Japanese High School National Championships

Last year’s heroes won gold medals in the Japanese High School Championships

The Japanese High School Championships was held in the city of Fukushima which was a new venue in the country’s boxing life. The competition was scheduled for the youth athletes and it was a selection event for the ASBC Asian Confederation Youth Boxing Championships which will be held in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan in May.
Women boxers could fight in three weight classes in Fukushima where the best female performance was delivered by 18-year-old Tsukimi Namiki who won the gold medal at the Balkan Women’s Youth Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria last November. Japan’s biggest woman talent stopped Honoka Seo in the semi-finals and he was able to beat Mei Miyamoto in the gold medal bout of the Women’s Flyweight class (51 kg).
The first gold medal at the Women’s Pinweight class (46 kg) claimed by Koura Nanami who will be turning to 17 only in December but her skills were enough to beat Reika Nozaki in Fukushima. Japanese High School National Champion Seira Hamaguchi claimed the third gold medal in the women competition following her dominancy in the Lightweight class (60 kg) where she stopped all of her opponents by TKO.
Eight weight classes were held in the men competition of the High School National Championships from the 46 kg up to the 75 kg weight class. The Japanese boxers proved great performance in the 2015 ASBC Asian Confederation Junior Boxing Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan last June and several of those talents were also successful in Fukushima as well.
Ginjiro Shigeoka eliminated Ryusei Matsumoto in the semi-final of the Men’s Pinweight class (46 kg) and continued the winning path against Arashi Imao in the first gold medal bout of the male competition. ASBC Asian Confederation Junior Boxing Championships bronze medallist Keisuke Matsumoto is only 16 but his skills were enough to beat the top favourite of the Light Flyweight class (49 kg) AIBA Junior World Boxing Championships quarter-finalist titleholder Takumi Tamura in Fukushima.
Hayato Tsutsumi attended in the AIBA Junior World Boxing Championships and also in the ASBC Asian Confederation Junior Boxing Championships last year therefore his gold medal at the Flyweight class (52 kg) was not a surprise in Fukushima where he defeated Takeru Inoue in the final while defending ASBC Asian Junior Champion Ryutaro Nakagaki claimed only bronze in the event.
ASBC Asian Confederation Junior Boxing Championships silver medallist Taiga Imanaga proved top performance once again and dominated his Bantamweight class (56 kg) final over Fumiya Fumise in the event. Miyazaki-based 18-year-old Reo Saito had a difficult semi-final against Shinichiro Morishita but following that narrow victory he defended his throne beating Kazuki Iwasaki in the final of the Lightweight class (60 kg).
ASBC Asian Confederation Junior Boxing Championships silver medallist Issei Aramoto had thirteen rivals in the Japanese High School Championships and he dominated all of his fights against Yohei Masuda, Ryuya Yokouchi and Naohiro Okada as well. Zen Kuroyanagi was bronze medallist in the last edition which he changed into gold in Fukushima while the last title at the Middleweight class (75 kg) was achieved by Natsu Shinjo.

Winners in the Japanese High School Championships

Women’s 46 kg: Koura Nanami
Women’s 51 kg: Tsukimi Namiki
Women’s 60 kg: Seira Hamaguchi
Men’s 46 kg: Ginjiro Shigeoka
Men’s 49 kg: Keisuke Matsumoto
Men’s 52 kg: Hayato Tsutsumi
Men’s 56 kg: Taiga Imanaga
Men’s 60 kg: Reo Saito
Men’s 64 kg: Issei Aramoto
Men’s 69 kg: Zen Kuroyanagi
Men’s 75 kg: Natsu Shinjo