Kunihiko Obata

Kunihiko Obata (小幡 邦彦, Obata Kunihiko, born October 17, 1980 in Hōfu, Yamaguchi) is a retired amateur Japanese freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's middleweight category.[1] He achieved top eight finishes in the 74-kg division at the Asian Games (2002 and 2006), scored two bronze medals at the 2001 and 2004 Asian Wrestling Championships, and also represented his nation Japan at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Before his sporting career ended in late 2006, Obata trained as part of the men's freestyle wrestling squad at Yamanashi Gakuin University under his coach and mentor Yuji Takada.

Kunihiko Obata
Personal information
Full nameKunihiko Obata
Nationality Japan
Born (1980-10-17) 17 October 1980
Hōfu, Yamaguchi, Japan
Height1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Weight74 kg (163 lb)
Sport
SportWrestling
StyleFreestyle
ClubYamanashi Gakuin University
CoachYuji Takada
Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Representing  Japan
Asian Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Ulaanbaatar 76 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Tehran 74 kg

Obata emerged into the global spotlight by taking home the bronze medal in the 76-kg division at the 2001 Asian Wrestling Championships in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. He also entered the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea as one of the heavy medal favorites in the middleweight category, but left empty-handed with a seventh-place finish.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Obata qualified for his first Japanese squad in the men's 74 kg class. Earlier in the process, he rounded out the top ten spots at the 2003 World Wrestling Championships in New York City, New York, and then guaranteed his spot on the Japanese team by placing third from the Asian Championships in Tehran, Iran.[2][3] He easily ousted India's Sujeet Maan on his opening match 8–0, but could not resemble a scoring margin to turn down Cuba's Iván Fundora on the mat in his second bout. Placing second in the prelim pool and twelfth in the final standings, Obata's performance fell short to put him further into the quarterfinals.[4][5]

At the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, Obata notched a pair of two easy victories in the same tournament, but could not score enough points to dismantle Uzbekistan's Soslan Tigiev for the bronze medal 0–4, dropping him to fifth.[6]

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Kunihiko Obata". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  2. Abbott, Gary (15 July 2004). "Olympic Games preview at 74 kg/163 lbs. in men's freestyle". USA Wrestling. The Mat. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  3. Srinivasan, Kamesh (28 August 2004). "Face-saving win for Sushil Kumar". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 22 November 2004. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  4. "Wrestling: Men's Freestyle 74kg". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  5. "Sujit Mann loses first bout". Rediff.com. 29 August 2004. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  6. "Obama 5th in Asian Games freestyle". Japan Wrestling. 13 December 2006. Retrieved 7 July 2014.


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