5★STAR GP Qualifying Round 1

From this day onwards, the qualifying rounds for the "5★STAR GP 2026" main tournament, which will kick off on July 18th at EBARA WAVE Arena Ota (Ota City General Gymnasium), began. In the first round of the qualifiers, Kian Furusawa and Matoi Hamabe clashed, and after 8 minutes and 22 seconds, Furusawa forced Hamabe to tap out with a leg lock ankle hold

Furusawa declared, "I got Matoi to tap out! I was using an ankle hold and Matoi was using an armbar. He's an exciting opponent, but I won today. Now that I've won today, next I'll be fighting either Akira or Emma in my hometown of Fuji, and I'll definitely be competing in the 5★STAR GP."

On July 5th (Sunday), at the Osaka tournament, Anne Kanaya and Kiyoka Toraryu will clash in the first round. On July 11th (Saturday), at the Fuji tournament, Emma Tanijima and Akira Tetsu, who have a bye in the first round, will also be participating in a qualifying round