Sydney Olympic silver medalist Katsuhiko Nagata has decided not to compete in the upcoming Asian Championships in order to focus on preparations for this fall's World Championships in France, officials of the Japan Wrestling Federation said Friday.
Nagata, who won the All-Japan invitational championships for the third year in a row at 74-kg in Greco-Roman earlier this month, cited the October worlds and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) as reasons for his pulling out of the June 5-8 tournament in New Delhi.
He will be replaced by Tsukasa Tsurumaki on the national team.