The Asian nation has now won three of the last four World Cup titles and, with eight in total, is the most successful team in the history of the event, which proved an opportunity for some lesser known Japanese names to come to the fore, with shock wins in the final.

First Hikari Sugawara produced three takedowns from short offenses to upset third ranked Irina Ologonova in the under 55 kilogram contest before Risako Kawai shocked second ranked Valeria Koblova in the under 58kg event. 

The most exciting clash came in the under 55kg division, when reigning world champion Chiho Hamada defeated European gold medal winning counterpart Maria Gurova in a match decided by a last-second shoelace snatching takedown to win, 4-3.

Yu Miyahara and Kanako Murata were other winners for Japan, while Russia's points came courtesy of Natalia Vorobeva, Ekaterina Bukina and Inna Trazhukova, who won via a forfeit.

It was a particularly remarkable victory for Japan as star names Karoi Icho, Saori Yoshida and world number one Eri Tosaka were all absent through injury.

Natalia Vorobeva (left) was among the winners for Russia on the home mat in St Petersburg ©United World Wrestling/Martin Gabor





There was more Asian success as Mongolia defeated United States by a similar 5-3 margin to claim the bronze medal, with world champion Sukhee Tsendchimed leading the way with a strong under 60kg 12-1 victory over Kelsey Campbell.

Elsewhere, Azerbaijan squeezed past Ukraine in a thrilling fifth place battle in which both teams won four bouts apiece, with the inaugural European Games host nation winning by virtue of a 16-15 edge in classification points.

Poland were slightly more comfortable 5-3 winners over Sweden in the battle for seventh place.

The United World Wrestling World Cup series will continue with a concluding freestyle event in Los Angeles next month from April 11-12.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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