Bishkek gives peak into intense women's wrestling battles

Friday, June 2, 2023 - 17:31 By Vinay Siwach

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (June 2) -- If Friday's results are anything to go by, expect the women's wrestling competitions in the Paris Olympic cycle to throw more surprises.

Four Olympic weight classes were contested in Bishkek on Friday and three different countries won gold medals with Ukraine winning two of them at the third Ranking Series event of the year.

Alina HRUSHYNA (UKR) and Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR) were the two gold medalists for Ukraine at 57kg and 62kg respectively while China won the gold at 68kg through Feng ZHOU (CHN) while the host country got the gold through Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ) at 76kg.

The most intense weight class was 62kg which included the European Championships finalists Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) and Grace BULLEN (NOR), former U23 world champion Ana GODINEZ (CAN), world silver medalist Jia LONG (CHN), former world champ Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL) and Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL).

Among all, to everyone's surprise, Prokopevniuk and Purevdorj reached the final after European champ Koliadenko lost in the first round to Sukhee while Bullen suffered a 15-10 loss to Long in the quarterfinal. But Sukhee met Purevdorj in an-all Mongolian semifinal in which the latter won 6-4.

Prokopevniuk defeated Godinez 8-3 in the opening round, moved past Lydia PEREZ (ESP) 12-1 in the quarterfinals blanked Long 10-0.

In the final, Prokopevniuk managed to hand Prevdorj an 8-3 defeat to win her second Ranking Series gold medal.

For Hrushyna, the 57kg did not offer immense competition but the wrestler still had to go through the process of winning more medals. Hrushyna defeated Emma TISSINA (KAZ) 10-0, moving into the semifinals against ZHUOMALAGA (CHN).

She faced China in the final as Kexin HONG (CHN) also reached the final but Hrushyna won 7-4 and the gold medal.

"My motivation now is my Ukraine, which is fighting now," Hrushyna said. "This is my motherland, that motivates me to go forward and win."

Hrushyna and the team are likely to compete in more Ranking Series events after this.

"We are planning to compete at one more Ranking Series event," she said. "We are also planning to go to a training camp in Japan, that will be a nice preparation and then we will go to another training camp in the mountains of Ukraine."

Feng ZHOU (CHN) launches Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (MGL) for a big throw. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

At 68kg, veteran Feng ZHOU (CHN) rolled back the years and wrestled well to reach the final. Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (MGL) was her opponent for the gold medal bout.

Zhou first defeated Xinru ZHOU (CHN) 12-1 in the quarterfinals before she moved on 3-1 against Nesrin BAS (TUR) in the semifinal.

Enkhsaikhan got an extra bout to reach the final as she defeated Svetlana OKNAZAROVA (UZB) 11-0 in the qualification rounds, Olivia DI BACCO (CAN) 6-1 in the quarterfinals and Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ) 2-1 in the semifinal.

Zhou was stunned in the final as Enkhsaikhan scored five points before she eked out a clutch performance and won 14-5.

Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ) won the 76kg gold medal at home. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Medet Kyzy could not have asked for a better performance in front of the home fans as she captured the gold medal at 76kg. Yuanyuan HUANG (CHN) was close to upsetting Medet Kyzy but fell short in a 5-3 loss.

The qualification round saw some interesting results as Medet Kyzy defeated Gulmaral YERKEBAYEVA (KAZ) 4-1, Genesis REASCO (ECU) won 5-0 against Epp MAE (EST), Martina KUENZ (AUT) won 4-1 over Cynthia VESCAN (FRA) and PRIYA (IND) won 6-0 against Anastasiia OSNIACH (UKR).

Medet Kyzy faced Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) next and won 10-6 before facing QIANDEGENCHAGAN (CHN) in the semifinal which also ended in the favor of Medet Kyzy 6-3. In the other semifinal, Huang moved on after Kuenz suffered an injury.

Geraei stunned

Olympic champion Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) continues to suffer stunning losses in the competition since last year. After losses at the Bolat Turlykhanov Cup in June 2022, World Championships in September 2022 and Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking in February, Geraei suffered a shock 11-1 loss to Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO) in the 72kg final in Bishkek.

Before Friday, Zoidze had lost thrice to Geraei, at the 2019 World Championships (7-5), 2021 Olympic Games (6-1) and 2021 World Championships (7-6) but was a different wrestler that stepped on the mat in Bishkek.

"Of course, I believed in my victory, I was ready for this," Zoidze said. "I had to take revenge after the Olympic Games and after the World Championships. I have been waiting for this moment for a long time and thank God that I was able to take revenge."

Zoidze's final against Geraei could not have been more one-sided as the Georgian defeated him 11-1 with Geraei giving no chance to even fight.

The victory does put him as one of the contenders for the 67kg spot on the Gerogian team but Zoidze said it is still unclear if he can be at 67kg.

"I want to wrestle at 67kg, but at the moment this is still unclear which category I will wrestle," he said. "My main goal is to go down to 67kg and take part in the Olympic Games."

However, Geraei's elder brother Mohammadali won his second Ranking Series gold medal of the year as he captured the 77kg gold medal after beating Iuri LOMADZE (GEO) 8-3.

Geraei won gold in the Zagreb Open Ranking Series event in February this year.

Iran added a fifth gold to its Greco-Roman tally when Alireza MOHAMADPIANI (IRI) defeated upcoming star Alperen BERBER (TUR) 7-5 in the 82kg final.

RESULTS

Greco-Roman

72kg
GOLD: Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO) df. Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI), 11-1

BRONZE: Abdullo ALIEV (UZB) df. Yerassyl NURBOSSYNOV (KAZ), 9-0
BRONZE: Otar ABULADZE (GEO) df. VIKAS (IND), via fall

77kg
GOLD: Mohammadali GERAEI (IRI) df. Iuri LOMADZE (GEO), 8-3

BRONZE: Yuksel SARICICEK (TUR) df. Samandar BOBONAZAROV (UZB), 8-0
BRONZE: Rui LIU (CHN) df. SAJAN (IND), 7-5

82kg
GOLD: Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI) df. Alperen BERBER (TUR), 7-5

BRONZE: Beksultan NAZARBAEV (KGZ) df. Nurbek KHASHIMBEKOV (UZB), 5-4
BRONZE: Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO) df. Shamil BATYROV (KAZ), 9-0

Women's wrestling

57kg
GOLD: Alina HRUSHYNA (UKR) df. Kexin HONG (CHN), 7-4

BRONZE: ZHUOMALAGA (CHN) df. Emma TISSINA (KAZ), 6-0
BRONZE: Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE) df. Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR), 8-4

62kg
GOLD: Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR) df. Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL), 8-3

BRONZE: Jia LONG (CHN) df. Ana GODINEZ (CAN), 7-6
BRONZE: Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL) df. Luisa NIEMESCH (GER), 8-3

68kg
GOLD: Feng ZHOU (CHN) df. Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (MGL), 14-5

BRONZE: Nesrin BAS (TUR) df. Xinru ZHOU (CHN), 3-1
BRONZE: Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ) df. Olivia DI BACCO (CAN), 2-1

76kg
GOLD: Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ) df. Yuanyuan HUANG (CHN), 5-3

BRONZE: QIANDEGENCHAGAN (CHN) df. Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR), 8-3
BRONZE: Genesis REASCO VALDEZ (ECU) df. Martina KUENZ (AUT), via inj. def.

#WrestleBratislava

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

Thursday, April 24, 2025 - 13:29 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 GATSAKOV Khadzhimurat 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)

Bishkek gives peak into intense women's wrestling battles

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