Four World Champions to be Featured in Friday's WW Finals

Thursday, February 13, 2020 - 20:23 By Eric Olanowski

ROME, Italy (February 13) --- Friday night’s European finals will feature a loaded cast of four world champions who are looking to add a continental gold medal to their resumes. Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR), Yuliia TKACH OSTAPCHUK (UKR), Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS) and Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) scored decisive semifinal wins and will compete in Friday night’s European finals.

Trazhukova, the reigning 65kg world champion, will square off with 2014 world champion Tkach Ostapchuk in the 62kg finals.

In her first appearance down at 62kg, Trazhukova toppled Taybe YUSEIN (BUL) in a semifinal battle between fellow world champions. She scored six unanswered points in the second period and stole Yusein’s shot at reaching the European finals for a fourth consecutive year.

Trazhukova will wrestle Tkach Ostapchuk in a second straight match against a former world champion.

Tkach Ostapchuk ousted Tetiana OMELCHENKO (AZE), 4-0, and inserted herself into the European finals for the sixth time. The reigning European Games champion owns a 3-2 European finals record heading into the Friday night gold-medal match.

Tkach Ostapchuk European Finals
2011 – European Championship: Gold
2012 – European Championship: Gold
2015 – European Games: Silver
2016 – European Championship: Silver
2019 – European Championship: Gold

Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR) beat a pair of reigning European champions on her way to the 53kg finals. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Vanesa Kaladzinskaya beat two reigning European champions and a European bronze medalist on her road to the finals. She’ll square off with Jessica BLASZKA (NED) for the 53kg gold medal.

Kaladzinskaya avenged her 2019 European loss against eventual European champion, Stalvira ORSHUSH (RUS), in her opening match. She added a second win over a reigning European champion with a 2-2 criteria win over Iryna HUSYAK (UKR).

In the semifinals, Kaladzinskaya cruised to an 8-3 win over 2019 European bronze medalist, Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL).

Kaladzinskaya scored early in the opening period with an outside high crotch, then transitioned into a trapped arm gut. She stopped an arm throw attempt and picked up two exposure points and led 6-0. Kaladzinskaya grabbed her second takedown of the bout and commanded the 8-1 lead after conceding a stepout point. She surrendered a takedown (throw by), which cut her lead to five points, but closed out the match with an 8-3 victory and reached the European finals for the third time in her career.

Kaladzinskaya will battle Jessica Bladzka with an opportunity to win her second European title and first since 2017. Blaszka defeated Annika WENDLE (GER), 2-1, in the semifinals and became the first women’s wrestler from the Netherlands to reach the European gold medal match.

Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS), a London Olympic champion, will wrestle Maria SELMAIER (GER) in the 72kg European finals on Friday night. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Natalia Vorobeva is the fourth world champion that's featured in Friday’s finals.

Vorobeva, the London Olympic champion, dumped Alina BEREZHNA STADNIK MAKHYNIA (UKR) to her back early in the first period and controlled the 4-0 lead. She gave up two points late in the second period and held on to reach the European finals for the third time with the 4-2 vicotry.

She’ll meet Maria SELMAIER (GER) on Friday night in the 72kg gold-medal match. Selemair cruised to an 8-3 win over Catalina AXENTE (ROU) and will make her first appearance in the continental finals.

Bullen Looking to Become Norway’s First Two-Time European Champion
Grace BULLEN (NOR) shutout European Games champion Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR), 2-0, in the 57kg semifinals, and is one win away from becoming the first Norwegian woman to win two European titles. She won her first title at the 2017 European Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia.

Bullen, a 2018 U23 world champion, will wrestle Alina AKOBIIA (UKR) in the 57kg gold-medal match.

Akobiia bulldozed Marina SIMONYAN (RUS) for the fall and locked up her finals spot against Bullen. The Ukranian trailed 3-0 but scored eight unanswered points against her Russian opponent before scoring the fall in the second period.

Elis MANOLOVA (AZE) will try to become the only 2019 European champion to repeat as a gold-medal winner. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Manolova One Match Away from Defending European Title
Elis MANOLOVA (AZE) will have a shot at doing what the other three reigning champions couldn’t do on Thursday night – defend their 2019 European crowns.

Manolova cruised to a 7-3 win over Mariia KUZNETSOVA (RUS), and with a win on Friday night, will be the first 2019 champion to defend her title.

She’ll wrestle Mimi HRISTOVA (BUL) in the 65kg finals. Hristova, the two-time European finalist, handled Kriszta INCZE (ROU), 5-1, in their semifinals match. She’ll try to claim her first continental title after dropping the 2019 and ’18 gold-medal matches.

RESULTS
53kg
GOLD - Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR) vs. - Jessica Cornelia BLASZKA (NED)
SEMIFINAL - Jessica Cornelia BLASZKA (NED) df. Annika WENDLE (GER), 2-1
SEMIFINAL - Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR) df. Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL), 8-3

57kg
GOLD - Grace BULLEN (NOR) vs. Alina AKOBIIA (UKR)
SEMIFINAL - Grace BULLEN (NOR) df. Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR), 2-0
SEMIFINAL - Alina AKOBIIA (UKR) df. Marina SIMONYAN (RUS), via fall

62kg
GOLD - Yuliia TKACH OSTAPCHUK (UKR) vs. Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS)
SEMIFINAL - Yuliia TKACH OSTAPCHUK (UKR) df. Tetiana OMELCHENKO (AZE), 4-0
SEMIFINAL - Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS) df. Taybe YUSEIN (BUL), 7-4

65kg
GOLD - Elis MANOLOVA (AZE) vs. Mimi Nikolova HRISTOVA (BUL)
SEMIFINAL - Elis MANOLOVA (AZE) df. Mariia KUZNETSOVA (RUS), 7-3
SEMIFINAL - Mimi HRISTOVA (BUL) df. Kriszta INCZE (ROU), 5-1

72kg
GOLD - Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) vs. Maria SELMAIER (GER)
SEMIFINAL - Maria SELMAIER (GER) df. Catalina AXENTE (ROU), 8-3
SEMIFINAL - Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) df. Alina BEREZHNA STADNIK MAKHYNIA (UKR), 4-2

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#WrestleAlexandria Senior African Championships 2024 Preview

Thursday, March 14, 2024 - 09:07 By Vinay Siwach

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (March 13) -- At last year's African Championships, Nigeria entered finals in all 10 women's weight classes. Out of the 10, it won six gold medals and four silver medals.

Nigeria will look to better its performance from 2023 at the African Championships which will be held on March 18 and 19 in Alexandria, Egypt. The U17 and U20 African Championships will be held before the senior competition at the same venue.

After a two-day break, the African and Oceania OG Qualifiers will also be held in Alexandria, making the African Championships even more important as the countries participating in the first event will be eligible to participate in the qualifiers.

Nigeria will be led by world bronze medalist Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) at 57kg as she returns to competition for the first time since September. She had skipped last year's championships but a gold medal in Alexandria will earn her 10000 points. A win will ensure that Adekuoroye tops the 57kg rankings.

Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) will defend her 68kg gold medal. Oborududu has failed to repeat her performances since winning that silver in Tokyo. However, she won the African title for a record 10th time last year.

The 65kg champion Khadija JLASSI (TUN) is now jumping up to 68kg and will look to challenge Oborududu in the new weight class.

At 50kg, Mercy GENESIS (NGR) is returning to defend her gold as is Christianah OGUNSANYA (NGR) at 53kg, Mercy ADEKUOROYE (NGR) at 59kg and Ebi BIOGOS (NGR) at 72kg.

Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR) finished with a silver medal at 62kg but with Marwa AMRI (TUN) moving into coaching, she will be the favorite to win the gold medal in Alexandria.

The 76kg weight class can throw some interesting match-ups as 72kg bronze medalist Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN) has moved to the Olympic weight class. She will likely face Hannah RUEBEN (NGR) who won a silver medal at 76kg last year.

Yousiff HEMIDA (EGY) was African champion in 2022. (Photo: UWW / Bayrem Ben Mrad)

Freestyle

The six Olympic weight classes will see intense battles. 57kg champion Diamantino IUNA FAFE (GBS) will be the favorite to win the gold medal but bronze medalist Khalil BARKOUTI (TUN) is returning.

The 65kg weight class will see a new champion as only bronze medalist Zohier IFTENE (ALG) is returning for the African Championships. But it will be difficult to count out Shehabeldin MOHAMED (EGY), Wotna NDOC (GBS), Yassine JAA (MAR), Sylvio DIATTA (SEN) and Mohamed BEN HAFSIA (TUN).

Last year's silver medalist Bacar NDUM (GBS) will start as the favorite at 74kg as Amr REDA (EGY) has decided to skip the championships for the qualifiers.

It will be a similar story in 86kg as only bronze medalist Harrison ONOVWIOMOGBOHWO (NGR) is returning to upgrade his medal. The 2023 gold medalist Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (ALG) will be looking to qualify for Algeria later and he will be replaced by Oussama ABDELLAOUI (ALG) for the championships.

At 97kg, none of the 2023 medalists are entered and a new African champion will be crowned. Fares YAHI (ALG), Abdelrahman ABOUHEIBA (EGY) and Anas SAMIR (MAR) will fancy their chances for the same.

Egypt will be looking to keep the 125kg medal to itself and that responsibility will be on Youssif HEMIDA (EGY) who is replacing the gold medalist Diaaeldin KAMAL (EGY). However, silver medalist Hamza RAHMANI (TUN) hopes to change the color of his medal.

At 61kg, Abdelhak KHERBACHE (ALG) is returning to defend his gold medal while 79kg silver medalist Chems FETAIRIA (ALG) is entered as well.

U20 world champion Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY) is the favorite at 67kg. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Greco-Roman

World bronze medalist and defending champion Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY) will be eyeing his eighth African Championships title as he enters the competition at 130kg. He has two African Games gold medals as well.

Mohamed has dominated the super heavyweight class for years in the continent and is likely to have smooth sailing to the gold again.

With most of Algeria's first team entered for the Olympic Qualifiers, Egypt has a huge chance to win gold medals in multiple weight classes. Last year, Egypt and Algeria shared five gold medals each in Greco-Roman.

At 60kg, Haithem MAHMOUD (EGY) will look to defend his gold medal but 55kg champion Mohamed DRIDI (ALG) has jumped up a weight class to challenge Mahmoud. Also in the mix is Ibrahim BUNDUKA (SLE) who finished with a silver medal.

No medalists from last year are entered at 67kg, leaving the weight class open for a new champion. U20 world champion Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY) will be the favorite to win the gold. He won a silver medal at the 2022 championships. Fayssal BENFREDJ (ALG) and Oussama NASR (TUN) can challenge Alameldin.

The 77kg will see returning champion Mohamed KHALIL (EGY) hoping to win a second straight gold medal. Algeria has entered Chawki DOULACHE (ALG) and a Freestyle bronze medalist last year Francisco KADIMA (ANG) is entered in Greco-Roman this year.

Haithem ISSAAD (ALG) and Noureldin HASSAN (EGY) are likely to wrestle for the gold medal at 87kg as most of the medalists have skipped this tour for the qualifiers.

At 97kg, Emad ABOUELATTA (EGY) is challenging himself by moving up a weight class. He won a silver medal at 87kg last year and is entered in the new weight this year. But Amine BENDJELLOUL (ALG) will be keen on getting a hand on the Egyptian. Bendjelloul has big shoes to fill as he has named the replacement for Bachir SID AZARA (ALG).

Algeria has Abdelmalek MERABET (ALG) as the returning champion at 72kg.

Four World Champions to be Featured in Friday's WW Finals

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#WrestleAlexandria Senior African Championships 2024 Preview