The Marigold DREAM★STAR GP 2025 Race To The Finals Heats Up As Only A Few Remain In Contention

By: Lewis Carlan

The race to the Marigold DREAM★STAR GP 2025 finals is tightening up as the block portion  of the tournament is winding down.

The DREAM League block has become a three woman race between Utami Hayashishita, Mayu Iwatani and Victoria Yuzuki following the Sept. 2nd tournament event at Shinjuku FACE.

Yuzuki faced Rea Seto on Sept. 2nd and would have jumped into the lead of the DREAM League block with 10 points had she been victorious. Seto, who had a tremendous showing, played the role of spoiler, so to speak, and took Yuzuki to a 15 minute time limit draw.

Photo Credit: Marigold

With the draw, Yuzuki earned her ninth point which placed her in a tie with Hayashishita for first place in their block.

Iwatani scored a crucial win over Kouki Amarei to raise her point total to seven which kept her within striking range of both Hayashishita and Yuzuki. If Iwatani had lost, she would have been eliminated from the tournament.

Photo Credit: Marigold

Iwatani has two tournament bouts left while Yuzuki and Hayashishita each have one bout left.

Hayashishita will face Kouki Amarei on Sept. 14 as she looks to increase her total to 11 points.

Iwatani will face CHIAKI on Sept. 6 in a must win match for the Icon. She will be eliminated from the tournament if she falls in defeat to CHIAKI.

If Iwatani gets past CHIAKI, she will engage in a showdown against Yuzuki on Sept. 14 that could determine who wins the DREAM League block and heads to the championship match of the DREAM★STAR GP 2025.

The STAR League has six competitors that are still in contention to win the block and head to the championship bout.

Miku Aono and Chika Goto scored huge wins on Sept. 2nd to keep their hopes alive in the tournament. Aono defeated Kizuna Tanaka while Goto was victorious over Chanyota. The wins gave each a total of 5 points in their respective block which is just enough to keep them alive.

Photo Credit: Marigold

In addition to Aono and Goto, Mai Sakurai, MIRAI, Nagisa Nozaki and Misa Matsui all have a chance of making it to the finals and face the winner of the DREAM League block.

MIRAI has only three points but has 3 matches remaining. She needs everyone to lose the rest of their matches and she needs to win all her remaining matches to get to the finals. It’s an unlikely scenario for MIRAI but she remains mathematically still alive.

This is the breakdown of matches remaining for all those who are still eligible to make it to the championship match:

• Mai Sakurai – Sept. 14 against Miku Aono
• Nagisa Nozaki – Sept. 6 against Miku Aono, Sept. 14 against Misa Matsui
• Misa Matsui: Sept. 6 against MIRAI, Sept 14 against Nagisa Nozaki
• Chika Goto: Sept. 7 against Miku Aono, Sept. 14 against Kizuna Tanaka
• Miku Aono: Sept. 6 against Nagisa Nozaki, Sept. 7 against Chika Goto, Sept. 14 against Mai Sakurai
• MIRAI: Sept. 6 against Misa Matsui, Sept. 7 against Kizuna Tanaka, Sept. 14 against Chanyota.

Here are the full results of the Marigold Sept. 2nd event:

• Komomo Minami defeated Nagisa Tachibana (5:15) with a Komo clutch.
• Mai Sakurai & Hummingbird defeated Nao Ishikawa & Yuuka Yamazaki (8:08) after a STK from Sakurai against Ishikawa.
• Nagisa Nozaki, Misa Matsui & CHIAKI defeated Utami Hayashishita, MIRAI & Yuuki Minami (11:20) after a diving footstomp from Matsui against Minami.
• DREAM★STAR GP – STAR League: Chika Goto [5] defeated Chanyota [4] (9:46) with the GCS.
• DREAM★STAR GP – DREAM League: Seri Yamaoka [6] defeated Maria [4] (9:30) with an Aoki clutch.
• DREAM★STAR GP – STAR League: Miku Aono [5] defeated Kizuna Tanaka [2] (7:19) with a Buzzsaw Kick.
• DREAM★STAR GP – DREAM League: Victoria Yuzuki [9] vs. Rea Seto [3] – Time Limit Draw (15:00).
• DREAM★STAR GP – DREAM League: Mayu Iwatani [7] defeatedKouki Amarei [6] (10:58) with a Moonsault Press.

These are the current block standings as of Sept. 2nd:

DREAM League:

• Utami Hayashishita [9]
• Victoria Yuzuki [9]
• Mayu Iwatani [7]
• Kouki Amarei [6]
• Seri Yamaoka [6]
• Maria [4]
• Rea Seto [3]
• CHIAKI [2]

STAR League:

• Mai Sakurai [8]
• Nagisa Nozaki [7]
• Misa Matsui [6]
• Chika Goto [5]
• Miku Aono [5]
• Chanyota [4]
• MIRAI [3]
• Kizuna Tanaka [2]