Wada, Tsutsumi, Nakagaki, Aramoto and Tsuboi are on the lead in the Japanese National Sports Festival

Japanese National Sports Festival 01

The 72nd edition of the Japanese National Sports Festival was held in the city of Ehime where the country’s best elite and youth boxers fought for the medals. The country’s big talents such as Madoka Wada, Ryutaro Nakagaki, Hayato Tsutsumi, Taiga Imanaga, Issei Aramoto, Tomoya Tsuboi, Mikito Nakano and Rentaro Kimura all won their weight classes in the Japanese National Sports Festival in Ehime.
The Japanese boxers have been preparing with full speed to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and their younger age groups performed sensationally in the international events this year. Hayato Tsutsumi was the best boxer in the ASBC Asian Confederation Youth Boxing Championships in Bangkok and following that Sora Tanaka was named as the No.1 in the ASBC Asian Confederation Junior Boxing Championships in Puerto Princesa.
AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships bronze medallist Madoka Wada of Fukui is member of the national elite team since 2012 and moved up to the flyweight (51kg) in the recent two years. The 22-year-old boxer had to beat former AIBA Women’s Junior World Champion Kasumi Saeki in the semi-final and a super talented teenage rival Saitama’s Tsukimi Namiki in the final of the National Sports Festival.
Miyazaki’s Ryutaro Nakagaki won the gold medal in the 2015 ASBC Asian Confederation Junior Boxing Championships in Tashkent and repeated that performance in the 2017 ASBC Asian Confederation Youth Boxing Championships in Bangkok. He had to do his very best to beat 17-year-old Kazuki Anaguchi in the final of the youth flyweight (52kg) but the verdict was split decision in the favour of Nakagaki.
Chiba’s Hayato Tsutsumi is Japan’s top talent who achieved gold medal in the 2016 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships in St. Petersburg and he is double champion in the ASBC Asian Confederation Youth Boxing Championships. The 18-year-old super talented boxer was too strong for Shunsuke Kanyama in the final of the bantamweight (56kg) and demonstrated his power once again in 2017.
ASBC Asian Confederation Youth Boxing Championships bronze medallist Taiga Imanaga of Nara has got record number of national titles in Japan and following his victory over Jim Miyagaki he achieved the gold medal of the youth lightweight (60kg). Another ASBC Asian Confederation Youth Boxing Championships bronze medallist future hope, 18-year-old Issei Aramoto of Nara did the same pathway in the recent years as Imanaga and his efforts delivered to him another title in Japan after beating Joichiro Naritomi in the final of the welterweight (69kg).
In the other finals of the youth age group Shogo Tanaka of Osaka defeated Asato Kataoka at the pinweight (46kg) while Tsuyoshi Kawatani of Fukuoka was too quick for Hiromitsu Sumida at the light flyweight (49kg). Two other youth national team members such as Osaka’s Sho Patrick Usami and Niigata’s Riku Kondo also did enough to beat their rivals in the title contests in Ehime.
Shizuoka’s Tomoya Tsuboi qualified for the Doha 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships but this year he was unable to attend in the ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships in Tashkent. Japan’s light flyweight (49kg) No.1 did his very best and his aggressive style was the way of the success against Kumamoto’s Yudai Shigeoka.
Toru Shimada represented the host city, Ehime in the Japanese National Sports Festival and bagged the title of the flyweight (52kg) after beating Nagasaki’s Ryoma Kitaura. Tokyo’s 22-year-old Mikito Nakano performed well also in a few international events therefore his success over Wakayama’s Jin Minadime was an expected result in the final of the elite bantamweight (56kg).
Shizuoka’s Rentaro Kimura moved up to the lightweight (60kg) and following his sensational triumph over ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships bronze medallist Kenji Fujita, he was able to keep the same level in the final against Ryuji Kanaka. Saitama’s Yuta Akiyama defeated Shinichiro Morishita and Yamagata’s Sewon Okazawa in the final stages of the light welterweight (64kg) and secured gold in the National Sports Festival.
Saitama’s next gold medal was delivered by Hiroaki Kinjo who joined to the national team this year and competed also in the ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships. The 24-year-old boxer defeated Kumamoto’s Masayuki Urashima in the final of the welterweight (69kg) winning the bout by split decision.
Ehime’s Makoto Takahashi is small boxer at the middleweight (75kg) but his fighting spirit is amazing which delivered for him another national success after beating 19-year-old Zen Kuroyanagi in the final. The light heavyweight (81kg) is a new category in Japan where Tochigi’s Hisaki Takakura did enough to beat Kumamoto’s Ran Tomatsu.

List of the winners in the Japanese National Sports Festival
Japan Women’s Elite 51kg: Madoka Wada
Japan Men’s Youth 46kg: Shogo Tanaka
Japan Men’s Youth 49kg: Tsuyoshi Kawatani
Japan Men’s Youth 52kg: Ryutaro Nakagaki
Japan Men’s Youth 56kg: Hayato Tsutsumi
Japan Men’s Youth 60kg: Taiga Imanaga
Japan Men’s Youth 64kg: Sho Usami
Japan Men’s Youth 69kg: Issei Aramoto
Japan Men’s Youth 75kg: Riku Kondo
Japan Men’s Elite 49kg: Tomoya Tsuboi
Japan Men’s Elite 52kg: Toru Shimada
Japan Men’s Elite 56kg: Mikito Nakano
Japan Men’s Elite 60kg: Rentaro Kimura
Japan Men’s Elite 64kg: Yuta Akiyama
Japan Men’s Elite 69kg: Hiroaki Kinjo
Japan Men’s Elite 75kg: Makoto Takahashi
Japan Men’s Elite 81kg: Hisaki Takakura