuma by fall, 1:56 (7-0)
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59 kg (6 entries)
Championship final
Mio Nishimaki df. Ayako Suga by default
Third-place final
Kei Yamana df. Mio Kaibara by TF, 11-0, 1:57
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63 kg (10 entries)
Championship final
Kaori Icho df. Ayako Shoda, 6-1
Third-place final
Hatsumi Nakanishi df. Hiroe Suzuki by TF, 10-0, 4:11
Semifinals
Shoda df. Nakanishi by TF, 11-0, 4:59
Icho df. Suzuki by fall, 1:26 (3-0)
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67 kg (5 entries, round-robin)
Championship bout
Mimi Sugawara df. Eri Sakamoto, 4-3, 6:15
3rd - Maki Tsukamoto
4th - Erika Matsukawa
5th - Chiaki Kubo
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72 kg (4 entries, round-robin)
Championship bout
Kyoko Hamaguchi df. Norie Saito by TF, 10-0, 5:53
3rd - Ayako Murashima
4th - Kie Tanaka
