European Games

Belarus Captures 2 Golds on Final Day of Women's Wrestling at European Games

Friday, June 28, 2019 - 19:26 By United World Wrestling Press

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MINSK, Belarus (June 28) - Belarusian wrestlers Iryna KURACHKINA (57kg) and Vasilisa MARZALIUK (76kg) gave the home crowd something to celebrate on the final day of the women's wrestling competition at the European Games in Minsk, Belarus. 

Kurachkina and Marzaliuk captured gold medals in dominant fashion on Friday at the Minsk Sports Palace. Neither wrestler surrendered a point in the finals.

Kurachkina, a 2017 world bronze medalist, rolled to a 10-0 technical superiority over Mimi HRISTOVA (BUL) in the gold-medal match at 57kg. She used three takedowns in the first period to build a 6-0 lead. Kurachkina closed out the match early in the second period, scoring a fourth takedown, which she followed up with a gut wrench to close her spectacular finals performance.

Marzaliuk, a four-time world medalist, won her second straight European Games gold medal, beating Francy RAEDELT (GER) 9-0 in the finals at 76kg. She controlled the match from start to finish, using a step out and takedown in the first period to go up 3-0 at the break. Marzaliuk pulled away in the third period with three more takedowns.  

Joining Marzaliuk as a repeat winner at the European Games was Mariya STADNIK (AZE) at 50kg. Stadnik, a three-time Olympic medalist and five-time world medalist, handled returning world bronze medalist Oksana LIVACH (UKR) 7-1 in the gold-medal match at 50kg. 

After scoring with a step out, Stadnik scored a takedown on the world No. 2 Livach, which she followed up with a gut wrench to grab a 5-0 lead. She added another takedown in the final period, while giving up just a point off a step out. Stadnik outscored her opponents 23-2 at the European Games.

Yuliia TKACH (UKR), a four-time world medalist, won a gold medal at 62kg, improving on her silver-medal performance at the 2015 European Games. She topped Elmira GAMBAROVA (AZE) 4-0 in the finals. 

Tkach, ranked No.4 in the world, scored a takedown in the first period off a single leg attack to take a 2-0 lead. In the second period, Gambarova attempted an arm throw, which Tkach countered for another takedown, which closed out the scoring. 

Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE) and Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) earned the bronze medals at 50kg.

Mariia KUZNETSOVA (RUS) knocked off world No.1 Taybe YUSEIN (BUL) 7-4 in a bronze-medal match at 62kg. The other bronze at 62kg was won by Kriszta INCZE (ROU).

Epp MAE (EST), a 2015 world bronze medalist, defeated Olympic champion Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) in dramatic fashion to win a bronze medal at 76kg. Vorobeva led most of the match before Mae scored the go-ahead points as time expired to steal the victory, 5-3. Iselin SOLHEIM (NOR) won by fall over Sabira ALIYEVA (AZE) to claim a bronze medal at 76kg. 

RESULTS

Women's Wrestling 

50kg
GOLD - Mariya STADNIK (AZE) df. Oksana LIVACH (UKR), 7-1
BRONZE - Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR) df. Anna LUKASIAK (POL), 6-2
BRONZE - Miglena SELISHKA (BUL) df. Viyaleta CHYRYK (BLR), 6-0 

57kg
GOLD - Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) df. Mimi HRISTOVA (BUL), 10-0
BRONZE - Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE) df. Bediha GUN (TUR), 9-4
BRONZE - Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) df. Grace BULLEN (NOR), 11-4

62kg
GOLD - Yuliia TKACH (UKR) df. Elmira GAMBAROVA (AZE), 4-0
BRONZE - Mariia KUZNETSOVA (RUS) df. Taybe YUSEIN (BUL), 7-4
BRONZE - Kriszta INCZE (ROU) df. Katarzyna MADROWSKA (POL), 8-2

76kg
GOLD - Vasilisa MARZALIUK (BLR) df. Francy RAEDELT (GER), 9-0
BRONZE - Iselin SOLHEIM (NOR) df. Sabira ALIYEVA (AZE), Fall (1:13)
BRONZE - Epp MAE (EST) df. Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS), 5-3

#WrestleBudapest

Ranking Series: Tazhudinov wins gold; Sujeet, Suda champions in Budapest

Thursday, July 17, 2025 - 08:07 By Vinay Siwach

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 17) -- The final Ranking Series of the season begins Thursday in Budapest with seven Freestyle weight classes -- 57kg, 61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg, 97kg and 125kg.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | FREESTYLE PREVIEW

19:55: Bahrain gets a second gold medal as Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN) hangs on for a 5-3 win over Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (UWW) in the 125kg final.

19:35: Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) makes it another 11-0 victory and wins gold medal at 97kg. That is his fourth technical superiority win today. Since his Paris gold, Tazhudinov wrestled in Spain and won gold and now adds a second in two weeks.

19:10: Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) is so good in his defense and he uses it to great effect and beats Magomet EVLOEV (TJK) 5-0 and takes the gold medal at 79kg at the Budapest Ranking Series.

18:35: Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) wins Ranking Series gold medal at 70kg after beating Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) 8-0 in the final. Just a really strong performance overall as he gets ready for World Championships.

18:10: SUJEET (IND) gives India a Ranking Series gold medal in Freestyle after beating Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE). A bit of Bajrang PUNIA (IND) in Sujeet as he only gives up a activity point in the first period and upped the pace in the second scoring two takedowns and point for activity to win the gold medal.

17:45: Takara SUDA (JPN) with a buzzer-beating four-pointer in the 61kg final to win gold medal! Suda was down 3-1 against Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) with 10 seconds remaining. Suda snaps Zhumashbek Uulu and then brings him down on the mat. Zhamashbek Uulu tries to defend but in clearly on his back and Suda has control. Suda is awarded a 3-3 criteria win.

Kyrgyzstan challenges but that is awarded four points to Suda and he wins 5-3

17:20: Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) is the champion at 57kg after he pulls off a takedown in the last 25 seconds against Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE). Both wrestlers exchanged activity points and Lilledahl led 1-1 on criteria but he scored a takedown to pull off a clear 3-1 victory.

17:00: The medal bouts in all weight classes begin now. The bronze medals will be held on Mat B and C while the gold-medal bout will be on Mat B.

Budapest Ranking Series 2025 Day 1 Semifinal Report

Olympic champions Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN), who wrestled at the Grand Prix of Spain last week in his first tournament since Paris Olympics, reached the 97kg final at the Budapest Ranking Series on Thursday.

Wrestling only in his third-ever Ranking Series, Tazhudinov posted three straight technical superiority wins and entered the final against Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL).

Opening his day with a 14-2 win, Tazhudinov manhandled Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA) and capitalized on the half-hearted attacks of the French wrestler. He hit a big double-leg attack for four points but Viskhanov got two points for exposure.

But that was only opening Tazhudinov allowed for the rest of the bout. Viskhanov tried a few leg attacks but Tazhudinov scored a takedown and two turns to be up 10-2 before an arm-bar attempt turned into takedown for his win.

Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW) was next and Tazhudinov needed just a minute to beat him. In the semifinals, he took 1 minute and 48 seconds to see off Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO), 10-0.

Baranowski had a contradictory run to the final as he won 6-6 on criteria against Jonathan AIELLO (USA) before a 7-5 victory over VICKY (IND) in the quarterfinals. He improved the score line to 7-3 in the semifinal against Juhwan SEO (KOR).

In other weight classes, world U20 champion Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) needed two last-second wins in quarterfinals and semifinals to book a place in the final. He defeated Niklas STECHELE (GER) 4-2 with a pushout in the last second and then handed RAHUL (IND) a 7-6 loss with a takedown in the final moments.

He will take on Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE) for the gold medal after the Azerbaijan wrestler beat Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO), 5-2.

Asian champion at 61kg Takara SUDA (JPN) showed why he one of the medal threats at the World Championships in Zagreb. Suda wrestled two bouts before reaching the final and won them without much trouble. He began with a 12-2 win over Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) and then posted a 4-3 win over Assylzhan YESSENGELDI (KAZ).

He will face Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) in the final after the Kyrgyzstan beat his compatriot Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ), 3-2. A win against Suda in the final can be a huge confidence booster for the Kyrgyz wrestler.

At 65kg, SUJEET (IND) was a surprise finalist after he got the better of Paris Olympic medalist Islam DUDAEV (ALB), 11-0, and then beat Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM), 6-1, in the semifinals.

He will take on Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE) in the final who defeated Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN), 9-2, in the other semifinal.

At 70kg, Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) and Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) set up the final which will be a clash between two continental silver medalists. Aoyagi was in red-hot form in Budapest and outscored his opponents 28-3 before the final.

Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), after his small quest at 86kg, returned to 79kg and made it to the final in Budapest after a 2-0 win over Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ) in the semifinal. He will face Asian silver medalist Magomet EVLOEV (TJK) in the final. The Tajik stunned Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) in the semifinal using a cradle in just 21 seconds.

Kougioumtsidis dominated his matches till the semifinals but could not stop Evloev from finishing the cradle and had to make his way to the bronze-medal bout instead of gold.