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Showing posts with the label Sumitomo Denko

A Mid-Ekiden Season's Weekend Preview

Ekiden season rolls on. Sunday in Fukushima is the 34th running of the East Japan Women's Ekiden, a miniature version of January's National Women's Ekiden featuring teams made up of the best J.H.S., H.S., university, corporate and club runners from each of the 18 prefectures in eastern Japan. Most notable on the entry list is Tokyo's Hitomi Niiya, all-time Japanese #3 for 10000 m and working her way back from a five-year retirement in hopes of making the Tokyo 2020 team. Fuji TV will broadcast the race live from noon to 2:30 p.m. Japan time.

Following last weekend's East Japan and Kyushu corporate men's regional New Year Ekiden national championships qualifiers, the Kansai and Chugoku regions hold their qualifiers Sunday in Wakayama and Hiroshima. Top-placing teams from each region will go on to the New Year Ekiden on January 1st, with Sumitomo Denko and Chugoku Denryoku, featuring 2018 Hokkaido Marathon winner Naoki Okamoto, the favorites. The Kansei Corporat…
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The Best of His Generation, Hyuga Endo Passes Over Hakone in Pursuit of Medal at Tokyo Olympics

https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20170411-00000009-sph-spo

translated by Brett Larner

Long distance runner Hyuga Endo, 18, joined the Sumitomo Denko corporate team this month after graduating from Fukushima's Gakuho Ishikawa H.S.  Endo won the National Sports Festival 3000 m his first year of high school and the 5000 m both his second and third years.  A leading candidate to become the star of the next generation, Endo has suppressed the desire to run the Hakone Ekiden and instead chosen to go the corporate road in a quest "to win a medal" at the Tokyo Olympics.  Sumitomo Denko head coach Yasuyuki Watanabe, 43, is planning in the long-term, saying, "I want him to have a long career."

Wearing a brand-new suit, Endo took part in the company's entrance ceremony for new employees.  "I'm glad that's over," he laughed afterward. Thanks to a phenomenal last kick, Endo was undefeated at the National Sports Festival all three years of high school…
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5000 m Collegiate Record Holder Kensuke Takezawa Announces Retirement

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/1766072.html
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20170116-00000213-sph-spo

translated and edited by Brett Larner



The Sumitomo Denko corporate men's team announced on Jan. 16 that Kensuke Takezawa, 30, a 2008 Beijing Olympian in the 5000 m and 10000 m, has made the decision to retire from competition.  Via a statement from the company Takezawa said, "I will retire from active competition at the end of this season.  The last few years I haven't been able to produce good results, but the strong, heartfelt support and encouragement I've received from everyone has made it possible to keep going this long.  I sincerely thank you all.  Please continue to cheer on the Sumitomo Denko team."

Takezawa graduated from Hyogo's Hotoku Gakuen H.S. before going to Waseda University, where he set the still-standing collegiate 5000 m record of 13:19.00 and as a fourth-year in 2009 broke the Hakone Ekiden Third Stage record despite a…
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Hyuga Endo Breaks 3000 m Japanese High School National Record

by Brett Larner

日本高校記録！
7分59秒18 pic.twitter.com/LxtOmTBsPa — 岡村新也 (@n2GVFoktHb5AuKw) October 16, 2016
Ekiden season is underway but there is plenty of track action along the way as teams get ready for the main road races.  A week after his third-straight National Sports Festival track title, 12th-grader Hyuga Endo (Gakuho Ishikawa H.S.) became the first Japanese high schooler to break 8 minutes for 3000 m when he won Hyogo's Sumitomo Denko Cup in 7:59.18 by a margin of more than 20 seconds.  Opening with a 2:36.82 first 1000 m, Endo slowed to 2:42.50 in the middle of the race, still on track to break 8 overall but behind pace over the next 600 m.  One of Endo's main strengths to date has been his kick over the last lap, and here a 59.92 second last lap was just enough to get him under.  Endo's time was a new high school national record and the second-fastest ever by a Japanese junior.  With a steady string of new PBs from 1500 m to 5000 m over the last two years the new re…
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Collegiate 5000 m National Record Holder Takezawa: "I'm Almost Back"

http://www.sankei.com/west/news/150524/wst1505240046-n1.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Holder of the 13:19.00 collegiate national record for 5000 m, Kensuke Takezawa (Team Sumitomo Denko) won Sunday's Kansai Corporate Track and Field Championships men's 5000 m in 13:59.67 with a surge over the last 300 m.  Having just come off a long season off due to an Achilles tendon injury Takezawa nodded as he said, "I'm almost back.  I've grown since last year."

Starting this spring, Takezawa's former coach at Waseda University, Yasuyuki Watanabe, has joined the Sumitomo Denko team as head coach, reunited the pair.  A member of the 2008 Beijing Olympics team, Takezawa, still just 28,  was optimistic of making a full comeback as he said, "Coach Watanabe understands me better than anybody.  Having him around changes my mentality." 

Translator's note: Two weeks ago Takezawa ran 13:37.89 for 4th at the Golden Games in Nobeoka meet, his best time…
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New Sumitomo Denko Head Coach Watanabe: "It is Critical to Reduce the Risk of Injury to Nearly Zero"

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2015/04/07/kiji/K20150407010124520.html

translated by Brett Larner

At a Sumitomo Denko men's corporate team press conference in Osaka, Yasuyuki Watanabe, 41, who took over as the team's head coach at the start of this month, vowed to make eliminating injury among the athletes under his guidance one of the key themes of his tenure as head coach.  Having seen his own career cut short by an Achilles tendon injury while still in his 20s, Watanabe told the media that he wants to tailor his coaching to suit the needs and abilities of the individual athletes, saying, "In Japan we train on the roads and run a lot of races.  It is critical that we reduce the risk of injury to nearly zero.  I want to make it so that athletes can train 365 days a year."  Sumitomo Denko president Masayoshi Matsumoto commented, "Ekidens are interesting but not a worldwide event.  Japan has become like the Galapagos."  Matsumoto indicated his commitme…
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Waseda Head Coach Watanabe at Retirement Press Conference: "I Did All I Had to Do"

http://www.hochi.co.jp/sports/etc/20150309-OHT1T50100.html
http://www.hochi.co.jp/sports/feature/hakone/20150309-OHT1T50174.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

On March 9 Waseda University held a press conference at its Shinjuku campus in Tokyo to announce the transfer of leadership at the end of the month from ekiden team head coach Yasuyuki Watanabe, 41, to incoming head coach Yutaka Sagara, 34.  Watanabe, who spent 12 years leading Waseda including one year as assistant coach, had a light and relaxed expression as he said, "I did all I had to do, and that's why I am stepping down now."

Watanabe developed two Waseda runners, 2008 Olympian Kensuke Takezawa (now 28, Team Sumitomo Denko) and 2013 World Championships team member Suguru Osako (now 23, resigning from Team Nissin Shokuhin at the end of this month) into world-class athletes, and under his leadership in the 2010-11 season Waseda achieved an unprecedented triple crown of course record wins at all of the Big…
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5000 m and 10000 m Olympian Kensuke Takezawa to Join Sumitomo Denko Corporate Team

http://www.sei.co.jp/news/press/13/prs079_s.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

 The Sumitomo Denko corporation is proud to announce today that Beijing Olympics 5000 m and 10000 m Olympian Kensuke Takezawa, with bests of 13:19.00 and 27:45.59, has joined the company as a member of its men's long-distance running team.  "I'm fortunate to have the opportunity to make a new start now at Sumitomo Denko," Takezawa said.  "A lot of people have supported and encouraged me through some difficult times, and from the heart I offer my sincerest gratitude for being able to stand here today for this announcement.  Since the Olympics I haven't been able to become the kind of internationally-competitive athlete I hoped to become, but in this new environment I will dedicate myself to becoming the best I can be, not just as an athlete but as a human being. I ask for your continued support and encouragement."

Sumitomo Denko head coach Toshihiro Matsumoto commented,…
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