The 43rd Japanese Championship took place in the city of Sukagawa, in the Fukushima prefecture, on October 28-29, 2006. 56 men and 42 women competed, including few Americans such as youngster Nani Vercruyssen from Hawaii Academy. As usual, the men's competition was of a very high level.
2005 World silver medalist Yasuhiro Ueyama (Osaka College of Physical Education - pictured on the right) retained his Japanese Champion title with 111.00 pts. Ueyama, who became in 2005 the first Japanese ever to win a trampoline World Cup, made the difference in the preliminaries thanks to the best first routine (30.60 pts) and the best second routine (40.30 pts with his traditional 15.50 pt routine). In the final, Ueyama had enough of a cushion to compete his 15.50 pt routine again rather than the 16.20 pt tariff that he chose to compete at recent international events or the 16.40 pt tariff that he competed at the recent Western Japan Championship. Ueyama obtained 40.10 pts in the final and a total of 111.00 pts. With this performance, Ueyama, who swept all four World Cups in 2006 and became the first man to ever win 4 World Cups in a row, confirmed that he should be regarded as the favorite for the World Cup Final to be held in a month in Birmingham, Great Britain. This 2006 Japanese Champion title was the third national title for Ueyama after those of 2002 and 2005.
The other major lesson of this 2006 Japanese Championship is that 2005 World bronze medalist Tetsuya Sotomura (Nippon College of Health and Physical Education - pictured on the left) came back to his best form. Sotomura, who, like Ueyama, turned 22 this month, has suffered from lost skills throughout the year. However, in Sukagawa, Sotomura showed no sign of trouble. The 2004 Japanese Champion delivered a brilliant first routine (30.50 pts). He struggled a little in his first optional (38.60 pts) but was successful in performing his 15.50 pt tariff whereas he was forced to compete routines with a significantly lower tariff at some international events this year. After finishing the preliminaries in 4th place, Sotomura displayed all his talent in the final by delivering a sterling routine, the best of the whole competition. His 15.50 pt routine obtained a score of 41.00 pts. This routine allowed him to move up two spots and edge his other rivals with an overall score of 110.10 pts. With this kind of performance, Sotomura's chances at the 2006 Birmingham World Cup Final should not be discounted. If he can reproduce a similar effort, Sotomura could have a legitimate shot at the gold medal.
The rest of the men's competition was a direct testimony of the depth of the Japanese team. Masaki Ito (Kanazawa Institute - pictured on the left) obtained the bronze medal despite obtaining the same score as Shunsuke Nagasaki (Kokushikan University - pictured on the right). Both Ito and Nagasaki ended up with 110.00 pts, just 0.10 pts off Sotomura. Ito, 18, was 3rd before the final with 69.80 pts. In the final, Ito, who finished 4th at the 2006 Krasnodar World Cup, stepped up his difficulty to 15.10 pts, and obtained 40.20 pts. Ito, who had beaten Ueyama at the 2006 Western Japan Championship, relied on the second best execution of the final behind Sotomura, to clinch the bronze medal and edge Nagasaki, who obtained the same total but was ranked 4th due to the tie-breaking rules. Nagasaki, 19, was in 2nd place after the preliminaries with 69.90 pts thanks to the best optional of the preliminaries (40.30 pts - tied with Ueyama). In the final, he delivered a nice routine that obtained 40.10 pts. Nagasaki performed twice a new 15.50 pt tariff. His routine in the final proved not to be sufficient to win a medal. Nagasaki was a finalist at the 2006 Ghent World Cup. He also won the 2005 All-Japan Tournament Championship by beating Ueyama in the final, and also became the 2006 Japanese Collegiate Champion.
The 5th place of the 2006 Japanese Championship was taken by Takayuki Kawanishi (Kakegawa Trampoline Club - pictured on the right), 28, with 107.50 pts. The 2003 Japanese Champion, who was the first Japanese to ever win a World Cup medal in 2003 in Levallois, moved up one spot in the final thanks to a solid routine (39.40 pts with a 15.50 pt tariff). Kawanishi was followed by Manabu Yamaguchi (Kanazawa Institute), who obtained the 6th place. Yamaguchi, who won the 2006 Japanese Age Group Championship by beating Ueyama, had sub-par preliminaries. In the final, Yamaguchi showed his qualities by delivering a clean routine that obtained 39.90 pts. He finished with 106.40 pts. 2006 Eastern Japan Champion Takashi Sakamoto (Nippon College of Health and Physical Education) finished 7th with 105.00 pts. Sakamoto, who had competed a 17.00 pt routine in 2005, stepped up his difficulty from 15.10 pts to 16.00 pts in the final, while maintaining a pretty good execution. His final routine obtained 39.30 pts.
2006 Indo Pacific silver medalist Hideyasu Ishikawa (Waseda University) took the 8th place with 102.70 pts. Ishikawa was followed by Japan's most promising youngster, 14-year-old Subaru Shintani, who is a teammate of Ueyama in Osaka. Shintani obtained 101.90 pts after stepping up his difficulty in the final to 13.10 pts. The disappointment of the final came from Masaki Hitomi, who was a finalist at the 2006 Savognin and Salzgitter World Cups. Hitomi, 23, had qualified for the final in Sakagawa in 5th place with 68.60 pts thanks to a 40.10 pt optional (15.30 pt tariff). Unfortunately, Hitomi crashed in the final. Keita Sugai, 2006 Indo Pacific Champion Tomoyuki Baba, and Ryota Fujike barely missed the final. 32-year-old veteran Daisuke Nakata, who won all 7 Japanese Champion titles between 1995 and 2001, unfortunately crashed in the preliminaries right after the half out triffis pike at the beginning of his optional. Nakata finished 53rd.
In the women's individual competition, the overall level was not as competitive as in the men's, but the battle for the title between the two favorites Haruka Hirota (Hannan University - pictured on the left), 22, and Hiromi Hanmoto (Kanazawa Institute), 25, did not disappoint. Hirota won her 6th consecutive Japanese Champion title thanks to a superior execution of her optionals. Hirota obtained 100.20 pts (12.00 pt tariff). Hanmoto took the silver medal with 99.30 pts despite a solid effort in the final. 18-year-old Haruna Yamashita won the bronze medal with 94.90 pts thanks to a good execution. She was followed by Yoko Seto (94.70 pts - 4th) and Kazuyo Minato (94.70 pts - 5th). 14-year-old U.S. youngster Nani Vercruyssen took the 6th place with 94.30 pts as she competed the most difficult routine of the competition (13.20 pts).
The men's synchro competition saw the surprise crash of the 2005 World bronze medalists Yasuhiro Ueyama-Tetsuya Sotomura, who were the favorites in Sakagawa. They had the lead after the preliminaries with 90.80 pts, but crashed in the final and finished 10th. The winners of the 2006 Salzgitter World Cup and 2005 Ostend and Sofia World Cups were not the only ones to crash in the final. The pairs Takashi Sakamoto-Keita Sugai and Manabu Yamaguchi-Takayuki Kawanishi, who were respectively in 3rd and 4th places before the final, also suffered the same fate in the final. These crashes eased the path for Masaki Hitomi (pictured on the right) and Masaki Ito, who delivered a great performance and finished with 139.90 pts. The new Japanese Champions in synchro were followed by Tomoyuki Baba-Hideyasu Ishikawa (132.80 pts) and Yusabu Abukawa-Ryota Fujike (129.50 pts).
2005 Sofia World Cup winners Hiromi Hanmoto and Yoko Seto won the competition in the women's with 128.40 pts. They were joined at the award ceremony by the pairs Naomi Nishioka-Naoko Nishida (126.10 pts) and Nao Kawajiri-Mina Terada (125.50 pts).
The men's team competition saw the comfortable victory of the club of the Kanazawa Institute led by Manabu Yamaguchi, Masaki Hitomi and Masaki Ito. The Nippon College of Health and Physical Education, located in Tokyo, finished 2nd thanks to Tetsuya Sotomura, Takashi Sakamoto, and Fujike Ryota. In the women's team competition, the club of the Kanazawa Institute led by Hiromi Hanmoto, Yoko Seto, and Kiyouko Nakagawa also prevailed, this time over Hannan University led by Haruka Hirota. Oizumi took the 3rd place.
The 43rd Japanese Championship was also used to determine which athletes will represent Japan at the 2007 World Cup series. In the men's, it will be Yasuhiro Ueyama, Tetsuya Sotomura, Masaki Ito, and Shunsuke Nagasaki. In the women's, the starters will be Haruka Hirota, Hiromi Hanmoto, Haruna Yamashita, and Yoko Seto. As a reminder, Ueyama and Sotomura qualified for the 2006 Birmingham World Cup Final in individual and synchro. 2004 World Cup Final winners Takayuki Kawanishi-Daisuke Nakata will also try to defend their title in Birmingham. In the women's the pair Hanmoto-Seto also qualified for the World Cup Final. Ueyama, Nagasaki, and Hirota qualified to represent Japan at the 2006 Asian Games that will take place in Doha, Qatar, in December.
This 43rd Japanese Championship was also used as a first trial for the 25th World Championships to be held next year in Quebec City, Canada.
SUMMARY RESULTS
Men's - Individual
1. Yasuhiro Ueyama 30.60 40.30 (15.50) 40.10 (15.50) = 111.00
2. Tetsuya Sotomura 30.50 38.60 (15.50) 41.00 (15.50) = 110.10
3. Masaki Ito 30.00 39.80 (14.60) 40.20 (15.10) = 110.00
4. Sunsuke Nagasaki 29.60 40.30 (15.50) 40.10 (15.50) = 110.00
5. Takayuki Kawanishi 29.40 38.70 (15.10) 39.40 (15.50) = 107.50
6. Manabu Yamaguchi 28.50 38.00 (15.10) 39.90 (15.10) = 106.40
7. Takashi Sakamoto 28.20 37.50 (15.00) 39.30 (16.00) = 105.00
8. Hideyasu Ishikawa 27.60 37.40 (14.80) 37.70 (14.80) = 102.70
9. Subaru Shintani 28.90 36.30 (12.00) 36.70 (13.10) = 101.90
10. Masaki Hitomi 28.50 40.10 (15.30) 09.30 (04.80) = 77.90
11. Keita Sugai 27.50 36.90 (14.80) = 64.40
12. Tomoyuki Baba 27.40 36.80 (14.40) = 64.20
13. Ryota Fujike 27.40 36.50 (14.00) = 63.90
Women's - Individual
1. Haruka Hirota 27.70 36.50 (12.00) 36.00 (12.00) = 100.20
2. Hiromi Hanmoto 28.30 35.10 (11.90) 35.90 (11.90) = 99.30
3. Haruna Yamashita 27.50 34.00 (10.30) 33.40 (10.30) = 94.90
4. Yoko Seto 26.70 34.10 (11.10) 33.90 (11.10) = 94.70
5. Kazuyo Minato 27.20 33.90 (09.80) 33.60 (10.00) = 94.70
6. Nani Vercruyssen 26.10 33.70 (13.20) 34.50 (13.20) = 94.30
6. Mika Futagi 26.80 33.60 (10.30) 33.90 (10.30) = 94.30
7. Nao Kawajiri 27.00 33.90 (11.00) 32.90 (10.80) = 93.80
8. Naoko Nishida 26.40 33.20 (10.10) 33.20 (10.10) = 92.80
9. Kiyouko Nakagawa 25.40 33.50 (10.30) 33.40 (10.30) = 92.30
10. Mina Terada 26.60 34.20 (11.00) 01.50 (01.50) = 62.30
Men's - Synchro
1. Masaki Hitomi - Masaki Ito 139.90 (14.60)
2. Tomoyuki Baba - Hideyasu Ishikawa 132.80 (14.40)
3. Yusabu Abukawa - Ryota Fujike 129.50 (13.10)
Women's - Synchro
1. Hiromi Hanmoto - Yoko Seto 128.40 (09.70)
2. Naomi Nishioka - Naoko Nishida 126.10 (09.10)
3. Nao Kawajiri - Mina Terada 125.50 (09.00)
Link to the detailed results
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