Friday's European Championships Greco-Roman semifinals set
Friday, April 21, 2023 - 09:45 By Eric Olanowski
ZAGREB, Croatia (April 20) -- The fifth day of the European Championships in Zagreb, Croatia bring Greco-Roman action to the mat. We will start off with 55kg, 63kg, 77kg, 87kg and 130kg.
FULL EUROPEAN C'SHIP SCHEDULE:
- 11:30 - Qualification rounds
- 16:45 - Semifinals
- 18:00 - Finals
Semifinal match (as they come in):
55kg
Adem Burak UZUN (TUR) vs. Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO)
Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) vs. Denis Florin MIHAI (ROU)
63kg
Hrachya POGHOSYAN (ARM) vs. Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE)
Leri ABULADZE (GEO) vs. Abu Muslim Aptievitch AMAEV (BUL)
77kg
LÉVAI Zoltán (HUN) vs. Viktor NEMES (SRB)
Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) vs. Yunus Emre BASAR (TUR)
87kg
Istvan TAKACS (HUN) vs. Damian VON EUW (SUI)
Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) vs. Ali CENGIZ (TUR)
130kg
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU) vs. Riza KAYAALP (TUR)
Sabah Saleh SHARIATI (AZE) vs. Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO)
14:38: Istvan TAKACS (HUN) takes out Semen Novikov, knocking the reigning European champion Bisultanov from the competition.
14:31: Returning champion Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) has built a 4-0 first-period lead over Oliver Marco KRUEGER (DEN). Meanwhile, Kayaalp rolled through Marvik, 8-0, to punch his ticket to the semifinals at 130kg.
14:27: Von Euw gives Switerland a semifinals as he defeats Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM), 8-3.
14:25: Kayaalp is coming is coming up next on Mat B. He'll take on 2021 world bronze medalist Oskar MARVIK (NOR).
14:15: Damian VON EUW (SUI) is a guy to pay attention to. He's dropped from 97kg to 87kg and has been making waves at his new weight. He tech'd two-time world champion Zurabi Datunashvili a few weeks ago and is now in the wrestling in the quarterfinals in one of the deepest weights of the competition.
13:56: Yunus Emre BASAR (TUR) just survived a near upset against Samuel BELLSCHEIDT (GER). The German had Basar up in par terre with :20 left but failed to capitalize on his opportunity, losing the match, 3-1.
13:50: We're going to be heading directly in quarterfinals across all three mats after these matches wrap up. The semifinals will be listed above (as they come in).
13:40: LÉVAI Zoltán (HUN) got his revenge on Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE). If you recall the Greco-Roman World Cup, Azerbaijan was pushed to the finals because Suleymanov pinned Levei. In Croatia, Levai picked up a one-sided 9-0 win to advance to the quarterfinals, where he'll meet Iuri LOMADZE (GEO).
13:38: What a showing by Novikov. The Bulgarian took down reigning European champion Bisultanov, 12-3, and set up a meeting an 87kg quarterfinal match with Istvan TAKACS (HUN).
13:32: I'm back to my seat after shooting the Question of the Day.
12:55: I'm going to take a quick break from the live blog to shoot the Question of the Day video. The question for today is, "Who is the strongest person you ever wrestled?"
12:37: Two of the brightest young stars in the game Turpal Ali Alvievich BISULTANOV (DEN) and Semen Sergeevich NOVIKOV (BUL) will wrestle in six matches on Mat C.
Bisultanov is the reigning European Championships, while Novikov, who transferred from Ukraine, was a U23 world champion a few years ago.
12:31: As expected for the European Championships, the Greco-Roman fans showed up in large numbers. The loudest fans in the Arena Zagreb are from Croatia, Sweden and Denmark thus far.
12:20: Something to note: Serbia's reigning two-time world champion Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB) was a late scratch on the entries and was replaced by Zarko DICKOV (SRB).
12:10: The biggest storyline that we'll be following is Riza KAYAALP (TUR) beginning his quest to tie Alexander KARELIN's (RUS) 12 European title mark. He'll be up in seven matches on Mat A, where he'll wrestle Boris PETRUSIC (SRB).
11:50: We're through with our women's wrestling repechage matches for the day and the opening-round Greco-Roman matches are being call to the mats. As always, the starts won't be up for a while if they are seeded in the top four.
Gold medalist at 79kg in 2024, Nan CAO (CHN) will be wrestling at 86kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov) 
Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ) is the defending champion at 87kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)
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