The pain of being a world champion from the most dominant country

[bnwtwg]

Imagine winning a world title and immediately being overtaken with immense sadness. The video (third slide) is pure gutwrenching pain. It certainly make a person appreciate the US trials process.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cxc_iXxsQQy/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

 

(Insta doesn't embed on this forum so here are the first two pics but the video is the juicy part)

 

 

[CA_Wrestler]

I figured why she started crying right away.  She was 1 second away from winning the match against Motoki, but didn't have full control of the TD in their WTT. 

What happened in her match against Motoki is why I knew Kilty was going to get hammered in the 65kg finals.

I bet Ozaki going 68kg and she'll be going against her good buddy, Morikawa, Ishii, Kawai and many more.

[nhs67]

For clarity to those not reading across threads:

For Japan if you win Gold at an Olympic weight at the World Championships the year prior to the Olympics you automatically earn the Olympic team spot.

[nhs67]

Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

[CA_Wrestler]

9 minutes ago, nhs67 said:

Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

Close!

If you medal at an Olympic weight the year prior to the Olympics, then the Olympic spot is yours.  With Ishii losing, it just opened up a floodgate to 68kg in Japan.  Ozaki is probably going to be staring down Ishii on the plane ride home lol

[CHROMEBIRD]

49 minutes ago, CA_Wrestler said:

I figured why she started crying right away.  She was 1 second away from winning the match against Motoki, but didn't have full control of the TD in their WTT. 

What happened in her match against Motoki is why I knew Kilty was going to get hammered in the 65kg finals.

I bet Ozaki going 68kg and she'll be going against her good buddy, Morikawa, Ishii, Kawai and many more.

 

28 minutes ago, CA_Wrestler said:

Close!

If you medal at an Olympic weight the year prior to the Olympics, then the Olympic spot is yours.  With Ishii losing, it just opened up a floodgate to 68kg in Japan.  Ozaki is probably going to be staring down Ishii on the plane ride home lol

That's wild. Has the OT selection process always been that way for Japan? 

Also didn't one of the Kawai sisters miss the world team similarly on a last second score? Some real hammers left on the sidelines in Japan. Just mind blowing.

[CHROMEBIRD]

Ozaki's got some legit ears, btw.

[CA_Wrestler]

2 hours ago, CHROMEBIRD said:

 

That's wild. Has the OT selection process always been that way for Japan? 

Also didn't one of the Kawai sisters miss the world team similarly on a last second score? Some real hammers left on the sidelines in Japan. Just mind blowing.

Japan changed their OT selection to the current format for the Tokyo Olympics in 2019.

As far as the Kawai sisters go:

Yukako Kawai(62kg Olympic Champ) lost to Ozaki*first time meeting) last May in the 62kg finals.   Ozaki was winning 3-1 with very short time and Kawai had Ozaki in a head pinch.  Kawai  tried turning her shoulders past 90, but couldn't get it.  If there were a few more seconds left, I think she would have got it and won on criteria because Ozaki's shoulders were .

Risako Kawai lost to Sae Nanjo(2023 59kg rep) when she had turned her right before the buzzer in their playoff match a few months ago.

 

As far as Ozaki goes compared to Motoki at 62kg.  Ozaki is much, much better in neutral.  Motoki wrestled amazing that night last Dec and beat Yukako Kawai 9-2 and Ozaki 4-2 the same night to take the 62kg spot.

As far as 68kg goes, my projected wrestlers are: Ozaki, Morikawa(Hard to believe she bumped up 2 weights and took 3rd at 72kg), Ishii, Yukako Kawai(maybe), Masako Furuichi(maybe, could be retired), one of the Matsuyuka twins and maybe 1-2 more junior wrestlers.  It'll be really interesting to see who else enters at 68kg in December for the Emperor's Cup and then next May for the Meiji Cup.  

 

[jchapman]

There are people on this forum who swear a World Championship is equal to an Olympic Championship…

[Eagle26]

Equal in what way? If anyone is debating that they are equal in significance to the athletes and our culture, I think they are way off. Olympics are the pinnacle of our sport and I think just about everyone holds them in higher regard.

However, you can make the debate that they are fairly equal as far as showing a wrestler’s ability. I’ve heard this argument and it has some valid points (although there’s valid points for why the Olympics are tougher too).

[Jim L]

Sorry, not to be that guy, but did she just figure out what the Olympic weight classes are?

[scribers]

On 9/21/2023 at 8:28 PM, jchapman said:

There are people on this forum who swear a World Championship is equal to an Olympic Championship…

It is! (isn't it?)

[bnwtwg]

1 hour ago, Jim L said:

Sorry, not to be that guy, but did she just figure out what the Olympic weight classes are?

You are that guy. As noted above, she lost the Emperor’s Cup (Japan’s version of WTT wrestle-off) for the Olympic weight by finishing the winning takedown half a second too late.

[CA_Wrestler]

5 hours ago, Jim L said:

Sorry, not to be that guy, but did she just figure out what the Olympic weight classes are?

No, it's because all last year, that was Ozaki's weight in Japan before she lost the spot in December.  She was the 62kg senior, junior and U23 world champion at 62kg last year.

[CHROMEBIRD]

I wonder if she went full McDonough in private and tossed her medal in the trash. Is Ozaki the odds-on favorite to rep Japan at 68? That's a bit of a bump up from her usual weight. An Olympic matchup with Elor would be good, assuming they both end up at 68kg. 

[CA_Wrestler]

1 hour ago, CHROMEBIRD said:

I wonder if she went full McDonough in private and tossed her medal in the trash. Is Ozaki the odds-on favorite to rep Japan at 68? That's a bit of a bump up from her usual weight. An Olympic matchup with Elor would be good, assuming they both end up at 68kg. 

I wouldn't say she's the odds on favorite if she went to 68.  I would definitely say she'd absolutely be the best wrestler competing for that spot with the best neutral and scoring ability.  In Japan's WTT trials, anybody can beat you if you make a tiny mistake, so a lot of times I see a lot of the world champions for their WFS team wrestle much more conservatively within Japan than at the World Championships.  I do think her skills, speed and technique will definitely beat out heavier wrestlers in Japan or if she makes the world championships.  Kind of like how Morikawa bumped up two weight classes this week and won bronze even though it's a non-Olympic weight.

[CA_Wrestler]

I didn't post this back in April when this tournament happened because it was nowhere near the event, but Japan's U23 team is as follows unless Sakurai doesn't compete:

50kg- Umi Ito(21, #3 in Japan), Just won the National Sports festival in Japan at 53kg on 9/22.  2022 U20 World Champion(teched Audrey Jimenez in the finals)  **Fun fact**:  Akari Fujinami's last loss was in Jr High to.....Umi Ito.  Ito beat Fujinami 7-2 in the National Jr High School finals.

53kg- Mako Ohno(21, #5 in Japan at 53kg)

55kg- Umi Imai(22, Japanese Military, #3 at 57kg)

57kg- Tsugumi Sakurai(22, 2023 57kg Senior World Champion, #1 in Japan)

59kg- Sena Nagamoto(23, #2 in Japan)

62kg- Yuzuka Inagaki(22, #2 in Japan at 62kg-Beat Ozaki 6-6 on criteria in their WTT quarters, then lost to Motoki 8-2 in the finals)  Last international tournament was Dan Kolov, 1st place.

65kg- Suzu Teramoto(20, #3 in Japan)

68kg- No entry at this time.  All wrestlers competed for the 68kg senior spot a few weeks after this tournament.

72kg- Waji Misaki(22, unranked)

76kg- Nodoka Yamamoto(21, #3 in Japan) Here by default, no other entries in the qualifying tournament  All other 76kg wrestlers competed for the kg senior spot after this tournament.