#kaspeuro2018

Lalovic Visits Kapiisk, Home of the 2018 Euro C'Ships

By Artyom Pozdeyev

KAPIISK, Russia (March 3) – United World Wrestling president Nenad LALOVIC has examined the readiness of Kaspiisk City as it prepares to host the 2018 Senior European Championships from April 30th to May 6th.

The visit started from a wreath laying ceremony to the monument of five-time world champion, Ali Aliev and an inspection of the Sport Palace bearing his name. 

“An Ali Aliev statue is also on display in the UWW headquarters and respect for the wrestling traditions of Dagestan was one of the factors to choose Kaspiisk City as the place to organization of European Championships,” said United World Wrestling president Nenad Lalovic. “The Palace of Sport meets all requirements and it is ready already to host the tournament. There are are also and plans to create a fun zone with a big screen.”

Lalovic also visited hotels, reviewed transport logistics and looked through an assortment of regulatory issues.

“The main outcome of the visit to Dagestan is confidence that the European Championships will be organized on a high level. I am under the impression that all Republic is involved in the preparation,” said Vladimir Vasiliev, head of Dagestan's Organizing Committee on organization of European Championships.  

“Wrestling is the pride of Dagestan. As the story goes there is no such place in the world where one can find so many broken ears on one square meter.  Me are thankful for the confidence and we’ll definitely meet the expectations given by the United World Wrestling,” said Vsilev.

The inspection visit was also attended by Mr. Tzeno Tzenov, UWW-Europe President, Mr. Mikhail Mamiashvili, Wrestling Federation of Russia President, UWW Vice-President and Mr. Georgy Bryusov, UWW-Europe Executive Committee member. 

The decision to organize the European Championships in Kaspiisk City was taken at the UWW Bureau meeting during the World Championships in Paris in August 2017. The championships will be the largest event ever hosted in Dagestan, with the most recent Russian tournaments being the 2010 World Championships and 2006 European Championships held in Moscow.

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open Ranking Series day five finals set

By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (February 5) -- The fifth and final day of the Zagreb Open will be all Greco-Roman. Six weight classes will be in action. A few big names trying to win the gold and the 1500 Swiss Francs that are on offer here.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

Here are the results of the semifinals

55kg
Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB) df. Denis Florin MIHAI (ROU), 3-1
Poya DAD MARZ (IRI) df. Mohammad JAVAHERI (IRI), via fall

60kg
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE) df. Razvan ARNAUT (ROU), 3-3
Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) df. Maito KAWANA (JPN), 7-0

72kg
Sajjad IMENTALABFOUMANI (IRI) df. Robert FRITSCH (HUN), 3-1
Selcuk CAN (TUR) df. Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA), 5-2

97kg
Kiril MILOV (BUL) df. Mihail KAJAIA (SRB), via inj. def.
Tamas LEVAI (HUN) df. Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED), 3-3

130kg
Oscar PINO (CUB) df. Amir GHASEMIMONJEZI (IRI), 8-0
Oskar MARVIK (NOR) df. Lingzhe MENG (CHN), 3-0 

14:30: Tamas LEVAI (HUN) moves into the final at 97kg. What a debut for him. Tryone STERKENBURG (NED) got a roll from par terre to lead 3-0 but Levai scored a front head pinch for two to lead 3-3 and win the semifinal. 

14:00: That got a little heated. Mihail KAJAIA (SRB) got the passivity against Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB) and got the turn as well from par terre. The referee calls for a leg foul and Assakalov challenges the call. Leg foul confirmed with Kajaia leading 6-0. The bout restarts in par terre and Kajaia gets the turn and the win.

13:45: A highly competitive bout between Tamas LEVAI (HUN) and Felix BALDAUF (NOR). Both traded passivity points but Levai had the criteria. Balduaf got the par terre for the third passivity but as he was turning Levai, got pinned.

13:15: Another technical superiority win for Oscar PINO (CUB) at 130kg. He looks on a mission. Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN) had no answer to Pino's class 

12:55: Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED) with a very confident run at 97kg. He reaches the semifinal with a 5-1 win over Daniel GASTL (AUT). Just the performance he needed to start this important season

12:30: The bout which may have a lot of say when Azerbaijan will select its team for the European Championships. Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE) beats Murad MAMMADOV (AZE) 6-2 and now the youngster will be the preferred choice for the championships.

12:10: Flex BALDAUF (NOR) with an arm throw against Zamir MAGOMEDOV (AZE) before winning 9-0. Baldauf brought it out of nowhere.

12:00: Oscar PINO (CUB) is wrestling Temurbek NASIMOV (UZB) at 130kg. He starts with a stepout before getting passivity. A toll and a four-point to finish the bout 8-0.

11:50: U23 world champion Poya DAD MARZ (IRI) is in a Nelson system at 55kg. In Round 1 he begins with a hard-fought 5-2 win against Artiom DELEANU (MDA).

11:30: The 97kg weight class has a large number of participants. World silver medalist Kiril MILOV (BUL) is also wrestling. He warms up with some calm wrestling in the first period before winning 10-1 against Murat LOKIAYEV (AZE). 

11:15: Making a big jump in weight classes, Tamas LEVAI (HUN), who was at 77kg just over a year ago, wins his first bout at 97kg at Zagreb Open. He beats Vilius LAURINAITIS (LTU) via fall.

11:00: Amir Ali ABDI (IRI), one of the favorites to win the 72kg, begins with a 6-0 win over Valentin PETIC (MDA).

10:30: Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB), after all these years, has still got it. He rolls to a 9-0 win over Mario VUKOVIC (SRB) at 97kg. In another bout, Felix BALDAUF (NOR) beats Markus RAGGINGER (AUT), 5-0

10:10: Daniel GASTL (AUT) with an early upset. He wins 2-1 against former world silver medalist Alex SZOKE (HUN) at 97kg. He got the second passivity and another point for Szoke's lost challenge

10:00: The final day at Zagreb Open! Big names from Greco-Roman wrestling are on the mat. 55kg, 60kg, 72kg, 82kg, 97kg and 130kg.