TAIYUAN, China (January 19) - Marcie Van Dusen saddled Saori Yoshida with her first loss in international competition and the United States claimed a 4-3 victory over Japan on the opening day of the World Cup of women’s wrestling.
Van Dusen, a 10th-place finisher at last year’s world championships, countered
takedown attempts with tilts in both the first and second periods to claim
a 4-1, 2-2 triumph over Yoshida at 55 kg of their group A pairing. Yoshida,
the 2004 Olympic gold medalist and five-time world champion, saw her personal
winning streak dating back to 2001 snapped at 119. She also lost for the
first time in 115 matches in international competition going back to 1996.Japan, second in group A, will face group B runner-up Kazakhstan for the bronze medal. It will be the second straight year that Japan, the winner of five World Cups, will be denied the title.
In its first group A pairing, Makiko Sakamoto came up short against 2004 Olympic champion Irina Merleni at 48 kg, but Japan reeled off five straight wins in a 5-2 victory over Ukraine.
Japanese results in group A competition:
Japan 5, Ukraine 2
48 - Makiko Sakamoto lost to Irina Merleni, 1-2 (1-0=2:15, 0-1, 0-1=2:16)
51 - Hitomi Sakamoto df. Oleksandra Kohut, 2-0 (4-0, 3-0)
55 - Saori Yoshida df. Nataliya Synyshyn, 2-0 (1-0, 5-0)
59 - Kei Yamana df. Katerina Dombrovska, 2-0 (2B-2, 1L-1)
63 - Mio Mishimaki df. Yuliya Ostapchuk, 2-0 (1-0, 4-0)
67 - Mami Shinkai df. Kateryna Burmistrova, 2-0 (2L-2, 1-0)
72 - Asuka Sano lost to Svitlana Saienko, 1-2 (0-1, 1-0=2:03, 0-8)
Japan 3, United States 4
48 - Chiharu Icho df. Stephanie Murata by fall, 2P=2:00 (6-0, 6-0)
51 - Hitomi Sakamoto df. Jennifer Wong, 2-0 (2-0, 4-0)
55 - Saori Yoshida lost to Marcie Van Dusen, 0-2 (1-4, 2-2L)
59 - Kei Yamana df. Leigh Jaynes, 2-0 (3-1, 1-0)
63 - Mio Nishimaki lost to Sara McMann, 0-2 (2-2L, 1-2)
67 - Mami Shinkai lost to Katie Downing, 0-2 (0-2, 0-1)
72 - Asuka Sano lost to Stephany Lee, 0-2 (0-7, 0-3)
