Asian Champions as Raito Kataoka and Yuga Fujiki were brilliant at the 35th Japanese National High School Selection Tournament

The 35th Japanese National High School Selection Tournament and the JOC Junior Olympic Boxing Cup Competition finished with its 13 finals in Tamano City.  

The Tamano City General Gymnasium was the venue of the Japanese National High School Selection Tournament. The Japanese Boxing Federation was the host of the competition with the support of the Japanese National Olympic Committee, the Tamano City Board of Education and the Okayama Prefectural Board of Education.

Altogether 127 bouts concluded at the 35th Japanese National High School Selection Tournament in Tamano City. There were five women weight categories in the national event, and the male boxers could compete in eight divisions in the first high school competition of the busy year.

Kumamoto’s Yu Miyata won the first female title of the National High School Selection Tournament, she won the smallest weight class against Nonoka Okabe. Okayama’s local boxer Momoko Hasebe delighted the local crowd when she defeated Riko Yamada at the light flyweight (48kg) final.

Amu Ohta was quarter-finalist at the 2023 East Asian Youth Games in Ulaanbaatar and she had the routine to beat Himari Otobe in the flyweight final. Shiori Yotsumoto claimed a bronze medal at the 2023 ASBC Asian Junior Boxing Championships in Astana and she was able to beat Maria Mizukami in a quick bantamweight (54kg) final bout.

Aomori’s Arinda Akimoto bagged the last female title of the 35th Japanese National High School Selection Tournament, she won two out of the three rounds against Miyazaki’s Rina Tsutsumi who came from a famous boxing family.

Osaka’s Daichi Iwai won the last national high school event among the pinweight (46kg) boxer and he repeated that performance in Tamano City where he looked too smart for Rinto Nakano. Seiya Nakayama is another sensational high school boxer in Japan and he defended his throne against Masaki Murakami of Kumamoto.

Chiba’s Raito Kataoka is the defending ASBC Asian Youth Champion at the flyweight and the 18-year-old promising star continued his impressive winning path in Tamano City as well. He has extraordinary technical skills guaranteed his success at the flyweight against Miyazaki’s Aren Zushi in the final.

Fuma Kumamoto, the East Asian Youth Games winner, achieved a silver medal in the last national high school event which he switched into gold this time. The 18-year-old boxer defeated Saitama’s Haruto Kaneko winning all of the three rounds in their final bout.

Osaka’s Yuga Fujiki was not only ASBC Asian Junior Champion in 2023 but he is one of the best future talents in the whole world. The 17-year-old boxer dictated different tempo in the final of the lightweight (60kg) against Yoshihiro Matsuda and the referee stopped their contest in the second round.

Haruya Ohgo and Ryuto Masuda have less experiences than the other male winners but both won their first national titles in this event. Tochigi’s Ieshua Silva, the High School National Champion, is a dominant boxer at the middleweight (75kg) and smashed Ritsuki Firemon Obijiak in the final.

The list of the winners at the Japanese National High School Selection Tournament
Women’s 45kg: Yu Miyata
Women’s 48kg: Momoko Hasebe
Women’s 51kg: Amu Ohta
Women’s 54kg: Shiori Yotsumoto
Women’s 60kg: Arinda Akimoto
Men’s 46kg: Daichi Iwai
Men’s 49kg: Seiya Nakayama
Men’s 52kg: Raito Kataoka
Men’s 56kg: Fuma Kumamoto
Men’s 60kg: Yuga Fujiki
Men’s 64kg: Haruya Ohgo
Men’s 69kg: Ryuto Masuda
Men’s 75kg: Ieshua Silva

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