Nagoya, Oct 3 (IANS) Akari Fujinami’s extraordinary unbeaten run came to an abrupt end at the Asian Games 2026 on Saturday when North Korea’s world silver medallist Il Sim Son pinned the Japanese Olympic champion in the women’s 57kg semifinal.
Fujinami, who had not lost an international bout since 2017 and had accumulated 155 consecutive victories, was unable to reproduce the comeback that had rescued her in the earlier rounds. Son instead controlled the contest from the opening exchange before ending it by fall at 3:52.
The defeat was particularly unexpected given Fujinami’s record since moving up from 53kg to 57kg at the end of last year. The Paris Olympic champion had continued to dominate the competition after the move and arrived in Nagoya as one of Japan’s strongest gold-medal contenders.
Son immediately disrupted that script.
She opened the semifinal with a takedown and followed it with two rolls to establish a 6-0 advantage by the break. Fujinami had already shown earlier in the competition that she could recover from a sizeable deficit, overturning a 0-6 disadvantage to beat her opening opponent 15-4.
There was no repeat this time.
Son repeatedly denied Fujinami opportunities to launch her attacks and remained composed when the Japanese wrestler attempted a rare duck-under. With Fujinami appearing to struggle to find a way back into the contest, Son added two barrel rolls.
The second left Fujinami exposed on the mat. Son converted the position into the decisive fall, bringing one of the longest winning streaks in international wrestling to an end.
Fujinami acknowledged afterwards that she had been outmatched.
“My opponent was really strong, and I was just weak,” Fujinami was quoted as saying by United World Wrestling. “I’m still not strong enough. I will definitely get stronger. I want to win by continuing to wrestle in my own style.”
The result marked Fujinami’s first international defeat in nine years and her first loss after 155 victories.
Son’s victory also set up a gold-medal opportunity at the Asian Games, while Fujinami will have to settle for a place in the bronze-medal contest.
Her defeat was part of a dramatic day for several Olympic champions in the wrestling arena. Paris 2024 men’s 74kg champion Razambek Jamalov of Uzbekistan also suffered an early exit after losing 7-6 to Iran’s Yones Emami.
Jamalov subsequently entered the repechage but was beaten 7-3 by India’s Sagar Jaglan, who scored a takedown and turn in the final 20 seconds.
The 57kg final will feature India’s Aman Sehrawat against North Korea’s world champion Chongsong Han, while the 97kg gold-medal bout will see Iran’s Amirali Azarpira take on Uzbekistan’s Sherzod Poyonov.
–IANS
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