[News] Day 1: Hopeful Yuhei Oino Reaches the Top in -81kg, Taiki Nakamura Surprisingly get “Ippon” in All Matches in -60kg. / All Japan Judo Championships Fukuoka 2023

By EJUDO, Japanese Judo website.

The All-Japan Judo Championships Fukuoka, which decides the best judoka in Japan by weight, opened on April 1 at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center in Fukuoka City. On the first day, four weight classes were contested in the men’s competition.

Yuhei Oino (Teikyo Heisei University) won the -81kg weight class for the first time. He surprised the audience by defeating Kenya Kohara (Park24), the Grand Slam Tokyo champion, in the first round by Osoto-gari “Waza-ari” in 5:33 of the overtime of the GS. In the semifinals, he defeated Yoshito Hojo (Nihon Univ., 4th year), a rival of the same age whom he had faced many times before, with a Sumi-otoshi counter against Seoi-nage and won by Waza-ari in GS 3:17 of the overtime.

In the final, he faced Shota Kugimaru (Park24), last year’s champion in All Japan Businessmen Individual　Championships. He had a history against Shota Kugimaru, who had lost in the first round of last year’s Kodokan Cup and had been blocked from entering the international competition . He attack tenaciously, and at 5 minutes and 5 seconds, he finished the match with a Tani-otoshi “Waza-ari” in response to his opponent’s left Harai-makikomi.

Last year, he won the bronze medal at the Grand Prix Armada, where he was sent as a national junior champion. Since then, however, he has not competed in a World Tour event. He won two domestic titles, the All-Japan University Championships and the “National team member Selection”. Since he had lost the Kodokan Cup, he had no rights under the system. However, he finally won a ticket to the World Tour by winning today’s pinnacle event.

In the -60kg weight class, the elites who competed in the Grand Slam Tokyo were defeated one after another. Ryuju Nagayama (SBC Shonan Clinic), the top seed, Hayato Kondo (Kokushikan University), Yamato Fukuda (Hieizan High School), and Genki Koga (Asahi Kasei), the second seed, all disappeared in the middle of the tournament. Taiki Nakamura (Kokushikan Univ.), the 2022 World Junior Champion, was the surprise winner.

In both the first round and semifinals, Nakamura had a tough time taking the initiative from the veteran, but he regained his footing in the golden-score overtime matches.In the first round, he took an Ippon from Katsuma Yonemura (SENKO) by Ude-hishigi-juji-gatame, and in the semi-finals, he took an Ippon from Nagayama by Tate-shiho-gatame. In the final, he submitted Masashi Tateyama (Park 24) with a left Kouchi-gari “Ippon” from an Ippon-seoi-nage feint in just 24 seconds. In an interview immediately after the match, he said, with expressing his joy with an upbeat face,”This is the first time for me to win a national tournament in any categories. I am really happy to win such a big game.”

In the -73kg, the Grand Slam Tokyo team of Ken Oyoshi (SBC Shonan Aesthetic Clinic), Hayato Koga (Keio High School), and Kenshi Harada (ALSOK) fell one after another. Dark horse Tatsuki Ishihara (Nippon Sport Science University) was the surprise winner. In the first round and semifinals, he defeated two big names, both of whom are also his seniors at university, one after the other. First, he defeated Ryo Tsukamoto (Park 24) with a high hitting left Seoi-nage “Ippon” .Next, he defeated Oyoshi with an Awase-waza “Ippon” combinated by left Osoto-otoshi “Waza-ari” and Tani-otoshi “Waza-ari” . In the final against Yuhei Yoshida (JSDF Physical Training School), he lost to Shido twice but took a “Waza-ari” with a left Osoto-gari. He kept this score to win the championship. It was such a big upset that even he said in an interview, “I still can’t believe I won the tournament.”

In -66kg, which was expected to be a close contest, Taikoh Fujisaka (Park24) won for the second time since the 2020 tournament (which was held in conjunction with the Kodokan Cup).
In the first round, he eliminated Masaya Asari (Kanagawa Prefectural Police) with an Osoto-gaeshi “Waza-ari” in GS overtime, and in the semifinals, he defeated Yuji Aida (ALSOK) with a Sumi-otoshi “Waza-ari” in GS overtime. B Both were difficult opponents with their own peculiarities, but they were settled by throws. the final, he took a “Waza-ari” from Yoshimasa Gomi (Japan Ace Support) with a Kouchi-gari at the beginning of the match. He then connected with a Sode-guruma-jime without a moment’s pause, and won the championship with a 29-second “Ippon.

Results of all matches in each weight class are as follows.

-60kg

(8 Judoka)

Results
1.NAKAMURA, Taiki
2.TATEYAMA, Sho
3.NAGAYAMA, Ryuju
3.KOGA, Genki
5.AOKI, Dai
5.YONEMURA, Katsuma
5.KONDO, Hayato
5.FUKUDA, Yamato

Round 1
NAGAYAMA, Ryuju [W] Hansoku-make / Shido 3 (GS1:34) [L] AOKI, Dai
NAKAMURA, Taiki [W] Ude-hishigi-juji-gatame (GS1:27) [L] YONEMURA, Katsuma
TATEYAMA, Sho [W] Hansoku-make / Shido 3 (GS1:45) [L] KONDO, Hayato
KOGA, Genki [W] Waza-ari / Ura-nage (GS2:50) [L] FUKUDA, Yamato

Semifinals
NAKAMURA, Taiki [W] Tate-shiho-gatame (GS3:16) [L] NAGAYAMA, Ryuju
TATEYAMA, Sho [W] Hansoku-make / Shido 3 (GS2:31) [L] KOGA, Genki

Final
NAKAMURA, Taiki [W] Kouchi-makikomi (0:24) [L] TATEYAMA, Sho

-66kg

(8 Judoka)

Results
1.FUJISAKA, Taikoh
2.GOMI, Yoshimasa
3.AIDA, Yuji
3.HADANO, Keita
5.TANAKA, Ryoma
5.ASARI, Masaya
5.HATTORI, Shinsei
5.TAKEOKA, Takeshi

Round 1
AIDA, Yuji [W] Waza-ari / Kouchi-gari [L] TANAKA, Ryoma
FUJISAKA, Taikoh [W] Waza-ari / Osoto-gaeshi (GS1:04) [L] ASARI, Masaya
HADANO, Keita [W] Hansoku-make / Shido 3 (GS0:53) [L] HATTORI, Shinsei
GOMI, Yoshimasa [W] Sumi-otoshi (GS1:58) [L] TAKEOKA, Takeshi

Semifinals
FUJISAKA, Taikoh [W] Waza-ari / Sumi-otoshi (GS1:25) [L] AIDA, Yuji
GOMI, Yoshimasa [W] Waza-ari / Kouchi-gaeshi (GS0:17) [L] HADANO, Keita

Final
FUJISAKA, Taikoh [W] Sode-guruma-jime (0:29) [L] GOMI, Yoshimasa

-73kg

(8 Judoka)

Results
1.ISHIHARA, Tatsuki
2.YOSHIDA, Yuhei
3.OYOSHI, Ken
3.HARADA, Kenshi
5.TANAKA, Ryuga
5.TSUKAMOTO, Ryo
5.KOGA, Hayato
5.TANAKA, Yudai

Round 1
OYOSHI, Ken [W] Waza-ari / Tomoe-nage [L] TANAKA, Ryuga
ISHIHARA, Tatsuki [W] Seoi-nage (1:27) [L] TSUKAMOTO, Ryo
YOSHIDA, Yuhei [W] Awase-waza / Ouchi-gaeshi & Tate-shiho-gatame (2:34) [L] KOGA, Hayato
HARADA, Kenshi [W] Waza-ari / Sumi-gaeshi (GS2:52) [L] TANAKA, Yudai

Semifinals
ISHIHARA, Tatsuki [W] Awase-waza / Osoto-gari & Tani-otoshi (GS1:20) [L] OYOSHI, Ken
YOSHIDA, Yuhei [W] Seoi-nage (GS3:24) [L] HARADA, Kenshi

Final
ISHIHARA, Tatsuki [W] Waza-ari / Osoto-gari [L] YOSHIDA, Yuhei

-81kg

(8 Judoka)

Results
1.OINO, Yuhei
2.KUGIMARU, Shota
3.AMANO, Kaito
3.HOJO, Yoshito
5.FUJIWARA, Sotaro
5.MARUYAMA, Goki
5.KOHARA, Kenya
5.HINOYAMA, Go

Round 1
KUGIMARU, Shota [W] Fusen-make [L] FUJIWARA, Sotaro
AMANO, Kaito [W] Waza-ari / Sumi-gaeshi (GS0:54) [L] MARUYAMA, Goki
OINO, Yuhei [W] Waza-ari / Osoto-gari (GS5:33) [L] KOHARA, Kenya
HOJO, Yoshito [W] Uchi-mata (0:59) [L] HINOYAMA, Go

Semifinals
KUGIMARU, Shota [W] Awase-waza / Sumi-otoshi & Ouchi-gari (3:14) [L] AMANO, Kaito
OINO, Yuhei [W] Waza-ari / Sumi-otoshi (GS3:17) [L] HOJO, Yoshito

Final
OINO, Yuhei [W] Waza-ari / Tani-otoshi (GS1:05) [L] KUGIMARU, Shota