#WrestleWarsaw

LIVE BLOG: European C'ships (Day Five)

Friday, April 23, 2021 - 09:28 By Eric Olanowski

Share this article

WARSAW, Poland (April 23) -- The fifth day of wrestling at the European Championships welcomes in Greco-Roman action to the mix.

Friday's Schedule:
11:30 - Qualification round
16: 45 - Semifinals
18:00 - Finals

WATCH: European Championships 

17:48: That'll do it for Greco-Roman action. We'll take a 10-minute break and start the women's wrestling medal matches. 

17:40: Riza does it. He'll wrestle for a TENTH European title on Saturday night.

17:33: Kiryl MASKEVICH (BLR) keeps his four-month hot-streak alive and inserts himself into the 87kg finals with a 9-1 win over Turpan BISULTANOV (DEN).

17:21: Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) defeated Michael WIDMAYER (GER), 5-0, and will wrestle for his fourth European title tomorrow night. He'll take on Yunus BASAR (TUR) in the 77kg gold-medal match.

17: 11: If Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT) win his semifinals match, he'd become the first Latvian wrestler to medal at the European Championships since '38.

HE'D END AN 83 YEAR DROUGHT!

17:03: Emin SEFERSHAEV (RUS) trailed late but used an acrobatic flying squirrel to upset '18 world champion Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE), 5-4. He'll wrestle Ekrem OZTURK (TUR) on Saturday night for 55kg gold. 

16:55: We're back to action in Poland. It'll be the Greco-Roman semifinals, followed by the women's wrestling finals, which will start at 18:00. 

Final Matches (As they come in): 

55kg
GOLD - Emin SEFERSHAEV (RUS) vs. Ekrem OZTURK (TUR)
SEMIFINAL - Emin SEFERSHAEV (RUS) df. Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE), 5-4
SEMIFINAL - Ekrem OZTURK (TUR) df. Artsiom KATSAR (BLR), 8-0

63kg
GOLD - Zhambolat LOKYAEV (RUS) vs. Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE)
SEMIFINAL - Zhambolat LOKYAEV (RUS) df. Leri ABULADZE (GEO), 9-5
SEMIFINAL - Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE) df. Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT), 7-1

77kg
GOLD - Yunus BASAR (TUR) vs. Tamas LORINCZ (HUN)
SEMIFINAL - Yunus BASAR (TUR) df. Dmytro PYSHKOV (UKR), 4-0
SEMIFINAL - Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) df. Michael WIDMAYER (GER), 5-0 

87kg
GOLD - Kiryl MASKEVICH (BLR) vs. Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB)
SEMIFINAL - Kiryl MASKEVICH (BLR) df. Turpan BISULTANOV (DEN), 9-1
SEMIFINAL - Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB) df. Denis KUDLA (GER), 2-1

130kg
GOLD - Riza KAYAALP (TUR) vs. Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO)
SEMIFINAL - Riza KAYAALP (TUR) df. Eduard POPP (GER), via fall 
SEMIFINAL - Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) df. Romas FRIDRIKAS (LTU), 5-0

14:46: That'll do it for this morning's Greco-Roman coverage. We'll meet back here at 16:45 for the Greco-Roman semifinals. The Day Five women's wrestling finals will begin at 18:00. 

14:40:  Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB) upsets two-time world champion Zhan BELENIUK (UKR), 1-1, and is headed to the 87kg semifinals.  

14:28: In the battle of world champions that just wrapped up on Mat B, Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) breezed to a 10-1 win over Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO). He'll square off with Individual World Cup champion and rising star Emin SEFERSHAEV (RUS) in tonight's 55kg semifinals.

14:15: Riza is not playing today! The nine-time European champion has wrestle twice today and has outscored his opponents 18-1 en route to the semifinals. Kayaalp will wrestle Tokyo Olympian Eduard POPP (GER) for a spot in the 130kg finals. 

14:08: World champions  Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) and Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO) just took the mat on Mat B! The winner moves into the 55kg semifinals.

Semifinal Matches (As they come in): 

55kg
SEMIFINAL - Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) vs. Emin SEFERSHAEV (RUS) 
SEMIFINAL - Ekrem OZTURK (TUR) vs. Artsiom KATSAR (BLR)

63kg
SEMIFINAL - Zhambolat LOKYAEV (RUS) vs. Leri ABULADZE (GEO) 
SEMIFINAL - Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE) vs. Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT) 

77kg
SEMIFINAL - Yunus Emre BASAR (TUR) vs. Dmytro PYSHKOV (UKR) 
SEMIFINAL - Michael Felix WIDMAYER (GER)  vs. Tamas LORINCZ (HUN)

87kg
SEMIFINAL - Turpan Ali Alvievich BISULTANOV (DEN) vs. Kiryl MASKEVICH (BLR) 
SEMIFINAL - Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB) vs.  Denis Maksymilian KUDLA (GER) 

130kg
SEMIFINAL - Eduard POPP (GER) vs. Riza KAYAALP (TUR)
SEMIFINAL - Romas FRIDRIKAS (LTU) vs. Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO)

13:37: I suggest posting up on Mat B and staying there for a while! 

13:25: ARE YOU KIDDING? Maskevich strikes again! He was down 6-0 against fellow Individual World Cup champion Milad Valerikovitch ALIRZAEV (RUS) but used a lateral drop to pick up the fall. He'll wrestle the winner of Yoan Danielov DIMITROV (BUL) and Tornike DZAMASHVILI (GEO) next.

13:10: Coming up next on Mat B, it'll be a matchup of Individual World Cup champions between Milad ALIRZAEV (RUS) and Kiryl Maskevich.

12:59: Two-time world champion Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) is wrestling next on Mat B. It'll be his second competition of the year. He competed and won gold at January's Grand Prix of Zagreb.

12:46: Denis KUDLA ?? may be one of my most underrated wrestlers in the world. His resume is stacked with medals, but you rarely hear about him. He's coming up soon on Mat A (Bout 306).

Olympic Games: ?
World Championships: ??
European Championships: ???

12;23: '19 world champion Abuiazid MANTSIGOV (RUS) starts his day off with a quick 9-0 thumping of Denis HORVATH (SVK). He'll wrestle two-time U23 world champion ('17 & '18) Daniel CATARAGA (MDA) in eight matches (Bout 330)  on Mat B. 

12:14:  Kiryl MASKEVICH (BLR) IS MUST-WATCH TV! ? He just ran through ???? Viktor LORINCZ (HUN), 9-0, in the opening period and barely broke a sweat.He'll wrestle again in nine matches (Bout 328) on Mat B. #WrestleWarsaw

11:55: Kayaalp led 1-1 after the opening three minutes of wrestling, but scored eight second-period point from five gut wrenches and defeated Cherneyskyy, 10-1.

11:40: Today, we'll be paying attention to Riza KAYAALP (TUR). The Turkish big man begins his quest for his TENTH European title. He'll wrestle Oleksandr CHERNETSKYY (UKR) in the fourth match on Mat C.

11:30: There will be one women's wrestling repechage match on each mat, then we'll roll right into the Greco-Roman matches.

#WrestleWarsaw

Double Olympic Champ Vlasov Suffers Loss, Hurts Tokyo Games Chances

Saturday, June 12, 2021 - 18:19 By Vinay Siwach

Share this article

WARSAW, Poland (June 12) --- “The smallest,” Roman VLASOV (RUS) did not mince his words when asked about his chances to make the Russian team for the Tokyo Olympics.

He was the favorite to win the 77kg weight class in Warsaw on Saturday but the Russian suffered a shock defeat to the rising star Tamas LEVAI (HUN) in the semifinal 1-1, hurting his own chances of making the Russian team for the Games.

It was one of those matches where Vlasov failed to find his rhythm despite being the aggressive wrestler. He did not anticipate the tactics Levai deployed first to come out unharmed from the par terre position and then defend the 1-1 criteria lead until the end of time.

The two-time Olympic champion's fate now hangs in balance as Russia will decide the the Tokyo Olympian later this month.

Abuiazid MANTSIGOV (RUS)

In the 77kg final, Abuiazid MANTSIGOV (RUS) manhandled Levai -- outplacing Vlasov in the process -- and will likely square off against fellow world champion Aleksander CHEKHIRKIN (RUS) for the Russian 77kg at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Much like Iran did earlier in the week with their freestyle squad, Russia used the Poland Open as a special wrestle-off. But in the case of Russia’s 77kg spot, they used the Poland Open as a placeholder for a spot in a showdown against Chekhirkin, who punched his nation’s ticket to Tokyo through his gold-medal performance at the European Olympic Qualifier in March.

It’s not clear when or where the special wrestle-off will take place, but once that information is available, it’ll be posted on www.uww.org and all of our social media accounts.

However, Iran got their Olympian at 130kg. In the all-Iranian battle for the gold and a place on the team for Tokyo, Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) used a mean underhook throw-by with 45 seconds left in the second period to pick up the match's only offensive points against Aliakbar YOUSOFIAHMADCHALI (IRI). That was the match-deciding takedown, as Mirzazadeh claimed gold with the 3-1 victory.

Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI)

There was a third Iranian -- Amir GHASEMIMONJEZI (IRI) -- part of the process but Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) defeated him 8-0 in the quarterfinal to end his run for the Olympics.

Abdullaev finished with the bronze medal and will receive 12 points, breaking into the top four seedings for the Olympics. His 12 points made his jump over Moises Salvador PEREZ HELLBURG (VEN) and sit fourth with 40 points.

At 67kg, Murat FIRAT (TUR) forged a five-point second-period comeback and stopped Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY) from putting a third Ranking Series gold on his resume. The 24-year-old Turk surrendered an inactivity point and a right-sided two-point gut wrench against the Tokyo Olympian, but conserved enough energy to string together five unanswered points and steal the match from the Egyptian.

Firat’s point-scoring frenzy started with a pair of step-outs, followed by a two-point exposure that results from an inactivity point.

What the silver medal does is take Elsayed to second place in the Tokyo seeds at 67kg as he collected 12 points for his silver medal. His total of 50 points keeps him behind Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) who has 80 points but he moves ahead of Artem SURKOV (RUS) and Mate NEMES (SRB) who have 40 points and 39 points respectively.

Elsayed said he missed competing internationally and due to lack of training due to COVID-19, he was not 100 percent on Saturday. But the U23 world champion was confident of being in best shape for the Olympics.

Another Olympic qualified athlete claimed the gold medal as Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB) traded inactivity points with Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR) and held criteria in the end and grabbed 82kg gold.

The youngsters' win here doesn't give any ranking points for the Tokyo Olympics as he will be moving down to 77kg at the Olympics.

At 55kg, Max NOWRY (USA) was awarded the gold medal as he was the only entry in the weight class.

Greco-Roman wrestling will continue on Sunday with five more weight categories in action in Warsaw.

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Max NOWRY (USA)

67kg
GOLD - Murat FIRAT (TUR) df. Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY), 5-3
BRONZE - Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) df. Makhmud BAKHSHILLOEV (UZB), via injury default
BRONZE - Bohdan KOVERNYUK (UKR) df. Mateusz SZEWCZUK (POL), 4-1

77kg
GOLD - Abuiazid MANTSIGOV (RUS) df. Tamas LEVAI (HUN), 9-0
BRONZE - Roman VLASOV (RUS) df. Sakke PUROLAINEN (FIN), 8-3
BRONZE - Yasaf ZEINALOV (UKR) df. Yunus Emre BASAR (TUR), via injury default

82kg
GOLD – Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB) df. Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR), 1-1
BRONZE – Alex BJURBERG KESSIDIS (SWE) df. Iwan NYLYPIUK (POL), via fall
BRONZE - Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) df. Magnus GROENVIK (NOR), 9-0

130kg
GOLD - Amin Mohammadzaman MIRZAZADEH (IRI) df. Aliakbar Hossein YOUSOFIAHMADCHALI (IRI), 3-1
BRONZE – Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) df. Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ (CHI), 1-1
BRONZE - Eduard POPP (GER) df. Heiki NABI (EST), via injury default