The IKAI Christmas CUP 1st All Japan Student Judo Mixed Team Tournament was held at the Numazu City General Gymnasium (Kouryo Arena) in Shizuoka Prefecture in Shiwasu.
With the support of those around us, we were able to make it to the stage of the 1st Memorial Tournament, which will surely grow into a prestigious tournament in the future. Although it can be said to be an achievement only in the 3rd year since the foundation of the club, to be honest, all the players were overwhelmed with emotion. This tournament is a very important project that was proposed and realized as part of a solution to the drastic decrease in the number of registered players, which is one of the serious problems that the All Japan Judo Federation is currently facing.
It is also a tournament that was planned and managed by the coaches who belong to the All Japan Student Judo Federation, who are highly motivated to give a chance to players from all over Japan for the 3rd year and younger.
In addition, it is a team competition of 6 players, consisting of 3 men (-73 kg, -90 kg, and +90 kg: 1 person each) and 3 women (-57 kg, -70 kg, open weight: 1 each), in which the players are divided into men’s and women’s mixed weight classes.
［Players］
１．Suga Shinjiro, 2nd grade student, Department of Health and Sports (Chiba Prefecture, Tokai University Urayasu High School) ⇒-90 kg
２．Miyawaki Genki, 1st grade student, Department of Health and Sports (Kagoshima Prefecture, Meiokan High School) ⇒+90 kg
３．Kunizaki Chitose, 1st grade student, Department of Health and Sports (Kumamoto Prefecture, Tokai University Kumamoto Seisho High School) ⇒+90 kg
４．Isouda Haruto, 1st grade student, Department of Health and Sports (Shizuoka Prefecture, Shizuoka Gakuen High School) ⇒-90 kg
５．Kisoi Yusuke, 1st grade student, Department of Business Administration (Hyogo Prefecture, Amagasaki Municipal High School) ⇒-73 kg
６．Ito Megumi, 2nd grade student, Department of Economics (Kumamoto Prefecture, Kumamoto Chuo High School) ⇒-70 kg
７．Goke Riona, 1st grade student, Department of Health and Sports (Kumamoto Prefecture, Kumamoto Chuo High School) ⇒-70 kg
８．Nakayama Mio, 1st grade student, Department of Health and Sports (Kochi Prefecture, Kochi Gakuen High School) ⇒ Open weight
９．Ito Nene, 1st grade student, Department of Health and Sports (Aichi Prefecture, Taisei High School) ⇒-57 kg
［Results］
(Preliminary League)
● Game 1 ： Meiji University 4-2 Kyoto University of Advanced Science ⇒ Sadly defeated
● Game 2 ： Teikyo Heisei University 6-0 Kyoto University of Advanced Science ⇒ Sadly defeated
（Final Tournament）
● Round 1 ： Juntendo University 4-1 Kyoto University of Advanced Science ⇒ Sadly defeated
We had nine fresh players, two sophomores and seven freshmen. We competed in this tournament with nine freshmen, seven freshmen. In the end, we lost all three games, showing the weakness of our upstart team. However, we did not shy away from the upperclassmen of other universities and played an attack-focused game full of fighting spirit. In addition, we showed the results of our daily training to the fullest and proved that if we work on the short training sessions systematically, the results will follow.
As a sign of this, we received compliments from coaches of other universities such as “The tip is self-powered!”. “It’s not just a hodgepodge team!”. “You know the tactics!”. It was a great episode for us as a coach that we felt pride in “There is no doubt about your daily efforts!.”
We will not rest on our laurels and work hard together with the players.
Judo Club Head Coach Shigehito Sato (Sports Promotion Center)