#WrestleTokyo

China Grabs 2 of 3 Golds at Tokyo 2020 Test Event

Friday, October 4, 2019 - 15:19 By Ken Marantz

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CHIBA, Japan (Oct.4) --- A pair of Chinese world medalists came away with two of the three golds on the second day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics test event as organizers continued to work out the operational kinks at the Makuhari Messe venue.

WANG Xiaoqian (CHN) held on for a 2-1 victory over teenager Naruha MATSUYUKI (JPN) to take the 68kg title, while China was destined to win the 76kg gold, which went to Paliha PALIHA (CHN) when compatriot ZHOU Qian (CHN) defaulted the final. 

Rui SAKANO (JPN) took the other gold at stake on the second day of the three-day tournament by edging Atena KODAMA (JPN) 2-1 at 62kg, avenging a loss to her compatriot at last year’s All-Japan Championships.

The women’s tournament in the six Olympic weight classes is part of the “Ready Steady Tokyo” series of test events for all sports on the Tokyo 2020. Wrestling is one of four sports that will be held at Makuhari Messe, an international convention center located on the Tokyo Bay coast in neighboring Chiba city.

The event, which had drawn a limited number of entries coming so close to the World Championships in Kazakhstan, was open to the media for the first and only time on Friday. No spectators, other than invited guests, have been allowed, and the only sounds outside of the mat echoing in the cavernous hall are shouts from coaches and teammates.

In line with the first day of finals, medal ceremonies were held for the three weight classes on one of the three mats. The medalists stepped up to a single-level medal stand placed on a red carpet and bearing the “Ready Steady Tokyo” logo. Volunteers brought out the medals on cafeteria trays, and a wrestling dignitary placed them around the winners’ necks. No national anthems were played. 

Rui SAKANO (JPN) edged Atena KODAMA (JPN), 2-1, in the 62kg finals. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

Sakano, a 2017 world U23 champion, became the first gold recipient after her victory over 2018 world junior champion Kodama, in which she scored both of her points with Kodama on the activity clock. Kodama earned a point for fleeing in the final seconds.

“It’s possible I’ll face her again in a national competition this year,” said Sakano, who defeated world 59kg bronze medalist PEI Xingru (CHN) in the semifinals on Thursday. “I’m just trying to put out on the mat what I work on practice.”

With world bronze medalist Yukako KAWAI (JPN) having clinched a spot at Tokyo 2020 and almost surely planning to skip the Emperor’s Cup All-Japan Championships in December, Sakano knows the door is open to reach her most immediate goal.

“I still haven’t become the national champion at 62kg,” said Sakano, who also won a gold at the Rio 2016 test event. “What I most regret [in the final] is that I wasn’t aggressive. I’ll work on fixing that heading toward the Bill Farrell [Memorial International] in New York and the Emperor’s Cup in December, and hopefully that will bring me a national title.” 

The bronze medals went to LUO Xiaojuan (CHN), who received a victory by default over Pei, and European U23 champion Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR), who stormed to a 10-0 technical fall over Anna SHCHERBAKOVA (RUS).

Wang, a bronze medalist in Nur-Sultan at 65kg, had eased into the 68kg final with victories by technical fall and fall, but was hampered by the onset of stomach cramps against world junior champion Matsuyuki and had to make a first-period takedown stand up for a 2-1 win.

“I was thinking to attack more and get more points,” Wang said. “But because of [my condition] I couldn’t really do that.”

Wang said she felt fine about competing so soon after the World Championships. 

“There’s no problem because it was so close, because I am ready for all competitions,” she said. 

Taking home the bronzes were Alina RUDNYTSKA (UKR), who rode a 4-point first-period cradle to a 4-3 win over Alexandra GLAUDE (USA), and Rin MIYAJI (JPN), who rallied to defeat Alena STARODUBTSEVA (RUS), 9-6

While there was no match to decide the gold at 76kg, one bronze-medal playoff was an intriguing match-up of generations.

Justina DI STASIO (CAN), a 2018 world champion, defeated Yasuha MATSUYUKI (JPN) in one of the 76kg bronze-medal matches. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

Justina DI STASIO (CAN), the 2018 world champion at 72kg, had her hands full with teenager and world junior bronze medalist Yasuha MATSUYUKI (JPN) before coming away with a 3-0 win.

Di Stasio gained a first-period point with Matsuyuki---Naruha’s twin sister---on the activity clock, then scored a single-leg takedown in the second.

“I didn’t know she was so young and then the match starts and you hear, ‘a 26-year-old versus a 19-year-old’ and I was like, ‘Man, I hope I do good against the 19-year-old,’” Di Stasio said. “She’s long, super long, so it was like trying to stay patient and not take bad, bad shots--which I did once--but I came out of it.”

Di Stasio, who gave up a last-second takedown to lose 2-2 to Zhou in the semifinals, had missed out on a place at the World Championships to Rio 2016 Olympic champion Erica WIEBE (CAN). 

With two months to prepare to challenge Wiebe for the Tokyo 2020 spot at the Canadian trials in December, she sees making the trip to compete at the Olympic venue as invaluable. 

“It just makes it so real,” Di Stasio said. “You come here and you see it all and you’re competing in the place [for the Olympics]. It was pretty real before I came here, but to be here and know what it’s like. You can very much visualize what you’re training for.

“It is a long trip, and it’s a quick trip. But it was important. I didn’t go the World Championships….Watching all that stuff was a lot of emotions, too. Just trying to focus through stuff, which is something I don’t get at practice all the time. The tournament environment is totally different so it was completely worth coming out here.”

Winning the other 76kg bronze was Romana VOVCHAK (UKR), who defeated Mizuki NAGASHIMA (JPN) by fall in 3:19.

In the morning session, the qualification rounds (actually mainly quarterfinals as all weight classes have only eight or nine entries) were held for the remaining three divisions, which were more notable for who did not wrestle than who did. 

Two world medalists in Olympic weight classes in Nur-Sultan, RONG Ningning (CHN) and PANG Qianyu (CHN), as well former Olympic medalist SUN Yanan (CHN), all were entered in the tournament, but without the intention of actually taking part. As such, their opponents were awarded victories by default. 

“They were very tired and had some injuries,” said a team spokesperson. “We didn’t suppose they would participate.”  

Venue manager Yasukazu Fujimori was sympathetic of the Chinese wrestlers.

“This is a test event, it’s not a championship, it’s not a ranking event,” Fujimori said. “The Chinese athletes who were at the World Championships in Kazakhstan have fatigue, and this tournament doesn’t really mean anything, so I understand their feelings about canceling.” 

Still, there were enough good matches to go around, resulting in two Japan-China finals and one all-Japan clash to be held on the final day Saturday.

LEI Chun (CHN) secured her spot in the 50kg finals with a pair of technical superiority wins. She'll wrestle Miu SHIMIZU (JPN) in the gold-medal bout. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

At 50kg, 2018 Asian champion LEI Chun (CHN) advanced to the gold-medal match with a pair of technical falls, beating Daria LEKSINA (RUS) 13-2 and Remina YOSHIMOTO (JPN) 14-4, the latter by scoring a takedown and six consecutive ankle-lock rolls. 

Lei will face Miu SHIMIZU (JPN), who won by fall over world junior bronze medalist Mariia VYNNYK (UKR) and 12-2 technical fall over Chihiro SAWADA (JPN). Sawada had received the default from Sun.

The 53kg final will pit LUO Lannuan (CHN) against Umi IMAI (JPN). Luo, a 2018 Asian bronze medalist, won by default over Pang, then ousted 2018 world U23 and junior champion Saki IGARASHI (JPN) 7-1. Imai, a 2018 world junior champion, topped Katherine SHAI (USA) 10-2 before edging Ibuki TAMURA (JPN) 5-4.

Compatriots Sena NAGAMOTO (JPN) and Yumeka TANABE (JPN) will duel for the 57kg title. Nagamoto, recipient of the default from Rong, knocked off Asian 59kg bronze medalist ZHANG Qi (CHN) 2-0 in the semifinals. Tanabe chalked up victories over Khadizhat MURTUZALIEVA (RUS) and 2018 world junior champion Hanako SAWA (JPN). 

Day 2 results

Women’s Wrestling
50kg (8 entries)
Semifinal – LEI Chun (CHN) df. Remina YOSHIMOTO (JPN) by TF, 14-4, 4:16
Semifinal – Miu SHIMIZU (JPN) df. Chihiro SAWADA (JPN) by TF, 12-2, 5:24 

53kg (9 entries)
Semifinal – LUO Lannuan (CHN) df. Saki IGARASHI (JPN), 7-1
Semifinal – Umi IMAI (JPN) df. Ibuki TAMURA (JPN), 5-4 

57kg (8 entries)
Semifinal – Sena NAGAMOTO (JPN) df. ZHANG Qi (China), 2-0
Semifinal – Yumeka TANABE (JPN) df. Hanako SAWA (JPN) by TF, 14-4, 5:36 

62kg (8 entries)
Gold – Yui SAKANO (JPN) df. Atena KODAMA (JPN), 2-1
Bronze – LUO Xiaojuan (CHN) df. PEI Xingru (CHN) by Def.
Bronze – Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR) df. Anna SHCHERBAKOVA (RUS) by TF, 10-0, 4:04 

68kg (8 entries)
Gold – WANG Xiaoqian (CHN) df. Naruha MATSUYUKI (JPN), 2-1 
Bronze – Alina RUDNYTSKA (UKR) df. Alexandra GLAUDE (USA), 4-3
Bronze –Rin MIYAJI (JPN) df. Alena STARODUBTSEVA (RUS), 9-6

76kg (9 entries)
Gold – Paliha PALIHA (CHN) df. ZHOU Qian (CHN) by Def.
Bronze – Romana VOVCHAK (UKR) df. Mizuki NAGASHIMA (JPN) by Fall, 3:19 (3-0)
Bronze – Justina DI STASIO (CAN) df. Yasuha MATSUYUKI (JPN), 3-0

#WrestleTirana

World Championships: Azizli wins record fourth title, leads Azerbaijan's golden run

Tuesday, October 29, 2024 - 22:17 By Ken Marantz

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TIRANA, Albania (October 29) -- In leading a golden night for Azerbaijan, Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) became the country's most successful wrestler on the world stage.

Azizli won his fourth consecutive world title at Greco 55kg, one of three golds won by Azerbaijan on the first night of finals at the Non-Olympic Weight Categories World Championships on Tuesday in Tirana.

Azerbaijan also got golds from Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE) at 63kg and Ulvi GANIZADE (AZE) at 72kg, while Mohammadali GERAEI (IRI) took the other Greco title at stake at 82kg to claim an elusive world gold after having previously settled for three bronzes.

In the 55kg final, Azizli defeated 2023 bronze medalist Poya DAD MARZ (IRI) for the fourth time in four career meetings, but this one was the closest as he won 1-1 on last-point criteria after each received a passivity point.

"I have met the Iran wrestler before and we know each other well," Azizli said. "That is why it was close. I have beaten him four times and but this time it was closer."

It was an ironic defeat for Dad Marz, who had been on the winning end of the same scoreline in his two previous matches. In their most recent encounter at the Budapest Ranking Series in June, Azizli had bested the Iranian 6-1.

By winning his fourth world title, the 32-year-old Azizli eclipsed the national record of three held by freestyle great Haji ALIYEV (AZE), who won golds in 2014, 2015 and 2017. Aliyev also has two Olympic medals, a prize that Azizli is unable to attain on the current Olympic program.

Looking ahead, Azizli said he would like to win his fifth world Greco gold, a milestone reached by 16 wrestlers, topped by the 12 of Russian legend Aleksandr KARELIN (RUS).

"I don't know what the future holds, but I would like to win five world gold medals," he said. "I will not be at the Europeans [next year], but I will try to win a fifth world title and finish my career."

In a battle of reigning continental champions, Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE) took advantage of some impatience on the part of Yerzhet ZHARLYKASSYN (KAZ), scoring twice by stopping throw attempts for a 6-1 victory in the 63kg final.

After keeping Asian champion Zharlykassyn from scoring from par terre in the first period, Mammadli, the European 60kg champion, went ahead by stuffing a back suplex attempt, adding a roll to go ahead 4-1.

When Zharlykassyn tried a front headlock throw at the edge, Mammadli pressed forward and sent him tumbling back for another 2 to put the match out of reach.

At 72kg, Ganizade kept the Azeri juggernaut going and improved on his silver medal from 2022 by dethroning defending champion Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA) 3-2.

Ganizade had won a 7-7 nail-biter over Ghanem in the final at the 2023 European Championships, and Tuesday's clash was just as tense. Ganizade was put on the bottom of par terre in the first period, but grabbed Ghanem's head and stopped a roll attempt for a 2-point exposure.

Ghanem received a second passivity point in the second period to make it 2-2, but remained behind on criteria. Perhaps learning a lesson from the first period, he chose to remain standing instead of taking another shot at par terre.

In the end, he could not break down the defenses of Ganizade, who gained a third point when Ghanem unsuccessfully challenged for what he claimed was a grabbed singlet.

In the 82kg final, Geraei was not to be denied in his first chance at world gold, as he stormed to a 9-0 victory over a shell-shocked Erik SZILVASSY (HUN).

"After eight years, I finally got to experience the world finals," Geraei said. "I’m truly happy from the bottom of my heart because I could make my fans and family happy, especially my dear wife 
who stood by me in tough times and understood me, as well as my parents and all my fans.

"I'm grateful to them; they have always been there for me and supported me, and I dedicate this medal to them."

Geraei, normally a 77kg wrestler who was competing at the heaviest weight of his career, encountered no problems handling the extra bulk against Szilvassy, a winner of international tournaments this year in Zagreb and Budapest.

After a quick stepout, Geraei stopped an attempted throw by Szilvassy for a takedown, then transitioned immediately to a gut wrench. An unsuccessful challenge by the Hungary side padded Geraei's lead to 6-0 just a minute into the match.

Geraei, who finished fifth at the Tokyo Olympics but missed the Paris Games due to a suspension, then completed a snap-down, go-behind takedown to finish the match in 1:35 and add the world gold to the bronzes he won at 71kg in 2017 and at 77kg in 2019 and 2021.

"I thought this competition would be really tough, but thank God it ended up being easy," Geraei said. "These past two or three years have been difficult for me, and due to certain circumstances, I couldn't participate in the Olympics and missed out on it. But I hope with this medal I won, I can pave my way to the [next] Olympics and achieve the best medal and my dream."

Serbia's Arsalan takes bronze in 30-point thriller

In the bronze-medal matches, Iranian-born Ali ARSALAN (SRB) picked up his third straight world medal, and he certainly earned it when he rallied to a wild 16-14 win over Hayk MELIKYAN (ARM) at 72kg.

In a thriller filled with big throws and slick counters, Arsalan fell behind 10-5 in the first period. But the 2021 world champion came back in the second with a pair of 4-pointers, the second with 12 seconds to go that was enough for the victory even after Melikyan reversed him for 2.

The other 72kg match was not as high-scoring but was just as entertaining, as Otar ABULADZE (GEO) connected on a pair of 4-point headlock hip throws to defeat Asian bronze medalist Ji LENG (CHN) 9-5 for his first major medal since winning a world cadet bronze in 2017.

Two-time European bronze medalist Denis MIHAI (ROU) added a world bronze by holding on to defeat Haifeng ZHANG (CHN) 8-5 at 55kg. Mihai scored two stepouts and two rolls from par terre for a 7-0 lead, then survived a second-period surge from the Chinese.

Emin SEFERSHAEV (AIN), a silver medalist in 2021, picked up the other 55kg bronze after scoring six points in the first period and holding on for a 7-5 victory over European bronze medalist Manvel KHACHATRYAN (ARM).

At 63kg, Karen ASLANYAN (ARM) sent Abu AMAEV (BUL) flying all over the mat before he knew what hit him, throwing him four times with a front headlock for an 8-0 victory in 30 seconds. A challenge negated one throw but revised two others to 4-pointers to produce the same result.

Aslanyan, who defeated reigning champion Leri ABULADZE (GEO) and newly crowned world U23 champion Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA) before losing to Mammadli in the semifinals, had seen little international action since placing ninth at 67kg at the Tokyo Olympics. But now he has a world bronze to go with three European ones he won from 2018 to 2020.

Sadyk LALAEV (AIN), a European bronze medalist at 60kg, took home the other 63kg bronze without a fight as Stefan CLEMENT (FRA) was forced to default due to injury.

At 82kg, Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR) prevented Azerbaijan from medaling in every weight class, denying two-time European U23 champion Gurban GURBANOV (AZE) a senior world bronze with a solid 8-1 victory.

Yilmaz, who normally competes at 77kg, started off with three stepouts before clinching the deal with a classic 4-point throw from par terre for his first major medal on any level.

European bronze medalist Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO) gave Japanese teenager and senior Asian champion Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN) a lesson on the big stage, rolling to a 10-2 victory for the other 82kg bronze.

Yoshida, the 2023 world U17 champion, got an opening takedown, but could offer little resistance when Bolkvadze got behind for a takedown and added a gut wrench. The Georgian then used an arm drag for another takedown, and two gut wrenches ended the match at 2:40.

Greco-Roman Results

55kg (16 entries)
GOLD: Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) df. Poya DAD MARZ (IRI), 1-1

BRONZE: Denis MIHAI (ROU) df. Haifeng ZHANG (CHN), 8-5
BRONZE: Emin SEFERSHAEV (AIN) df. Manvel KHACHATRYAN (ARM), 7-5

63kg (21 entries)
GOLD: Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE) df. Yerzhet ZHARLYKASSYN (KAZ), 6-1

BRONZE: Karen ASLANYAN (ARM) df. Abu AMAEV (BUL) by TF, 8-0, :30
BRONZE: Sadyk LALAEV (AIN) df. Stefan CLEMENT (FRA) by Inj. Def.

72kg (28 entries)
GOLD: Ulvi GANIZADE (AZE) df. Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA), 3-2

BRONZE: Ali ARSALAN (SRB) df. Hayk MELIKYAN (ARM), 16-14
BRONZE: Otar ABULADZE (GEO) df. Ji LENG (CHN), 9-5

82kg (28 entries)
GOLD: Mohammadali GERAEI (IRI) df. Erik SZILVASSY (HUN) by TF, 8-0, 1:35

BRONZE: Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR) df. Gurban GURBANOV (AZE), 8-1
BRONZE: Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO) df. Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN) by TF, 10-2, 2:40