Beijing: Japan's formidable women's wrestling squad launched their Olympic campaign in convincing style as world champions Saori Yoshida and Chiharu Icho reached the 55kg and 48kg finals on Saturday.
Defending 55kg holder Yoshida overwhelmed Canada's Tonya Verbeek 2-0 in the semi-finals, a rematch of their final clash at the Athens Games four years ago, to face China's 18-year-old Xu Li in the gold-medal showdown later in the day.
Icho rallied from the brink of defeat to stop defending champion Irini Merleni by a fall in the second round, avenging her defeat to the Ukrainian in the 48kg final in Athens where women's wrestling made its Olympic debut.
Merleni took the first round and led 1-0 with five seconds to go in the second when Icho unleashed a hip throw and pressed for the fall.
Icho went on to whip American Clarissa Chun with a decisive final point by a takedown in an extra round after a 1-1 draw in the first two rounds.
Icho, 26, a back-to-back world champion in the lightest division, was to battle Carol Huynh, the 2005 world bronze medallist, in the final.
Huynh was assured of Canada's first medal at these Games.
Two more Japanese wrestlers, Icho's younger sister and Olympic 63kg champion Kaori, and 72kg heavyweight Olympic bronze medallist Kyoko Hamaguchi, were to compete on Sunday on the final day of the four-event women's competition.
The foursome own 20 Olympic and world gold medals among them.
Yoshida was making a comeback from her shock defeat to unfancied American Marcie van Dusen at the World Cup team competition in China in January when her trademark tackles were countered and her 119-match winning streak was snapped.
Van Marcie, 10th at the world championships in Baku in Septemeber, faded in the second round in the other group here, bowing to Colombian Jackeline Renteira 2-0.
"My performances were not as good as at the world championships," said 25-year-old Yoshida, who won her fifth straight world title in Baku.
"But I am happy I have won these matches. I have worked hard on tackles which cannot be countered," Yoshida said. "I have trained in the basics of tackling for half a year. If I make the same mistake here, all my efforts will prove meaningless."
Xu, the 2007 World Cup champion who was third in the 2008 Asian championship contest won by Yoshida in March, moved through a block devoid of Olympic or world medallists, beating Renteira in the semi-finals.
Huynh, 27, who was fifth at the worlds last year, said it felt "pretty special" to lift Canada's first medal here. "I know we have more coming, but it's nice to be the first one."
Comments
0 comment