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)
3 SHAKAIJIN WRESTLERS 4TH IN FRANCE
TOKYO (December 3) - Three members of
Japan’s “shakaijin” select greco-roman
team finished fourth at the Henri Deglane
international meet in Nice, France on November
28-29. Hiroshi Shimomura (60 kg), Mitsuo
Tomiya (66) and Shinobu Komukai (84) are
all members of the Japanese Self-Defense
Forces Physical Training School and were
standouts in this year’s shakaijin (non-student
senior) national championships.
Shimomura lost to Hamou Oubrick of France
0-3 in the bronze medal match at 60 kg, while
Tomiya went down 0-5 to Moises Sanchez of
Spain at 66 kg. Komukai was pinned by Ukraine’s
up-and-coming Dmitri Zaporoshenko at 84 kg.
FEMALE WRESTLING OUT OF 2006 ASIAN GAMES
IN DOHA
TOKYO (December 1) - Officials of the
Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) attending
the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) meeting
in Kuwait reported that female wrestling
has not been included on the program for
the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. It was
suggested that female wrestling will be held
in Doha because of Qatar’s fundamental Islamic
belief that a women’s skin must not be exposed.
In a related development, it was learned
that wrestling, both for men and women, would
not be held at the East Asian Games in Macao
in 2005. It now appears that female wrestling,
which was held at the 2001 East Asian Games
in Osaka and the 2002 Asian Games in Busan
(Korea), is beginning to encounter some obstacles.
IKEMATSU, S. YAMAMOTO ADDED TO JOC SUPPORT
LIST
TOKYO (December 6) - World bronze medalist
Kazuhiko Ikematsu and four-time world champion
Seiko Yamamoto were added to the JOC’s “A”
list of athletes for training support when
the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) announced
its expanded list on December 6. Ikematsu
took the bronze medal at 66 kg in the men’s
freestyle world championships in New York
in September, while Yamamoto won the world
title at 59 kg in the women’s event.
At the same time, Norie Saito, who has
finished in the top eight in the world championships
two years in a row, was added to the JOC’s
“B” list. Wrestling now has six athletes
on the JOC’s “A” list, third only to swimming
with 14 and nine for judo. This excludes
the women’s softball team, which has 15
players and is listed as a “team sport.”
Meanwhile, Makoto Sasamoto, who fell
from his ranking in the top eight in the
world championships at 60 kg, and 2002 Asian
Games champion Shingo Matsumoto (84 kg)were
dropped from the JOC’s “B” list. Sasamoto,
who had finished seventh in the world championships
in 2001, fell to 13th in the 2003 meet in
October along with Matsumoto.
The JOC lists are determined by an athlete’s
performance at the world championships and
other major competitions. Four or more points
earns an athlete a place on the “A” list
and two or more points gets an athlete on
the “B” list. Wrestlers on the JOC lists
are (with ranking points in parentheses):
“Elite A”
Kyoko Hamaguchi, women 72 kg (8 points)
Saori Yoshida, women 55 kg (7)
Kaori Icho, women 63 kg (7)
Chiharu Icho, women 51 kg (7)
Seiko Yamamoto, women 59 kg (5)
Kazuhiko Ikematsu, men’s freestyle 66 kg
(4)
“Elite B”
Chikara Tanabe, men’s freestyle 55 kg (2)
Norie Saito, women 67 kg, (2)
JAPAN MOVES TOWARD HOSTING AFGHAN WRESTLING
COACHES
TOKYO (December 15) - The Japan Wrestling
Federation received a request from Afghanistan
via the Japanese Foreign Ministry, saying
the country would like to send wrestling
coaches to Japan to study. JWF President
Tomiaki Fukuda has indicated that he would
like to realize the request, permitting 2-3
coaches to join the Japanese national team
and study the Japanese coaches methods.
Since Afghanistan is just beginning emerge
from decades of civil strife and Taliban
rule, the level of Afghan wrestling still
not very high. With the likelihood that an
Afghan wrestler earning a berth for the 2004
Athens Games in the Olympic qualifying tournaments
in February and March, it becomes more likely
that 1-2 wrestlers may be awarded “wild
card” berths. Last year, the JWF sent national
team coach Kosei Akaishi to Afghanistan for
about two months to help the wrestlers there
prepare for the Asian Games in Busan, Korea.
HICH SCHOOL SELECT TEAM COMPETES IN BELARUS
TOKYO (December 12-18) - A selection
team of high school wrestlers traveled to
Minsk on December 12 and competed a Belarus
international meet on December 13. Asia cadet
champion Tetsuya Saikawa of Ashikaga Kogyo
in Tochigi took fourth place at 74 kg while
Kohei Fujimoto of Hiryu high school in Shizuoka
finished in the top eight at 60 kg.
Some 200 wrestlers from nine countries
took part in the competition. The Japanese
boys also squared off with two local select
teams, drawing 4-4 in meets against a Belarus
select squad and one from Minsk.
TOKYO SPORTSWRITERS CLUB NAME IKEMATSU 2003
MVP
TOKYO (December 22) - Wrestling journalists
of the Tokyo Sportswriters Club named Kazuhiko
Ikematsu Japan’s wrestler-of-the-year for
2003. Ikematsu won the bronze medal at 66
kg at the freestyle world championships in
September, claiming Japan’s first medal
at the world meet since 1995.
WRESTLING BODIES NAME ANNUAL AWARD WINNTERS
TOKYO (December 22) - National wrestling
bodies affiliated with the Japan Wrestling
Federation announced their wrestlers of the
year for 2003.
The winners were:
Shakaijin - Yukihiro Toida
University - Kazuyuki Nagashima, Waseda University.
Three-time collegiate open champion, two-time
collegiate national champion.
High School - Noriyuki Takatsuka, Kasumigaura
(Ibaraki). Winner of eight national high
school titles over two years and junior national
champion
Middle School - Hiroki Nagata, Yaei Middle
School (Kyoto). Title winner in middle school
national championship meet.
Elementary School - Atsushi Ogawa, Yokkaichi
Juniors Wrestling Club (Mie). Champion in
schoolboys national meet for seventh straight
year.
Women - Chiharu Icho, Chukyo Women’s University;
Saori Yoshida, CWU;
Seiko Yamamoto, Japan Beverage; Kaori Icho,
CWU; Kyoko Hamaguchi, Japan
Beverage. World champions.
Masters - No award given.