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Larrouque, Vinesh Warm-Up for Tokyo with Poland Open titles

Friday, June 11, 2021 - 21:39 By Vinay Siwach

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WARSAW, Poland (June 11) --- Wrestling at Tokyo Olympics may be 50 days away but Warsaw witnessed a mini-Olympics at the Poland Open as eight out of the 16 qualified women's wrestlers were in action at the 68kg on Friday.

The final ranking series event saw wrestlers eyeing to earn the points to improve their seeds for the Tokyo Games. But with 50 percent wrestling, there was no change in the seeding at the end.

Poland Open

Koumba LARROUQUE (FRA) claimed the gold medal at 68kg with a defensive masterclass throughout the day but her 16 points were not enough to earn her a place in the top four.

Wrestling second seeded Tokyo Olympian Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR), the French was skeptical of injuring her heavily padded knee.

“The opponents are very strong here and I did not want to take any chance,” Larrouque said.

All her bouts were against qualified wrestlers and after shutting off Anna SCHELL (GER) 3-1, she defeated Danielle LAPPAGE (CAN) 4-0 in the quarterfinals. Against Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ), she looked a lot uncomfortable but managed to keep her away with a 3-1 win.

In the final, while on the clock in the first period, she used Oborududu’s over hook to pick up a pair of exposure points, then scored a stepout in the second to secure her first Ranking Series title, 3-0.

That’s three consecutive gold medals heading into the Tokyo Olympic Games for the two-time world medalist. She’s reached the top of the podium at the European Championships, European Olympic Qualifier and the Poland Open.

If Larrouque's defensive display was epic, Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) at 57kg showed offense was her style as she won the gold medal in Warsaw. Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) forfeited her final against the Nigerian.

But it was the morning session where Adekuoroye was absolutely phenomenal, taking out Rio Olympic champ Helen MAROULIS (USA) and silver medalist Valeria KOBLOVA ZHOLOBOVA (RUS) with zero points scored on her.

“I had been waiting to wrestle Helen and I was planning a lot for this,” Adekuoroye said.

In a dash of explosive power, she scored two four-point throws and two takedowns combined with a point for Helen's passivity to win the bout 13-0.

She had lost to the American twice before, 6-6 in 2015 and 4-1 in 2018, but on Thursday, Helen had no answer to her attacks.

Vinesh Phogat Poland

At 53kg, Vinesh PHOGAT (IND) passed Mayu MUKAIDA (JPN) and Yong Mi PAK (PRK) for the top seed in Tokyo after winning her fourth consecutive Ranking Series title. The world bronze medalist collected 14 points to move up to the first place.

Vinesh quickly dialed in and found her distance in the gold medal match against Khrystyna BEREZA (UKR). She struck twice on open double legs and commanded the comfortable 4-0 opening-period lead. In the closing frame, she used a counter-offensive quarter nelson to expose Bereza before adding one last takedown for good measures for the 8-0 win.

The win takes her to 69 points in the seeding while Pak will be at 60. Mukaida will be at third with 55 points. Luisa Elizabeth VALVERDE MELENDRES (ECU) will claim the fourth spot with 50 points.

The home country also had a lot to cheer about as Anhelina LYSAK (POL) gave it a gold medal after whipping over Yuliia LISOVSKA (UKR) in the finals for the fall. Lysak’s Ukrainian opponent shot a head outside single when she was put on the activity clock.

Anhelina LYSAK Poland Open

Lysak got Lisovska's head to put her down on the mat. She held on to that until the pin was called in a minute and 51 seconds.

The Pole was in destructive mood on Thursday as she gave up only one point in the four matches she wrestled.

Ukraine did manage to take the gold medal from Warsaw as Alla BELINSKA (UKR) won all her four bouts in the nelson bracket to claim the gold at 72kg.

Throughout the day, the Ukrainian beat Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ) 6-5, Catalina AXENTE (ROU) via fall, Evgeniia ZAKHARCHENKO (RUS) via fall and Buse TOSUN (TUR) 5-4.

RESULTS

53kg
GOLD - Vinesh VINESH (IND) df. Khrystyna BEREZA (UKR), 8-0
BRONZE - Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL) df. Milana DADASHEVA (RUS), via cautions
BRONZE - Amy Ann FEARNSIDE (USA) df. Ekaterina POLESHCHUK (RUS), 2-1

57kg
GOLD - Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) df. Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR), via forfeit
BRONZE - Jowita WRZESIEN (POL) df Magdalena GLODEK (POL), 8-0
BRONZE - Tetyana KIT (UKR) df. Valeria KOBLOVA ZHOLOBOVA (RUS), 8-7

59kg
GOLD - Anhelina LYSAK (POL) df. Yuliia LISOVSKA (UKR), via fall
BRONZE - Diana KAYUMOVA (KAZ) df. Elif YANIK (TUR), 14-4

68kg
GOLD - Koumba LARROQUE (FRA) df. Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR), 3-0
BRONZE - Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ) df. Danielle LAPPAGE (CAN), 3-1
BRONZE - Forrest MOLINARI (USA) df. Khanum VELIEVA (RUS), via fall

72kg
GOLD – Alla BELINSKA (UKR) (4-0)
SILVER - Buse TOSUN (TUR) (3-1)
BRONZE - Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ) (2-2)

#WrestleWarsaw

Adekuoroye Shuts Maroulis Out in Build Up to Tokyo Games

Friday, June 11, 2021 - 14:24 By Vinay Siwach

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WARSAW, Poland (June 11) -- It was the calm before the storm. Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) jumped before the start while Helen MAROULIS (USA) was focused in her customary prayer before the bout. But by the end of it, the Nigerian let out a loud scream as she punched the air after winning her quarterfinal at the Poland Open Ranking Series. Perhaps she would not have done it if it was someone else. But Adekuoroye knew a win over an Olympic champion is no mean feat.

What made the win special over Maroulis was that she had lost to her in the previous two meetings. Back in 2018, the USA wrestler won 4-1 at Beat the Streets competition and she won a tight bout six years ago at the Golden Grand Prix, Baku in 2015.

“When we saw the entries of the Poland Open competition, we only focused on Helen,” Purity AKUH, Adekuoroye's coach, said. “We rewatched the two videos where she had lost to Helen and planned.”

The plan was successful as Adekuoroye chalked out a shutout 13-0 win over Maroulis in the quarterfinal of the 57kg weight class. So dominant was the Nigerian that she finished the bout with a minute and 32 seconds remaining. Helen, a two-time world champion as well, was competing for the first time since winning the gold medal at January's Henri Delegane tournament in France.

Unfazed by her opponent's stardom, Adekuoroye paced the bout according to herself and both wrestlers waited for an opening for the first two minutes of the bout. But there was none. The USA wrestler gave up a point for passivity as well.

But as the first period neared its end, Adekuoroye went for it. Perhaps Maroulis was waiting for a single leg attack like their previous meetings. She was wrong. Adekuoroye blasted a double-leg and got a takedown to lead 3-0. In the past, Maroulis has blocked the left hand of her rival to close out that space and only allow single leg attacks which she manages to defend more often than not.

“Odunayo is a very aggressive wrestler,” her coach said. “I have to calm her every time she goes over board. I just tell her to breath and today as well we wanted her to be calm.”

When the second period began, Adekuoroye kept Maroulis' combination of ankle-pick and trip in check. A move that has given Maroulis decent success was tried in vain.

It gave way for a counter from Adekuoroye as she brought out another double and got four points after a successful challenge. The lead was now 7-0. Maroulis was restless as she tried to shoot for her legs in vain.

As the Nigerian's confidence grew, she finally attempted a single leg as well and off-balanced Maroulis. The score was 9-0 in favor of Adekuoroye. Maroulis has fallen on the defensive mode long ago in the bout. That takedown tore her down.

Adekuoroye shot again for the left leg and lifted her opponent over her shoulders. Instead of slamming her down, Adekuoroye flipped Maroulis back,  got four points and won the bout 13-0.

There was no crowd at the Ursynow Arena in Warsaw, but if there was, it would have witnessed the tension between the two despite the score suggesting a one-sided contest. The two exchanged a few words after the bout, but Adekuoroye just ran off to the warm-up fall to prepare for the next bout.

She now faced an Olympic silver medalist in Valeria KOBLOVA ZHOLOBOVA (RUS) in the semifinals. However, it was anti-climatic as the Russian surrendered the bout in just a minute and 10 seconds. A series of double leg attacks from Adekuoroye combined with a leg lace was enough for a 10-0 win for her.

There were no singing celebrations but those may be reserved after the final but Adekuoroye announced herself as a serious contender for gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and stir up the storm.