Panasonic ES Achieves Consecutive Wins for Both Men AND Women

A total of 62 teams had to compete for the championship. That is 10 more teams than the previous year.

In the quarter-finals, Team A of Fuji Xerox Osaka has beat team A of Toray Shiga, who until a couple of years ago achieved 4 consecutive championships. Team A of NTT West Japan was then successful in beating Fuji Xerox in the semi-finals and stepped forward to the final to aim for the first-ever championship. Simultaneously, team A of Panasonic ES Headquarters won over team B of Toray Shiga and entered the final round.

In the men’s final, Ichihara from NTT West Japan successfully pulled off the one hand thrust in the second round. However, the second round was only the beginning of the men’s final. Ichihara of NTT West Japan scored a one hand thrust against Yoshimura of Panasonic ES, who’s been earning the most points so far. Ichihara was then successful in withstanding the fierce attacks of Yoshimura and scored a win. The teams tied in the third and fourth rounds, so NTT West Japan kept the lead until the final round.

In the final round, Adachi of Panasonic ES was successful in lunging forward and cornering Ono as he was raising his arms. This was his first move of the final stage. There was still plenty of time for Ono, so he retaliated, but the round eventually ended with Adachi scoring the round. Thus, the round went for the last men’s duel.

The last men’s duel came to an end comparatively quickly.  “I was able to get an idea of the opponent’s attacking method from the previous last men’s duel.” This is what Adachi said, who successfully found the blank spot on Ono’s wrist as he was closing in for the head strike.

In the men’s final, Adachi of Panasonic ES successfully struck the opponent’s wrist. 
It was definitely tough facing NTT West Japan in the final, but the excellent movement made by the last man, Adachi made it possible for Panasonic ES to achieve the 2nd consecutive championship victory.

There were a total of 20 teams in the tournament. The 20 teams were divided into 4 blocks and the teams that made it through each of their blocks went up for the semi-finals. 3 teams from the best 4 were from Panasonic ES. The only team that wasn’t from Panasonic ES was team B of NTT West Japan that won the championship 4 years ago. 

In the women’s semi-finals, team A of Panasonic ES Headquarters went against team B of NTT West Japan. In the third round, Motoki of Panasonic makes the head strike. With the two wins contribution by Ogame, who was the first-rounder, and a one-strike win by The second-rounder Motoki, team A of Panasonic ES Headquarters wins the semi-finals against NTT West Japan.

On the other semi-finals round, team A of Panasonic Kadoma and team B of headquarters went off against each other and team B from the headquarters made it through, defeating team A.
In the end, teams A and B of Panasonic ES Headquarters went against each other for the final.

In the final, Ogame from team A quickly moved back and made a successful head and wrist strike to win a point. The thirst rounder Motoki and the last man Nobuta both scored a tie, so team A from the headquarters won the championship. In that final, Ogame from team A of Panasonic ES Headquarters quickly moved back to come back with a head strike and a lunging wrist strike and scored 2 wins.

 

Panasonic ES was the most glorified team in both last year’s fall and this year’s spring Nation-Wide Japanese Business Sponsored Team Tournaments. The women’s team won the championship presenting incomparable strength and firmness. On the other hand, the men’s team struggled a little against a few teams including NTT West Japan, the one they went against in the final, but they were able to perform like the best of Japan in the important moments and won the championship.