Japan Wrestling Federation News ― November 2024 (Korea Open/Fujinami)
※本記事は日本レスリング協会に掲載されていたものです。
The Korea Open, an international tournament, was held Nov. 22-24 in the central city of Sangju, with competition in the six Olympic weight classes in each of the three styles.
Japan sent a team composed of winners from the All-Japan Non-Student Championships as well as selected Chuo University wrestlers, and came away with two golds in women’s wrestling and one in freestyle.
Murayama Okuno, Ruike take home women’s golds
In the women’s competition on Nov. 22, former world champion Haruna MURAYAMA OKUNO won the gold at 57kg, while Naomi RUIKE claimed the title at 62kg.
Haruna MURYAMAMO OKUNO, left, defeats Sena NAGAMOTO in an all-Japanese final for her first-ever international title at 57kg.
Murayama Okuno, who won the world 55kg gold last year, married former Self-Defense Force PTS member Takahiro MURAYAMA in March. She won the 55kg title at the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships in May, but lost in a playoff to Moe KIYOOKA for a ticket to the Non-Olympic Weight Category World Championships.
The 25-year-old Murayama Okuno, a three-time world champion, is determined to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. As 55kg was not on the program at the Korea Open, she competed at 57kg for the first time in an international tournament.
After defeating 2022 world 59kg bronze medalist Jowita WRZESIEN (POL) 6-0, she scored two straight victories by technical superiority to advance to a gold-medal match against compatriot Sena NAGAMOTO. A 3-2 victory gave Murayama Okuno her sixth consecutive international title dating back to the 2018 World Championships.
Looking ahead, Murayama Okuno indicated she will likely head the other way in terms of weight class. “I think 53kg might suit me best,” she said.
For Nagamoto, she came away with a second straight international silver medal, having finished second at the 2023 World U23 Championships.
Ruike, the 2020 senior Asian champion, had her struggles during the pandemic years, posting second- and third-place finishes in domestic competitions that kept her from earning opportunities to compete in big overseas tournaments.
In Sangju, she swept past a pair of Taiwanese opponents to set up a clash in the final with veteran Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL), the 2017 world 63kg champion who finished fifth at 62kg at the Paris Olympics. After falling behind 3-0, Ruike powered her way back to a 10-7 victory for the gold.
“As my opponent had placed fifth at the Paris Olympics, I felt that if I could beat her, I could compete against the top in the world, so I was determined to definitely win,” Ruike said. “By winning, I feel it gives me a sense of where I stand in the world.”
Naomi RUIKE, right, stands on the medal podium with former world champion Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL) after defeating her in the women’s 62kg final.
At 53kg, Karen SASAKI won a bronze in her international debut, while Misuzu ENOMOTO also won a bronze at 62kg, her first international medal since winning the 65kg gold at the 2019 World U23 Championships.
World silver medalist Aoyagi claims 74kg gold
The men’s freestyle tournament was held Nov. 23, and Yoshinosuke AOYAGI, a world medalist on both the senior and U23 levels this year, earned his first international gold with a victory at 74kg.
Aoyagi won his first two matches by technical superiority to advance to the final, where he notched a 5-2 victory over Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ).
Toktomambetov had won the silver at the world U23, where Aoyagi had taken a bronze at 70kg. The following week at the same venue, Aoyagi added the silver medal at 70kg at the non-Olympic weight category worlds.
While it marked Aoyagi’s ninth international medal and sixth straight dating back to the 2023 world U23, it was his first time to make the top of the medal podium.
After his victory, Aoyagi appealed to the local fans by breaking into the dance made popular in the music video Gangnam Style by Korean rapper Psy over 10 years ago. He also did the post-goal pose performed by Korean soccer star Heung Min SON in England’s Premier League, much to the delight of the crowd.
Yoshinosuke AOYAGI performs the Gangnam Style dance after winning the freestyle 74kg gold, much to the delight of the Korean crowd.
In December, Aoyagi will aim for a third straight title at 70kg at the Emperor’s Cup. “I plan to enter the All-Japan at 70kg, but I gained something big by being able to win at 74kg,” Aoyagi said.
Japan also got freestyle silver medals from Fuga SASAKI (57kg) and Toyoki HAMADA (125kg), and bronzes from Ban SAWATANI (57kg), Shinnosuke SUWAMA (65kg) and Hikaru TAKATA (74kg).
3 SDF members grab Greco bronzes
On the final day on Nov. 24, the Greco-Roman wrestlers took the mat, and Yu SHIOTANI won a bronze at 60kg, along with Self-Defense Force Physical Training School teammates Haruto YABE and Yuji UEGAKI at 67kg. Both Shiotani and Yabe defeated Japanese opponents in their bronze-medal matches.
Shiotani, who won the Asian 55kg gold at age 19 in 2021, was competing internationally at 60kg for the first time. Shiotani lost to Wumenjiang HAINAER (CHN) in the first round, but made his way through the repeghage to the bronze-medal match, where he defeated Kazuki YABE, also an SDF PTS member.
Yu SHIOTANI, right, won a bronze medal in his international debut at Greco 60kg.
Haruto YABE fell to 2021 Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Sailike WALIHAN (CHN) in the second round, but defeated Yamato HAGIWARA 7-5 for the bronze in another all-SDF PTS matchup. It was his first international medal since winning a world U23 bronze in 2023.
For Uegaki, the bronze in his first international tournament in six years also marks his final overseas competition. He plans to retire after the Emperor’s Cup in December.
Olympic champ Fujinami to move up to 57kg for L.A. 2028
Olympic champion Akari FUJINAMI, competing for the first time since winning the women’s 53kg gold in Paris in August, stretched her current winning streak to 139 consecutive matches with two victories by fall at the East Japan Women’s Collegiate League STI Cup, a team tournament held Nov. 24 in Tokyo.
Akari FUJINAMI, left, competing for the first time since winning the Olympic gold three months ago, won two matches by fall to extend her current winning streak to 139 matches.
But the bigger news came after the event in the Jiyugaoku Gakuen High School gym, when Fujinami announced to the gathered media that she will move up to the next Olympic weight of 57kg next year in the run-up to the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
Fujinami cited the difficulty of cutting to 53kg from her natural weight of “about 61kg,” as well as the prospect of becoming the first-ever woman to win a second straight Olympic title after moving up to a heavier weight.
The five-team STI Cup, run in a round-robin, duel-meet format, had just three weight classes — 53kg, 59kg and 76kg. Fujinami represented Nippon Sports Science University at 59kg, winning by fall against opponents from Kanagawa University and Ikuei University.
“I wrestled in matches at 59kg today, so it was a six-kilogram difference from 53kg,” Fujinami said. “But I felt sturdy at this weight, so there was no major difference in how I have fought up to now. Getting back the feeling I get both before and during a match, it was really fun.”
Fujinami said she will skip this year’s Emperor’s Cup and make her debut at the new weight sometime next year.
–Translation by Ken Marantz
