Reigning world and Olympic champion Saori Yoshida captured her sixth consecutive title in convincing fashion at the wrestling national championships on Sunday.
Kyoko Hamaguchi (right) holds Ayako Shoda during the women's 72-kg final at Yoyogi National Gymnasium Annex No. 2 on Sunday in the National Wrestling Championships. Hamaguchi won the category for the 12th time in a row.
KYODO PHOTOYoshida extended her unbeaten streak to 118, defeating Chikako Matsukawa 2-0 in the final and did a celebratory backflip for her fans at Yoyogi National Gymnasium Annex.
"Winning was my goal and naturally I did it," said Yoshida. "I executed falls in the first two matches and wanted one in the final but I'm satisfied with the victory. I feel this was definitely a step in the right direction toward defending my title at the Beijing Olympics."
Athens Olympic bronze medalist Kyoko Hamaguchi won her 12th straight title after beating Ayako Shoda in the 72-kg final. She was lofted onto the shoulders of her father Heigo "Animal" Hamaguchi in the victory celebration.
"I was really focused and I'm just looking forward to hopefully making it to Beijing," said Hamaguchi, who rebounded from a crushing defeat in the second round at the world championships in Azerbaijan in September.
"I had lost confidence after the worlds but I just kept training hard every day toward this competition. I knew that I had to win this title in order to get another shot in the Olympics," said Hamaguchi.
World silver medalist Makoto Sasamoto, meanwhile, won a close match against Ryutaro Matsumoto to claim the title in the men's Greco-Roman 60-kg category.