Rinka Kinoshita and Tomoya Tsuboi are Japan’s best options in Bangkok
Japan selected five women and three men boxers to the upcoming 2nd World Olympic Boxing Qualifying Event which will be held in Bangkok, Thailand.
The 2nd World Olympic Boxing Qualifying Event is the last opportunity for all of the competitors to earn quotas for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Japan claimed three medals including one gold in the recent Olympic Games in Tokyo but their gold medallist Sena Irie retired from the active sport and the other two stars are not members of their current national squads.
Japan’s surprise boxer Shudai Harada (men’s 57kg) and Sewon Okazawa (men’s 71kg) have already qualified for the Paris Olympics through the Asian Games but the strong boxing country was not able to increase the number of the spots in the 1st World Olympic Boxing Qualifying Event.
The 2022 Asian Champion Rinka Kinoshita moved down to the women’s light flyweight (50kg) and she will represent Japan in Bangkok once again instead of the Olympic bronze medallist Tsukimi Namiki. The 23-year-old boxer was near to qualify in Busto Arsizio and she has the skills to do that in Bangkok on her last chance.
Their women’s bantamweight (54kg) boxer, Mikoto Harada competed at the 2021 Youth World Boxing Championships in Kielce and she proved development in the last qualifier in Busto Arsizio.
Satsuki Yoshizawa replaced the Olympic Champion Sena Irie at the women’s featherweight (57kg) and she had a tight loss to one of the stars in Busto Arsizio but she is hungry for a success in Bangkok.
Ayaka Taguchi joined the national team in 2019 and after five years of experience, she has the routine, tactical skills and strength to be one of the quota contenders at the women’s lightweight (60kg).
The Asian Championships silver medallist Mai Kito won all of the national selections at the women’s welterweight (66kg) and she represented Japan in the recent major competitions including the 1st World Olympic Boxing Qualifying Event.
Japan’s best male boxer, Tomoya Tsuboi qualified for the 2014 Youth Olympic Games and he has the strong plan to achieve that for Paris 2024 as well. He claimed a gold medal at the bantamweight (54kg) in the 2021 World Boxing Championships in Belgrade and he is one of the top names at the flyweight (51kg).
Japan has strong boxers at the light welterweight (63.5kg) and their new sensation, Shion Nishiyama was one step away to qualify from Busto Arsizio but he has still the last chance to do that in Bangkok. Another National Champion and Asian Championships competitor, Go Wakaya is Japan’s best light heavyweight (80kg) boxer.
Don’t forget you can keep up with all of the action, news, results and photos by following ASBC on Facebook and Instagram.
ASBC website: www.asbcnews.org
ASBC Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ASBC.Boxing/
ASBC Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/asbc_official/
ASBC Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/BoxingAsian?s=08