WORLD CLUBS CUP

Bimeh Razi Wins Greco-Roman World Clubs Cup

By Ali Feizasa

The host team, Bimeh Razi Isfahan (IRI) defeated Sina Sanat Izeh (IRI), 8-2 to capture the 2017 Greco-Roman World Clubs Cup title.

Defending champions, Sina Sanat started strong, winning the first two bouts. It was Saman ABDVALI’s (IRI) win at 63kg that gave Bimeh Razi their first win. Artem SURKOV (RUS) tied the match for Bimeh Razi after besting Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) at 67kg. 2017 world bronze medal winner, Mohammad Ali GERAEI’s (IRI) 10-0 victory over 2015 Asian champion Ali ARSALAN gave Bimeh the 3-2 lead.

Despite a tough first period, Russian two-time Olympic champion, Roman VLASOV (RUS) picked up a technical superiority victory over U-23 World bronze medal winner, Payam BOYERI (IRI).

 In one of the most interesting matches of the night, 2017 75kg world bronze medalist Saeid ABDVALI (IRI) beat Sina Sanat’s 2017 80kg world champion, Maksim MANUKYAN (ARM), 6-2.

Bimeh’s Iranian youngster, Mehdi FALLAH (IRI) had a great performance, downing Rio Olympics silver medalist, Zhan BELENYUK (URK), 1-0, which ultimately secured Bimeh Razi’s second Greco-Roman World Clubs Cup title.

Seyed Mostafa SALEHIZADEH (IRI) and Shahab GHOUREH JILI (IRI) finished the match with two victories, giving Bimeh Razi the 8-2 victory over Sina Sanat.

In the third place match, Buyuksehir (TUR) defeated Georgian Club (GEO), 6-4, while Moscow (RUS) beat Shohadaye Modafe Haram Qom (IRI), 8-2 to place fifth.

The results of final day of Greco-Roman World Clubs Cup:

Final Match: Bimeh Razi Isfahan (IRI) df. Sina Sanat IZEH (IRI), 8-2
55kg- Reza KHEDRI (Sina) df. Moslem NADERI KHADEM (Bimeh), 2-1
60kg- Meysam DELKHANI (Sina) df. Mehrdad MARDANI (Bimeh) , 3-2             
63kg- Saman ABDEVALI (IRI) TF. Behnam MORADI  (Sina), 9-1
67kg- Artem SURKOV (Bimeh) df. Mohammadreza GERAEI (Sina), 5-2
72kg- Mohammad Ali GERAEI (Bimeh) TF. Ali ARSALAN (Sina), 10-0
77kg- Roman VLASOV (Bimeh) TF. Payam BOYERI (Sina), 10-1
82kg- Saeid ABDVALI (Bimeh) df. Maksim MANUKYAN (Sina), 6-2
87kg- Mehdi FALLAH (Bimeh) df. Zhan BELENYUK (Sina), 1-097kg- Seyed Mostafa SALEHIZADEH (Bimeh) TF. Hassan ARYANEJAD (Sina), 10-0
130kg- Shahab GHOUREH JILI (Bimeh) df. Mehdi NOURI (Sina) by forfeit

Third place match: Buyuksehir (TUR) df. Georgian Club (GEO), 6-4
55kg- Muslum ALINLI (TUR) TF. Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO), 11-1
60kg- Hammet RUSTEM (TUR) Pinned Beka BALANCHIVADZE (GEO)
63kg- Dato CHKHARTISHVILI (GEO) df. Fatih UCUNCU (TUR), 4-2
67kg- Atakan YUKSEL (TUR) df. Tornike JANGAVADZE (GEO), 4-0
72kg- Yunus OZEL (TUR) df. Ramazi ZOIDZE (GEO) , 8-1
77kg- Serkan AKKOYUN (TUR) Pinned Bakuri GOGOLI (GEO)
82kg- Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) df. Varlami KVARATSKHELIA (GEO), 2-1
87kg- Gurami KHETSURIANI (GEO) df. Metehan BASAR (TUR) by forfeit
97kg- Kukuri KIRTSKHSLIA (GEO)  df. Irfan METE (TUR), 8-4
130kg- Levani ARABULI (GEO) df. Fatih BASKOY (TUR), 4-0

Semifinal results
Sina Sanat Izeh (IRI) df. Georgian Club (GEO), 8-2

55kg- Reza KHEDRI (IRI)df.  Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO), 4-1
60kg- Shirzad BEHESHTI TALA (IRI) TF. Beka BALANCHIVADZE (GEO), 9-0
63kg- Behnam MORADI  (IRI) TF. Dato CHKHARTISHVILI (GEO), 9-0
67kg- Tornike JANGAVADZE (GEO) df. Karen ASLANYAN (ARM/Sina Sanat Team), 3-2
72kg- Ali ARSALAN (IRI) TF. Ramazi ZOIDZE (GEO) , 9-0
77kg- Payam BOYERI (IRI) TF. Bakuri GOGOLI (GEO), 8-0
82kg- Maksim MANUKYAN (ARM/ Sina Sanat Team) TF. Varlami KVARATSKHELIA (GEO), 9-0
87kg- Zhan BELENYUK (UKR/ Sina Sanat Team) df. Gurami KHETSURIANI (GEO), 3-0
97kg- Kukuri KIRTSKHSLIA (GEO) Pinned Hassan ARYANEJAD (IRI)
130kg- Levani ARABULI (GEO) df. Mehdi NOURI (IRI) by forfeit.

Bimeh Razi (IRI) df. Buyuksehir (TUR), 8-2
55kg- Moslem NADERI KHADEM (IRI) df. Muslum ALINLI (TUR), 3-1
60kg- Mehrdad MARDANI (IRI) df. Hammet RUSTEM (TUR), 13-6                 
63kg- Fatih UCUNCU (TUR) Pinned Saman ABDEVALI (IRI)
67kg- Hossein ASADI (IRI) df. Atakan YUKSEL (TUR) by forfeit
72kg- Farshad BELFEKE (IRI) df. Yunus OZEL (TUR), 2-1
77kg- Roman VLASOV (RUS/ Bimeh Team) df. Serkan AKKOYUN (TUR), 4-0
82kg- Saeid ABDVALI (IRI) df. Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR), 3-1
87kg- Mehdi FALLAH (IRI) df. Metehan BASAR (TUR) by forfeit
97kg- Irfan METE (TUR) df. Seyed Mostafa SALEHIZADEH (IRI) by forfeit
130kg- Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO/ Bimeh Team) df. Fatih BASKOY (TUR), 5-0


Fifth Place match: Moscow (RUS) df. Shohadaye Modafe Haram Qom (IRI), 8-2
55kg- Aleksei KINZHIGALIEV (RUS) TF. Mehdi GHORBANI (IRI), 11-0
60kg- Sergey EMELIN (RUS) TF. Reza MORADI (IRI), 10-1       
63kg- Sanal SEMENOV (RUS) Pinned Mehdi MORAD HASELI (IRI)
67kg- Pavel SALEEV (RUS) Pinned Aliakbar PASALARI (IRI)
72kg- Denis MURTAZIN (RUS) TF. Ali SOLEYMANI (IRI), 8-0
77kg- Hadi ALIZADEH (IRI) wins by forfeit
82kg- Roman YUSIPOV (RUS) df. Mohammad Reza REZAEI (IRI), 6-2
87kg- Mehdi EBRAHIMI (IRI) df. Aleksei MISHIN (RUS) by forfeit
97kg- Musa EVLOEV (RUS) df. Omid EFTEKHARI ASL (IRI), 3-0
130kg- Zurabi GEDEKHAURI (RUS) TF. Parsa NAZARI (IRI), 9-0

Seventh place match: Dinamo (ARM) df. Samsun (UKR), 6-4

Sina Sanat Izeh (IRI) df. Dinamo (ARM), 6-4
55kg- Rudik MKRTCHYAN (ARM) TF. Sergii STOROZHENKO (UKR), 8-0
60kg- Murad HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) Pinned Andriy MARTYNYUK (UKR), 3-0
63kg- Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM)df. Anton KUTSENKO (UKR), 9-2
67kg- Aleksan MIKAYELYAN (ARM) df. Fevzi MAMUTOV (UKR), 6-1
72kg- Artur POLITAIEV (UKR) Pinned Armen HAKOBYAN (ARM), 8-4
77kg- Ruben GHARIBYAN (ARM) df. Keyvan REZAEI (IRI), 10-6
82kg- Argishti ABGARYAN (ARM) df. Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR),2-2
87kg- Iurii SHKRIUBA (UKR) df. Gegam TORGOMYAN (ARM), 6-4
97kg- Mykola KRYSOV (UKR) TF. Vagharsak MINASYAN (ARM), 9-0
130kg- Mykola KUCHMII (UKR) df. Edgar KHACHATRYAN (ARM), 4-1

Ninth place match: Olympic Hopes (ROU) df. Busapest SC (HUN), 5-4
(Both team had no wrestler at 82kg)
55kg- Florin TITA (ROU) TF. József ANDRASI (HUN), 11-2
60kg- Razvan ARNAUT (ROU) df. István VANCZA (HUN), 6-1
63kg- Bence KOVACS (HUN) TF. Teodor HORATAU (ROU), 12-1
67kg- István KOZAK (HUN) TF. Irinel BOTEZ MIHAI (ROU), 8-0
72kg- Martin TOTH  (HUN) TF. Boanta NICOLAE (ROU), 10-0
77kg- Adrian AGACHE (ROU) wins by forfeit
82kg- Both team didn’t have wrestler
87kg- Samuel OJOG NICU (ROU) TF. Bence MARTIN(HUN), 9-0
97kg- Róbert ÉRSEK (HUN) df. Constantin PIRVAN DORIN (ROU), 1-1
130kg- Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU) df. Almasi FERENC (HUN), 4-0

 

#WrestleBratislava

Gatsalov: Satisfied with Euros, will prepare for tougher World Championships

By United World Wrestling Press

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (April 22) -- Khadzhimurat GATSALOV was in Bratislava, Slovakia for the European Championships as the coach if the UWW wrestlers and returned with five gold, two silver and one bronze medals in 10 weight classes.

United World Wrestling caught up with Gatsalov after the tournament and he reflected on the performance of the wrestlers and his plans for the World Championships which will be held in September in Zagreb, Croatia.

Excerpts:

- On the performance of his wrestlers

Gatsalov: Overall, we are satisfied with the results. We haven’t had a performance like this in a long time -- five gold medals out of ten, plus two silver and one bronze. That means eight out of ten athletes came home with medals. Both the coaching staff and the athletes did a great job and prepared well for this European Championships.

We were counting on four or five gold medals. The guys wrestled really well and followed the instructions. For us coaches, that’s the most important thing that the wrestler steps on the mat and follows the game plan.

- On competition with Iran and the United States

Gatsalov: I believe there’s still room for improvement. This will help strengthen both our technical and physical foundations. When I look at Iranian and American wrestling, they put a lot of emphasis on physical conditioning. We’ve never really focused on that. We’ve always prioritized technique. But moving forward, we’ll also be physically prepared to endure tough matches and handle heavy loads without wearing out.

- On Sidakov's return and performance at 74kg

Gatsalov: Sidakov just couldn’t make it happen this time, maybe it’s because they know each other so well. [Chermen] VALIEV had a very strong motivation to win. You could feel it, it was clear on the mat. But as a coach, I believe this loss will serve as a driving force for Sidakov's future wins. It’s a significant psychological moment. Honestly, it’s better to experience this now than at the World Championships or the Olympics. I think once he recovers from his injury, we’ll get back to training and keep moving forward.

- On former world champion Baev winning gold

Gatsalov: Since 2019, he hadn’t shown any results on an international level. But today, he was better than anyone. He’s been working towards this moment for a long time, training hard, and he showed solid, confident wrestling. He wrestled like a true master — precise, and without mistakes. We were genuinely very happy for him.

- On the 65kg champion Ibragim IBRAGIMOV

Gatsalov: Ibragimov demonstrated a strong performance, despite losing at the Ranking Series in Albania less than a month ago. Today, he came in well-prepared. He was in good form physically, technically, and mentally. That previous loss likely became a stepping stone toward this victory.

Khadzhimurat GATSAKOVKhadzhimurat GATSALOV at the European Championships in Bratislava. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

- On preparations for World Championships

Gatsalov: We have a clear understanding of how we’re going to prepare. I can’t reveal all the secrets of our training plan, but we know exactly who we’re preparing for. That’s why we’ll be focusing on targeted, individual work against specific opponents. Our coaching staff is strong. We have real professionals on board, including experienced coaches from the old Soviet school and younger ones who are stepping up and bringing fresh energy.

I think our wrestlers are also friendly with each other, which is very important. The atmosphere in the team is productive. We are waiting for the World Championships. We want competition on the mat with big countries like Iran, America. The Japanese have also improved a lot. Therefore, we want to compete with the strong ones, and we want to settle things on the mat.

(The interview was conducted by Karina MIRZOIAN)