Japan's "Fantastic Four" still on top of Olympic women wrestling
22/7/2008 17:22
Japan's "Fantastic Four" in women's wrestling have no doubts to be the
most promising winners at the upcoming Summer Olympics in Beijing with their
collection of 19 Olympic and world championships gold medals.
The foursome
combined to win two golds, one silver and one bronze in Athens in 2004 when
women's wresting made its Olympic debut.
Saori Yoshida, gold-medal defender
of women's freestyle 55kg at the Beijing Olympics, however, lost to unfancy
American Marcie van Dusen 2-0 at the World Cup team competition in Taiyuan,
Shanxi Province, China in January.
It was her first defeat in 120 games in
seven years, which also seemed to be a great shock to the "Fantastic
Four".
"It went wrong just because I thought I could surely win and took it
easy," said Yoshida after her first ever defeat to a foreigner.
"Foreigners
had never come out attacking. But now they are beginning to make the first moves
by themselves," said Yoshida, 25, who started wrestling at the age of three
under her father, a former national champion.
"Yoshida's lost has changed the
atmosphere in the team. They worked harder and study more seriously," said
Kazuhito Sakae, the team coach.
The 63kg champion Kaori Icho, 24, admitted
that the rest of the world was emphasizing counter-attacks.
"I feel a bit
scared when I tackle. I must become capable of scoring points against tightly
guarded opponents," said Icho, who and her sister Chiharu Icho were led to
practice wrestling by their older brother when they were children.
Both Kaori
Icho and Yoshida won a record fifth straight title at the World Championships in
Baku, Azerbaijan, last September when Japanese women won four of seven golds on
offer. The result further boosted Japan's cache of world titles to 54 from the
past 19 world championships since 1987.
At the Olympics, women's wrestling is
contested in only four categories. Japan failed to win the 48kg and
72kg.
World 48kg champion Chiharu Icho, 26, who won silver in Athens, is now
focused more on shaking the opponents' upper-body and pulling the arms than on
tackling.
"Now I know even the stronger can lose," said Chiharu.
Kyoko
Hamaguchi was the final member of the fabulous four. Hamaguchi, 30, lost to
China's Wang Xu in the semifinal of 72kg in 2004 and only made the bronze.
Hamaguchi only finished ninth in Baku and left herself in illusions that she was
not capable for the national team. The heavyweight proved herself by winning a
ticket to Beijing when she triumphed at the Asian Championships in Jeju, South
Korea, in March.
Wang Xu won China's first Olympic wrestling gold.
Heigo
Hamaguchi, Kyoko's father and also her trainer, is a former professional
wrestler dubbed "Animal".
Kyoko, who started wrestling at a gym run by her
father when she was 13, grapples for her first world-class gold since winning
her fifth world title in 2003.
Yoshida also triumphed at the Asian
Championships on her comeback from the World Cup failure.
"The memory of the
World Cup was swirling around in my head," said Yoshida. "I have no time to shed
a tear as I'm looking ahead to the Olympics."
Xinhua
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