Girl's S-Cup Details

Last week, some details about this year's Girl's S-Cup were released and now some more information has trickled in. As has become fairly usual, there will be two, one-day tournaments going on at the event, with a/some additional fights. There will be a 4 person tournament and a 8 person tournament.

Rena

The larger tournament, which will to many be the main focal point of the event, will pit 8 opponents from around the world against each other in a one-day tournament. Not all 8 opponents have been named, but Rena, Lorena Klijn and Christina Jurjevic were reported earlier this week. I have not been able to locate an exact weight for this tournament, but most of the fighters have competed in Shoot Boxing at around 53.5 kg. Last years champion, Mizuki Inoue is not expected to compete as she will be fighting for the Deep Jewels Championship the following Saturday. Even thought the other 5 contestants haven't been mentioned, it is hard to not think of Rena as the favorite going into the tournament. She has won every tournament she ever entered. Her familiarity with the rules and experience in the tournament is deeper than anyone else. She has already defeated Lorena Klijn, but Klijn is a very physically strong fighter so it will be interesting to see how she does.

Rena with Teammate Mio

The information that was revealed this week, concerns more with the 4 person tournament. Several years ago the JKS-48 tournament was started. The purpose of the tournament was to promote girls 18 and under at 48kg. The real purpose of the tournament was to promote Rena's stablemate, Mio and try to turn her into a star. She won the JKS 48 tournament 2 years in a row. Well now that Mio has turned 19, the format has changed a little bit. It does not appear that there will be an age restriction for the tournament and it will comprise of 4, Japanese 48kg fighters, with Mio being the only official participant as of now. "V.V" Mei is listed as being part of the card and no details about her participation have been released. With Mei having dropped to 48kg recently, it would add a lot of credibility to the 4 person tournament if she was added. The real question is if Shoot Boxing wants to make this a competitive tournament or if they would rather build of Mio's record and accolades. In an ideal situation, this tournament would look something like Mio, Ham Seo Hee, Erika Kamimura and Mei Yamaguchi. However with Ham being Korean she is out and with Kamimura's long absence and dislike of Shoot Boxing, this is unlikely. It will be interesting to see who else enters the tournament.

The following is a translation of Shoot Boxing's announcement;

This will be the 6th Girl's S-Cup. This tournament, that is held every two years (for this division), the 2010 and 2012 Champion, who is going for her 3rd consecutive, the World Queen Rena will be participating as the defending Champion. The "Female Beast" from Holland, Lorena Klijn and the "Beautiful Sniper" Christian Jurjevic from Australia, who have compete in past SB Tournaments are who we are starting with, after that Queens/Champions from many nations will also be added to this 8 person, one-day tournament.

In addition, Mio, who has won 2 consecutive JKS 48 Tournaments will be participating in a different tournament, starting this year there will be a 48kg Japanese Tournament. Including Mio, there will be a 4 person, one-day tournament consisting of Japan's top-fighters. Concerning the other athletes, they will be announced in due time.