The 31st All Japan Karate Championship Part.1

The 31st All Japan Karate Championship
December 14, 2003, Nippon Budokan

The silent champion, Sawanobu Matsuzaki, achieved an unprecedented record of four consecutive victories. At the year-end grand event that determines the best in Japanese karate, the All Japan Championship Kumite competition, Matsuzaki defeated strong opponents, overcoming Kenichi Imai, a lightweight champion, in the semifinals after an extended match and staged a dramatic comeback to defeat rising star Ryosuke Shimizu in the final, clinching his fourth victory. This marked the breaking of Junhisa Uchida’s record of three consecutive wins from 1984 to 1986.

In the women’s division, Yuko Okuda, who has recently made significant progress, won the All Japan Championship following her victory at the Shizuoka National Sports Festival. In the Kata competition, held as a tournament for the first time, the queen Atsuko Wakai secured her seventh consecutive victory with tears of joy. The Ironman Hideto Tsuchiya also achieved four consecutive wins, matching Matsuzaki’s record.

[Recorded Content]
■Men's Kumite / First Half Highlights
・Sawanobu Matsuzaki vs. Ryohei Murakami
・Toshihito Kokubu vs. Kenichi Imai
・Isao Matsuhisa vs. Nobuaki Kanazawa
・Tetsuya Enokido vs. Daiki Higuchi

■Women's Kata / Semifinals, 3rd Place Match, Final・Nao Morooka (Chatanyara Kushanku) vs. Atsuko Wakai (Anan)
・Kasuga Wakabayashi (Chatanyara Kushanku) vs. Azusa Tomishiro (Paiku)
・Azusa Tomishiro (Anan) vs. Nao Morooka (Suparinpei)
・Kasuga Wakabayashi (Tomari Bassai) vs. Atsuko Wakai (Suparinpei)

■Men's Kata / Semifinals, 3rd Place Match, Final
・Kotaro Doi (Kanku Sho) vs. Hideto Tsuchiya (Unsu)
・Tetsuya Furukawa (Seisan) vs. Kazuya Kuwako (Matsumura Bassai)
・Kotaro Doi (Gojushiho) vs. Kazuya Kuwako (Nipaipo)
・Tetsuya Furukawa (Kururunfa) vs. Hideto Tsuchiya (Sochin)

■Women's Kumite / First Half Highlights
・Naki Fujiwara vs. Emiko Honma
・Ayako Watanabe vs. Ayaka Arai
・Risa Wakabayashi vs. Sumiko Fukui

■Women's Kumite / Quarterfinals
・Maki Ogasawara vs. Naki Fujiwara
・Ayaka Arai vs. Mariko Mikami
・Sachiko Yamauchi vs. Yuko Okuda
・Risa Wakabayashi vs. Tomoko Araga

■Women's Kumite / Semifinals, 3rd Place Match, Final
・Naki Fujiwara vs. Ayaka Arai
・Yuko Okuda vs. Tomoko Araga
・Naki Fujiwara vs. Tomoko Araga
・Ayaka Arai vs. Yuko Okuda

■Men's Kumite / Quarterfinals
・Sawanobu Matsuzaki vs. Hiroyuki Koga
・Takeshi Hosogai vs. Kenichi Imai
・Takahiro Niki vs. Isao Matsuhisa
・Ryosuke Shimizu vs. Tetsuya Enokido

■Men's Kumite / Semifinals, 3rd Place Match, Final
・Sawanobu Matsuzaki vs. Kenichi Imai
・Isao Matsuhisa vs. Ryosuke Shimizu
・Kenichi Imai vs. Isao Matsuhisa
・Sawanobu Matsuzaki vs. Ryosuke Shimizu

[Tournament Results]

Men's Kumite

Champion: Sawanobu Matsuzaki
2nd Place: Ryosuke Shimizu
3rd Place: Isao Matsuhisa
Women's Kumite

Champion: Yuko Okuda
2nd Place: Ayaka Arai
3rd Place: Tomoko Araga
Men's Kata

Champion: Hideto Tsuchiya
2nd Place: Tetsuya Furukawa
3rd Place: Kotaro Doi
Women's Kata

Champion: Atsuko Wakai
2nd Place: Kasuga Wakabayashi
3rd Place: Azusa Tomishiro