A match was held to decide the representative of the 66-kilometer class judo men of the Tokyo Olympics, which was postponed to next year, and Hifumi Abe beat Joshiro Maruyama to be the representative.
Maruyama, who won the world championship last year, and Abe, who won the world championship for the second time in a row, competed fiercely for the men's 66-kilometer class of judo. did.
The All Japan Judo Federation has postponed or canceled the tournament, which was scheduled to select two people, so for the first time in history, the All Japan Judo Federation held a decisive battle for the representative of the Olympic Games in one match.
In the decisive battle held at the Kodokan in Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Abe threw his back and Maruyama attacked with his inner thighs, but they couldn't score points and entered the extension.
Even after entering the extension, the development continued to compete with each other while engaging in waza-ari, but in just 24 minutes of the match time, Abe took the waza-ari with "Ouchi Mowing" and won the advantage.
Abe has been appointed as the first Olympic representative after confirmation by the All Japan Judo Federation's Strengthening Committee.
In Judo, the representatives of all 14 classes, including men and women, who will be held at the Tokyo Olympics have been decided.
Abe "Standing on the starting line for dreams"
Hifumi Abe, who won the 24-minute match and was nominated for the Tokyo Olympics, said, "I thought it was a really long battle and I thought it was a collision of feelings. I think I finally made it to the starting line for my dream." I talked about it.
Regarding the game, "I fought with the image of never winning and not pulling with feelings. I never flinched. I think that I was able to throw at the end as a result of my own judo." "A lot of people supported and supported me for this match. I want to thank all the people involved. My dream is to win the Olympics, so that's it. I think I'll give back, "he said with tears in his eyes from time to time.
To Uta Abe, who will be participating as a brother, he said, "I feel like I'm waiting for you. Since my sister was decided first, I can clearly say that we will win the Olympic gold medal." ..
He said, "I want to make the Tokyo Olympics the most brilliant stage for me. I haven't reached the goal yet, so I want to be even more careful and aim to win the Tokyo Olympics as my number one goal."
Maruyama "The presence of Abe has helped me grow."
Immediately after losing, Joshiro Maruyama was asked about his current state of mind and did not speak for about 20 seconds.
And while holding back tears, "There was a time when I couldn't move forward in Corona, but I came earnestly. I believed in myself, believed in my wife, and trained every day. Full of gratitude. That's it. "
Regarding the 24-minute battle, he recalled, "It was quick. I lost the result, but I think I was able to finish what I had done. I challenged myself with all my strength from the beginning to the end." It was.
When asked about Abe, who had been competing for the national team, he said, "It wasn't just my strength that made me physically and mentally strong, but Abe's presence was great, and he made me grow." I told you.
He said, "My life is not over. I will continue to look forward and devote myself to becoming stronger mentally and physically."
Director Inoue "I want to praise this battle from the bottom of my heart"
Kosei Inoue, the coach of Japan's Judo Men's National Team, said, "The two of us have prepared so much. They played the best match in today's fight. I really want to praise this fight. I wanted to fight in the main match of the Olympic Games. It's a heartfelt thought, and it's a shame that one of them can't make it to the main race, "he praised the two.
Regarding Abe, who was appointed as the representative of the Tokyo Olympics, "There was a scene where I was about to pull in today's game, but when I saw the appearance of fighting with inspiration and the appearance of coming forward, the time when the elite athletes were having a hard time I felt that power came out because of my experience. It was because of the existence of Maruyama that made Abe stronger. "
After that, in response to the unofficial decision of all seven men's representatives, he said, "I would like to regain my mind and do what I should do with the seven representatives including Abe."
In addition, Jun Konno, the chairman of the strengthening committee, said that he decided to be a candidate for the Olympic Games in one game for the first time due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection. "It is an unusual tournament, and there are no advantages or disadvantages at this stage. From now on, I envision a match with everyone participating, but I don't know what the situation will be. I want to select and evaluate in the best way. "
What is Hifumi Abe?
Hifumi Abe, a 66-kilometer class judo boy, is 23 years old from Hyogo prefecture.
His strengths in throwing his back and fishing his sleeves are outstanding, and he won the 2014 Kodokan Cup and the All Japan Weight Championship for the first time in his second year of high school and was in the limelight.
He has won the world championship for the second time in a row since 2017 with his dynamic judo aiming for "one win".
However, he suffered three consecutive losses from his rival, Joshiro Maruyama, to last year's world championship, and was temporarily reversed in the Olympic competition.
Even so, he humiliated Maruyama in the final of the international tournament in November last year and won the international tournament in February, returning the fight for the national team to five minutes.
In the unusual direct confrontation, the informal player deciding match defeated Maruyama again and won the fierce competition for the representative, and was appointed as the first Olympic representative.
At the Tokyo Olympics, I aim to win a gold medal in this class as a Japanese athlete for the first time since the 2008 Beijing Games.
What is Joshiro Maruyama?
Joshiro Maruyama, a 66-kilometer class judo boy, is 27 years old from Miyazaki prefecture.
Uchi mata, which he is good at, is described as "like a Japanese sword" and has an outstanding cut.
On the other hand, at the international tournament, there was a wave of ups and downs such as losing to the lower ranking players, but in the international tournament held in Osaka in November, he defeated Hifumi Abe, who won the world championship for the second time in a row, and last April. In the All Japan Selected Weight Championship, he defeated Abe again and won the domestic and international tournaments for four consecutive tournaments.
Furthermore, at the World Championships in August last year, he defeated Abe in the semi-finals after an extension and won the gold medal in his first appearance in the final.
However, he lost to Abe in the final at the international tournament in November last year, and he missed the international tournament in February due to a knee injury and was lined up with Abe in the Olympic competition.
Past battles and representative battles
Joshiro Maruyama and Hifumi Abe have played against each other seven times, with Maruyama winning four and Abe winning three, and the battle has continued.
Looking back on the battle between the two.
The first match was five years ago, at the Kodokan Cup in the fall of 2015, and the All Japan Weight Championship.
This match was won by Maruyama, who took advantage of "Tomoe Nage".
In the second match in April 2016, Abe won the championship by the difference in guidance in the final of the All Japan Selected Weight Championship.
Masashi Ebinuma was selected as the 66-kilometer class representative for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics that year, and both of them missed out, but Abe was the first to lead the competition for the Tokyo Olympics.
After winning the gold medal at the 2017 World Championship, where he first appeared, he has a skill in "Ouchi Mowing" after being extended from Maruyama in the final of "Grand Slam Tokyo" in December of this year. In 2018, he won the world championship for the second time in a row.
On the other hand, Maruyama, who participated in this year's Asian tournament, remained in the silver medal and could not appeal.
However, after an extension in the final of "Grand Slam Osaka" in November of this year, he defeated Abe in "Tomoe Nage" and won the championship.
In the following April last year's All Japan Selection Weight Championship, he took the waza-ari from "Tomoe Nage" in the extra time and defeated Abe again in the extra time to win the championship.
In addition, at the World Championships held in the summer of this year, they faced each other directly in the semi-finals, and after an extension, Maruyama once again took advantage of the "floating technique" and won the victory.
Maruyama has now won three consecutive victories over Abe and won the gold medal at this world championship, reversing the competition for the national team.
At the November international tournament "Grand Slam Osaka", where Maruyama won the championship, he would be much closer to the Tokyo Olympics' national team offer. I defeated Maruyama for the first time in two years.
Abe also won the international tournament held in Germany in February this year.
I lined up again with Maruyama, who missed this tournament due to an injury on his left knee.
The two are good at carrying techniques such as "throwing on the back" and "sode tsurikomi waist" by Abe, and Maruyama is "inner thigh", but the "decisive technique" that decided the game is different. Six of the seven games so far have been involved in overtime, and the powerful players have continued to fight with each other knowing each other's hands.
The implementation of the decisive battle is also affected by the spread of the new corona infection
In addition to the fierce battle between Joshiro Maruyama and Hifumi Abe, the All Japan Judo Federation held the deciding match for the unofficial athletes who will decide the representative of the Olympic Games in one game for the first time in Japanese judo. This was because the competitions to be selected were canceled due to the spread of the infection.
All Japan Judo Federation has decided to represent 13 of the 14 individual Olympic classes, saying that there was a clear difference between the 2nd and subsequent athletes by February based on the overall results of the domestic and international competitions. I decided on a player.
On the other hand, regarding the men's 66 kg class, it was decided that there would be no difference between Maruyama and Abe, who are still fighting for the national team, and the policy was to select based on the results of the All Japan Selection Weight Championship in April.
However, due to the spread of the infection, not only the April Games but also the Olympic Games were postponed, so we decided to make a selection based on the results of the two international competitions to be held in Tokyo in December.
However, this international competition was also canceled.
At the same time in December, when the final tournament to be selected was supposed to be held, All Japan Judo Federation set up a deciding match for the representative nominated athletes who will decide the Olympic representative in one game for the first time in Japanese judo.