2024-07-24 22:16:50
In the competition held in the capital of the country of the rising sun, the best eight men and eight women fought not only for the titles, but also for an impressive 30 million. yen (197 thousand euros) prize fund.
The champions were to receive 10 million each immediately. yen (about 66 thousand euros) prize, for the runners-up – 2 million each. (about 13 thousand euros), and for the winners of the third places – 600 thousand each. a cash prize of ¥3.9 thousand.
“We don’t have any ideas or dreams about what we will do with that money,” said the tournament’s vice-champions E. Gužauskas and B. Gustaitytė in agreement about the received bonuses.
“I was only aiming at the main bonus, now there will be deliberations on what to do with significantly less money.” We still need to exchange those yen into euros,” the vice-champion laughed.
The leaders of our country’s kyokushin karate team were one of the main faces of the tournament in Japan, so there was no lack of attention and predictions about their starts.
“I have participated in the championships of another organization, but there has never been such a maximum show with presentations and media anywhere. There were no interviews between the fights – the impression is incredible. It was interesting”, said B. Gustaitytė at the Vilnius airport.
And the Lithuanians amply justified those hopes: our team won the quarterfinals and semifinals and made it to the decisive duels for medals and prizes.
In the decisive confrontation, B. Gustaitytė met the 2023 world champion of the absolute weight category from Japan, Mihiro Suzuki, who proved her superiority over compatriot Momo Fujihara in the semifinals in just two overtimes. M. Suzuki defeated Alina Osipenko from Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals.
In the final after 2 min. the 4 judges of the fight awarded a draw and only one saw the superiority of the Japanese woman, so the fight moved to overtime. Unfortunately, only the white flags went up after him, signifying M. Suzuki’s victory with a score of 5:0.
“Basically, I fought with the athletes I fought with last year at the World Championship. However, the difference between these fights was that everything happened quite quickly – three hours of fights, if there is at least a minimal advantage, the judges immediately give victory.
Of course, the level in the competition was the highest – after all, only the strongest masters were gathered. I could have performed better – I certainly did not go for the title of vice-champion”, explained B. Gustaitytė.
It was said at the tournament that Lithuania is one of the most popular athletes among Japanese.
“Maybe it’s because I’m tall. The other girls who were from Europe were also good fighters, but all the Japanese were possibly impressed by the girl who was 180 cm tall. Wherever you go, they see you everywhere,” said M. Gustaitytė about herself.
E. Gužauskas faced another host representative – Yuki Okada – in the final. The latter won fifth place in 2023. absolute weight category in the world championship. The Japanese defeated Kazakhstan’s Anton Zimarev in the quarter-finals, and in the semi-finals he overcame compatriot Yusaku Watanabe.
The world champion according to weight categories from Lithuania did not find the key to victory in the final and after 3 minutes. of the fight, two judges out of five awarded a draw, but the remaining three decided Y.Okada’s victory.
– How would you rate that first such commercial tournament? E. Gužauskas was asked.
– This is the first time that this type of competition was held. The Kyokushin Karate world has never seen such a large commercial tournament.
We will say, there was a lot of attention, show elements and excitement. Because this is unusual in the world of karate.
Maybe it was the whole noisy environment that got in the way – too much attention, and that’s why I didn’t achieve the desired result. However, I cannot say that it is a bad performance – I was even second among the top eight.
– What place will the brought cup occupy on the trophy shelf?
– Maybe we shouldn’t talk about the cup, but about the great experience I got in competitions of this level. I’ve never had to experience this and it’s great that after so many years of dedication to kyokushin karate, I can still enjoy this “first time”.
– Did you prepare more for the final fight or for all of them?
– I prepared for everyone as I planned to compete in the final. In my mind, I was not able to show a very good fight in the first two duels, and in the final I even had to earn a warning, after which I had to change my tactical plan of the fight.
Because if there was a second warning, I would immediately lose according to violations of the rules.
– In Japan, it is impossible to beat the kyokushin karate masters of this country in the world championships – both the environment and the judges help. During the eight championships of the absolute weight category, no champion from another country won. This time, maybe there was some kind of help from the judges in the final again?
– It’s not like the Japanese won undeservedly. If we talk about this competition, the judges had something to worry about – I didn’t prove one hundred percent that I was better. Yes, the fight was even, but I wouldn’t say I was judged.
– In Japan, they are trying to attach certain nicknames to the athletes who have titles. Did you get any?
– Maybe something Japanese, but no one told me about it (laughs).
2024-07-24 22:16:50