To Our Friends in Wrestling Around the world
By William May
（Japan Amateur Wrestling Federation, Public
Information Committee
：wmay52@hotmail.com）
December wrestling news
ETO TAKES 2ND AT HAPARANDA INT'S
HAPARANDA, Sweden (December 3-4) - Takushoku University ace Noritomo
Eto took the silver medal at 66 kg and four other members of a student
select squad scored bronze at the Haparanda international greco-roman wrestling
meet.
Eto's Takushoku teammates Kazuma Kuramoto (55 kg) and Ryuji Yamaguchi
(96) along with Nippon Sports Science University痴 Ryutaro Matsumoto (60)
and Hideki Goto (74) all earned places on the awards podium in the 10-nation
greco-roman tourney.
Only Japan and Sweden were represented in the women's tourney with Chikako
Matsukawa of Nihon University (Nichidai) winning at 55 kg and Toyo's Yuri
Funatsu taking second at 48 kg. Nichidai's Erika Matsukawa was the only
entry at 63 kg and did not have an official match.
---------------------------
Results of Japan's entries:
Greco-roman
55 kg - KURAMOTO, Kazuma (3rd, 5 entries)
1R - lost to Sergey Petrov (RUS) by disqualification
2R - df. Level Miagkiy (UKR) by fall
3R - lost to Camid Chaveav (RUS), 1-2
4R - df. Roberto Pirn (ITA) by default
----
60 kg - MATSUMOTO, Ryutaro (3rd, 10 entries)
1R - lost to Suren Hevorkyan (UKR), 0-2
r2 - df. Aleksanr Stepanjan (UKR), 2-1
F3 - df. Jaanus Lepik (EST), 2-0
----
66 kg - ETO, Noritomo (2nd, 9 entries)
1R - df. Vahab Danhesvar (SWE), 2-0
SF - df. Muslim Muchuarev (RUS), 2-0
F1 - lost to Ruslan Ralkharaev (RUS) by fall
----
74 kg - GOTO, Hideki (3rd, 13 entries)
1R - df. Gabrans Konsanis (LAT), 2-1
2R - lost to Alexander Kovalchuk (UKR), 0-2
r3 - df. Peter Wiklund (SWE), 2-0
F3 - df. Marko Tuamela (SWE) by default
----
84 kg - GOTO, Katsuyuki (5th, 12 entries)
1R - lost to Evgeny Krarchenko (RUS), 0-2
r2 - lost to Andrea Minguzzi (ITA), 0-2
----
96 kg - YAMAGUCHI, Ryuji (3rd, 5 entries)
1R - lost to Johan Magnus Euren (SWE), 0-2
2R - lost to Karol Maurer (EST), 0-2
3R - df. Sebastian Lonnbron (SWE), 2-0
4R - lost to Vasily Tepoloukhor (RUS), 0-2
----
120 kg - SHATO, Tetsuya (10th, 11 entries)
1R - lost to Atsamaz Kabulov (RUS), 1-2
----
Women
48 kg - FUNATSU, Yuri (2nd, 3 entries)
1R - df. Linda Larsson (SWE) by fall
2R - lost to Sofia Mattson (SWE), 1-2
----
55 kg - MATSUKAWA, Chikako (1st, 2 entries)
F1 - df. Johanna Mattson (SWE), 2-0
----
63 kg - MATSUKAWA, Erika
(Only entry at 63 kg, but wrestled matches against entries at 55 and 72 kg.)
INOUE SITS OUT NATIONALS, BUT EYES BEIJING
TOKYO (December 5) - Athens Olympic bronze medalist Kenji Inoue decided
to sit out this year's national championships, but indicated that he still
plans to try for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Inoue won the bronze medal at 60 kg in the Athens freestyle competition, but underwent shoulder surgery after finishing in third place at the national invitational last June. ・I can's say when I will be back but if my body's completely ready, I want to wrestle,・said Inoue. The 29-year-old member of the Self Defense Forces team has been rehabilitating his right shoulder since surgery last July and has recently resumed working out on the mat.
JWF AFFILIATES ANNOUNCE 2005 WRESTLERS OF THE YEAR
TOKYO (December 5) - Affiliates of the Japan Wrestling Federation announced
their choices for wrestlers of the year. The awards presentation was held
December 23 during the final day of the senior national championships.
The award winners are:
Japan Shakaijin Federation - Hideki Taoka, Japan Self Defense Forces
All-Japan Student Federation - Tsukasa Tsurumaki, Kokushikan University
National High School Federation - Nobuyoshi Arakida, Kosei Gakuin HS (Aomori)
National Junior High School Student Federation - Yukitaro Tanaka, Oyama
Jr HS (Kyoto);
Fumika Sato, Mito No. 4 Jr HS (Ibaraki)
National Schoolboys, Schoolgirls Championships - Hirotaka Abe, Mito Municipal
Sports Club (Ibaraki);
Nachi Masuda. Suita Community Club (Osaka)
All-Japan Women's Federation - Hitomi Sakamoto, Japan SDF
All-Japan Masters Federation - Kaoru Kawamoto
2006 NAT'S TEAM SELECTION PROCESS ANNOUNCED
TOKYO (December 23) - Titlists at the national championships have a leg
up on making the Japanese team for next fall's world championships in China
and can book their ticket to Guangzhou with another title in the spring.
National champions in greco-roman and men's freestyle will have to win
in the national invitational tournament June 2-4 to secure their place
on the world team, the Japan Wrestling Federation announced. If someone
other than the national champion wins at the invitational, a special wrestle-off
will be held at the invitational to determine the
Japanese representative. In women's freestyle, the national champions can
book their ticket with a win at the Japan Queens Cup meet on March 28.
Otherwise, they will face a special wrestle-off win the JQC winner for
the trip to Guangzhou.
As for the Asian Games next December, the JWF said it would look at the
results from the world championships in September and then decide on its
team for Doha, Qatar. The JWF, however, did not specify how the selections
would be determined.
13 COUNTRIES SET FOR WOMEN'S WORLD TRAINING CAMP
TOKYO (December 28) - One hundred of the world痴 top female wrestlers
from 13 countries are set to take part in the women痴 world training camp
in Japan, January 5-15.
A total of 72 wrestlers from visiting countries and 28 from host Japan
will take part in the camp and coaches clinic at the Japan Institute of
Sports Science in Tokyo. In addition to the training, a FILA coach痴 clinic
is also scheduled for January 6-9.
Coaches from the countries participating in the training camp as well
as a handful of coaches from other countries, including Uganda and Guinea
Bissau, will take part in the clinic. Along with Japan痴 line-up of world
champions, other wrestlers of note include:
48 kg
Brigitte Wagner, Germany - 2002 world champion
Sofia Mattson, Sweden - 2005 European cadet champion
Lorisa Oorzhak, Russia - 2005 European and junior world champion
51 kg
Dinara Mirzaeva, Uzbekistan - 2005 Asia silver medalist
55 kg
Johanna Mattson, Sweden - 2005 junior world champion
Jessica Bechtel, Germany - 2004 junior European champion
Natalia Golts, Russia - 2005 european champion, world bronze medalist
Su Lihui, China - 2005 world silver medalist
59 kg
Ida-Theres Karlsson, Sweden - 2005 European champion
63 kg
Helena Allandi, Sweden - 2004 European champion, 59 kg
Nikola Hartmann, Austria - five-time world champion
Jing Ruixue, China - 2005 world silver medalist
72 kg
Marina Gastl, Austria - 2005 junior world champion
Ohenewa Akuffo, Canada - 2005 university world champion
Anita Schaetzle, Germany - 2005 European champion, world bronze medalist
Gouzel Maniourova, Russia - 2004 Olympic silver medalist
Wang Jiao, China - 2005 Asia champion