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)
HAMAGUCHI, C. ICHO GOLDEN AT OLYMPIC TEST EVENT
ATHENS (January 23-24) - World champions
Kyoko Hamaguchi and Chiharu Icho captured
gold medals at the Olympic test event held
at the recently completed wrestling venue
for this summer's Games in Athens. For five-time
world champion Hamaguchi, it was a chance
to avenge a pair of losses suffered in last
October's World Cup while Icho signaled she
is ready to put Japan back on top at wrestling's
lightest weight category.
Hamaguchi opened with a fall over Christine
Nordhagen of Canada, cranking the six-time
world champion over with an arm bar in the
final minute of a hard-fought bout at 72
kg. Hamaguchi lost to Nordhagen in the women's
World Cup meet, after being tripped to her
back late in the bout in Tokyo.
In the semifinals, Hamaguchi also gained
a measure of revenge against America's Toccara
Montgomery, who also saddled the Japanese
ace with a loss in the World Cup meet. Hamaguchi
trailed 2-3 early in the second period against
Montgomery, but quickly leveled the score.
Shen then scored the deciding takedown 31
seconds into overtime.
This was a match in which I did some
good things and some bad things. But, I kept
my focus from start to finish,・Hamaguchi
said after her match with Montgomery. No
matter what happens during the match, it's
nice to have your hand raised (in victory)
at the end. I was able to avenge my loss
(in the World
Cup), and now we can look to Athens.・
In the final, Hamaguchi broke open a
1-1 bout with Spain痴 Maider Unda with four
unanswered points to claim the gold medal
with a 5-1 victory.
Meanwhile, at 48 kg, Icho edged world
silver medalist Patricia Miranda 3-1 in preliminary
pool action and served notice that she may
well be among the gold medal favorites when
women's wrestling makes its Olympic debut
in Athens this summer. Icho, who won the
world title at 51 kg last September, made
a successful international debut at 48 kg
after taking the national championship title
from Makiko Sakamoto in December.
The Aomori native struggled against Canada's
Lyndsay Belisle before nailing down a 3-2
win in the semifinals and then stopped 2001
European cadet champion Larisa Oorzhak of
Russia 8-0 in the final. Icho, who is still
not fully recovered from an elbow injury,
insisted that she wasn't thinking about winning
the tournament. It wasn't able to wrestle
my best,・Icho said after the tourney, but
confided that she was 屠ust trying to learn
something・about the other
wrestlers in the field at 48 kg.
They've quicker at 48 kg,・Icho said,
adding that she plans to work on her own
quickness and stamina in the coming months.
Icho, however, will have to think first about
securing her position on the Japanese Olympic
team by winning the Japan Queen's Cup competition
at the end of February.
A win would give Icho a chance to earn
Japan's first medal at wrestling's lightest
weight since Miyu Yamamoto took a silver
at 46 kg in the 1998 world championships.
Japan's last gold medalist at the minimum
weight was Shoko Yoshimura, who nailed down
her fifth and final world title in 1995.
Results of Japanese wrestlers:
48 kg - Icho, Chiharu
1R - df. Sara Sanchez (ESP) by TF, 10-0,
1:57
2R - df. Yuliya Voitova (UKR) by TF, 11-0,
5:52
3R - df. Patricia Miranda (USA) 3-1
SF - df. Lyndsay Belisle (CAN) 3-2
F1 - df. Larisa Oorzhak (RUS) 8-0
----
51 kg - Hattori, Ninako
1R - bye
2R - df. Alexandra Demmel (GER) 3-0
3R - df. Maria del Mar Peralta (ESP) by fall,
0:26 (1-0)
----
55 kg - Sekine, Yu
1R - bye
2R - lost to Dilleta Giampicolo (ITA) 11-12
3R - df. Desislava Lubenova (BUL) 17-13
----
59 kg - Iwama, Rena
1R - df. Evgenia Stamatakou (GRE) by fall,
2:03 (7-0)
2R - df. Christina Skoulida (GRE) by fall,
1:17 (6-0)
----
63 kg - Sakamoto, Eri
1R - df. Nadia Valkova (BUL) by fall, 4:00
(4-0)
2R - lost to Ewelina Pruszko (POL) by fall,
4:10 (0-5)
3R - lost to Sara McMann (USA) by TF, 3-13,
2:20
----
67 kg - Saito, Norie
1R - df. Galina Ivanova (BUL) by TF, 10-0,
5:18
2R - bye
3R - df. Sofia Kampanari (GRE) 4-0
----
72 kg - Hamaguchi, Kyoko
1R - df. Christine Nordhagen (CAN) by fall,
5:22 (3-1)
2R - df. Alexia Kourtelesi (GRE) by fall,
0:57 (3-0)
3R - bye
SF - df. Toccara Montgomery (USA) 4-3, 6:31
F1 - df. Maider Unda (ESP) 5-1