World Cup

Iran, Azerbaijan on Collision Course in Pool B; United States Tops Russians in Tiebreaker

By Jason Bryant

LOS ANGELES (April 11) – A pair of strong performances in Pool B by Iran and Azerbaijan on Saturday evening at the Forum in Los Angeles have the two nations ready to meet to determine what nation will wrestle for gold at the 2015 United World Wrestling Freestyle World Cup.

Iran won 15 of 16 matches, while Azerbaijan won 13 of 16 individual bouts. They teams will square off at 12:30 Pacific time to determine who will be the Pool B champion and wrestle for a World Cup title on Sunday evening.

 Iran opened up with an 8-0 shut out victory over Belarus. Key victories for Iran came at 65kg, 74kg and 125kg.

At 65kg, World No.2 Sayed AHMAD MOHAMMADI (IRI) knocked off World No.5 Azamat NURYKAV (BLR) 11-0, while unranked Morteza REZAEI GHALEH (IRI) picked up a huge 4-4 criteria victory over two-time World medalist and World No.4 Ali SHABANOV (BLR).

The third upset, at least from a United World Wrestling rankings perspective came at 125kg as No. 10 Parviz HADI (IRI) defeated 2011 World champion and World No.7 Aleksey SHEMAROV (BLR).

Iran continued to pour it on in its second victory, a 7-1 blasting of Turkey. The Turks were bested 7-1 in the opening round by Azerbaijan and will face Belarus to determine which team will wrestle for fifth place on Sunday.

Iran dominated after dropping the first match of the dual at 57kg. Seven ranked wrestlers prevailed, with two wins coming by forfeit. Iran also earned a fall and two technical falls.

Against Turkey, Azerbaijan’s lone individual loss came at 125kg as World No.11 Jamaladdin MAGOMEDOV (AZE) was leading 8-0 early in the match before getting thrown to his back and pinned by Tanju GEMICI (TUR) at 1:33. Azerbaijan defeated Belarus 6-2 in Saturday’s final round to finish the day 2-0.

"It was good enough but not what I was expecting," said Iranian coach Dr. Rasoul Khadem, who expects Sunday's dual with Azerbaijan to be "very serious and very competitive."

In Pool A, the United States powered past a game Cuban squad 6-2 in the opening round and then got past a feisty group of Russians in a 4-4 tiebreaker win to end the day 2-0. The U.S. will face Mongolia, which split a pair of matches with Russia and Cuba in Pool A on Saturday.

Against Russia, American Tervel DLAGNEV came up big at 125kg, scoring a crucial 10-0 technical fall over Arslanbek ALIEV (RUS) to earn four classification points, which would prove to be the difference. With each team winning four of the eight bouts, the first tiebreaker came down to total classification points. With five points for a fall, four for a technical fall and three for a decision and one for scoring a point in a loss that doesn’t end in a fall, Russia led 16-13 going into 125kg.

“I haven’t wrestled for a while, so I was hungry and very excited to get back out there,” Dlagnev told USA Wrestling following the bout. “It was a lot of fun. I came out looking to attack and score points. I knew that match helped our team advance and it was great to be able to help the team. I just went out there and tried to do my best. I knew I had to tech him or pin him, and not let him score a point.”

“It went right down to the wire,” U.S. coach Bruce Burnett said. “You have some expected things and you have some unexpected things happen. When that takes place, somebody has to rise up. I’m really proud of the team. Everybody on the team competed hard, top to bottom.”

The group of young Russians isn’t likely to represent their nation in Las Vegas at the 2015 World Championships, but despite not being ranked No.1 in their nation, the squad featured five World-ranked wrestlers.

“Considering everything, I am happy. I feel like the Americans won that meeting. They scored more points, and in the end, the rules determined the winner. Our guys did a good job. I am confident they can make the big moves,” said Russian coach Christakis Alexandridis.

“They are not our No. 1 team, more like numbers two and three. But they’ve done very well. None of them will be on the World Championship team.  We have stronger wrestlers back in Russia.”

While their might be “stronger” wrestlers back in Russia, World No. 13 Yuri BELONOVSKY (RUS) earned a crucial 4-0 victory over 2012 Olympic champion Jake VARNER (USA) to put the Russian contingent in a position to upend the Americans.

“I have tremendous respect for Jake; he is a great opponent,” said Belonovsky. “But wrestling is a sport and anything can happen. The match was grueling and a challenge.  I was really happy with my technical work and my physicality.”

One match prior to Belonovsky’s win, Dauren KURUGLIEV pinned American Ed RUTH in just under a minute.

“We are well-prepared for the tournament,” said Kurugliev. “The spectators were really getting behind Ruth and it really pumped me up.  I wanted to show them a great performance and I did.”

Pool A Standings: United States 2-0, Russia 1-1, Mongolia 1-1, Cuba 0-2
Pool B Standings: Azerbaijan 2-0, Iran 2-0, Belarus 0-2, Turkey 0-2

Full Day 1 Results, Notes & Standings: http://uww.io/zuR7L
Event Information page (Photos, Live Stream, Results):
 https://unitedworldwrestling.org/event/world-cup-senior-7

Competition Schedule (All Times are PDT; GMT -7)
Sunday, April 12

11:00 a.m. – Mat A: USA vs. Mongolia; Mat B: Turkey vs. Belarus
12:30 p.m. – Mat A: Cuba vs. Russia; Mat B: Azerbaijan vs. Iran
2:00 p.m. – Mat A: Fifth Place Dual; Mat B: Seventh Place Dual
4:15 p.m. – Mat A: Third Place Dual
5:45 p.m. – Mat A: Championship Dual

 

About United World Wrestling
United World Wrestling is the international governing body for the sport of wrestling and is headquartered in Corsier-Sur-Vevey, Switzerland. To learn more about United World Wrestling and the activities of its 179 national federations, please visit: www.UnitedWorldWrestling.org, Facebook and Twitter. 

For any press inquires please contact Tim Foley at foley@unitedworldwrestling.org or Gordon Templeman at gordon@unitedworldwrestling.org.

Obituary

Japanese legend and Olympic champ Obara passes away aged 44

By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (July 19) — Legendary Japanese wrestler Hitomi OBARA, the 2012 London Olympic gold medalist at women's 48kg and an eight-time world champion, passed away on Friday, the Japanese media reported on Saturday. She was 44.

The Japan Self-Defense Force Physical Training School, where Obara was a women's coach, said it was withholding the cause of death "out of consideration for the privacy and emotions of the bereaved family," according to The Yomiuri Shimbun.

Obara, the mother of two elementary school-aged children, was a director in the Japan Wrestling Federation, and had just been appointed in June as a coach of the women's national team for the run-up to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics along with fellow former Olympic champion Kaori ICHO.

Obara, who won six of her world titles at 51kg under her maiden name of SAKAMOTO, became a model case for the ups and downs of high-level sports and the ability to overcome grave disappointment. Her victory at the London Olympics, at age 31, came after being denied spots on Japan's team at both of the two previous Olympics by fellow legend Saori YOSHIDA.

Born in 1981 in the wrestling hotbed of Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, in northern Japan, Obara went on to attend Chukyo University (now Shigakkan), which she helped turn into a national powerhouse along with Yoshida and fellow Hachinohe native Icho.

"It's hard, it's hard, I can't keep from crying," former Shigakkan and national team coach Kazuhito SAKAE was quoted as telling the Japanese media. "She was a wrestling prodigy. At the least, she was a hard worker with a strong sense of responsibility. She was wrestling's heaven-sent child. I still can't believe it." 

Obara won back-to-back world 51kg titles in 1999 and 2000. A serious knee injury would keep her from returning to the world championships until 2005, from which she won four in a row.

In between, she attempted to make the Japanese's squad to the 2004 Athens Olympics, but that dream ended with a loss by fall to Yoshida in the 55kg final at the All-Japan Championships in December 2002. She would only compete once in 2003 before returning in earnest in 2004 and beginning her streak of world titles the following year.

But more disappointment came her way in the qualifying process for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Again it was Yoshida who squashed her dreams, beating her 2-0 (2-0, 4-0) in the 2006 All-Japan final. After the match, Obara sat for hours sobbing in a corner of the warm-up room, a towel draped over her head.

Obara managed to rebound from the defeat to win a playoff for the 51kg spot at the 2007 World Championships, where she won gold No. 5. After adding No. 6 a year later with a run to the gold that included a victory over future Olympic champ Helen MAROULIS (USA), she decided to retire.

But despite all of her success, the lack of a Olympic gold -- or even an appearance, for that matter -- still left a sting that would not abate. That, and the decision of her younger sister Makiko to retire, led her to attempt the difficult path of cutting down to 48kg to make it to London.

Makiko was a world bronze medalist at 48kg in 2005 and 2008, but decided to end her career after placing eighth in 2009. Hitomi had never wanted to displace her sister from the national team, but now the door to 48kg was open.

Her biggest battle may have been with the scale. On the mat, she was as unbeatable as ever, storming to world golds in 2010 and 2011 -- now as Obara after getting married in 2010.

There was one slip-up along the way -- a semifinal loss to So Sim HYANG (PRK) at the 2010 Asian Games that ended her 70-match winning streak in international matches. But she regained her confidence with a decisive win at the All-Japan, and it was with a full head of steam that she headed to the London Olympics, which she had announced would be her swan song.

In London, Obara knocked off defending Olympic champion Carol HUYNH (CAN) in the semifinals before coming from behind in the final to defeat Mariya STADNIK (AZE) 2-1 (0-4, 1-0, 2-0) -- a replay of the gold-medal match at the 2011 worlds.

"If you keep doing what you love and never give up, you can achieve your dream," Obara told students at the junior high school she attended during a visit in January last year.

Upon retiring, Obara joined the staff at the Self-Defense Force Physical Training School, where she was also an officer. Among the members she coached were Haruna MURAYAMA OKUNO, Himeka TOKUHARA and Masako FURUICHI, who all made Japan's team to this year's World Championships.

In 2022, Obara was inducted into UWW's Hall of Fame along with Yoshida and Icho.