#WrestleWarsaw

LIVE BLOG: European C'ships (Day Four)

By Eric Olanowski

WARSAW, Poland (April 22) -- Freestyle is in the rearview mirror, as women's wrestling takes center stage on Day Four at the '21 European Championships.

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

WATCH: European Championships 

Finals matchups (as they come in): 
53kg 

GOLD - Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS) vs. Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE)
SEMIFINAL - Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS) df. Iulia LEORDA (MDA, 9-0 
SEMIFINAL - Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE) df. Mariia VYNNYK (UKR), 11-2 

57kg 
GOLD -Anhelina LYSAK (POL) vs. Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) 
SEMIFINAL - Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) df. Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS), 11-0 
SEMIFINAL - Anhelina LYSAK (POL) df. Alina HRUSHYNA AKOBIIA (UKR), via fall 

62kg
GOLD - 
Marianna SASTIN (HUN) vs. Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) 
SEMIFINAL - Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) df. Valeria KOBLOVA ZHOLOBOVA (RUS), 5-2
SEMIFINAL - Marianna SASTIN (HUN) df. Katarzyna MADROWSKA (POL), via injury

65kg
GOLD - 
Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR) vs. Irina RINGACI (MDA)
SEMIFINAL - Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR) df. IrIna Petrovna NETREBA (AZE), 11-1 
SEMIFINAL - Irina RINGACI (MDA) df. Aleksandra WOLCZYNSKA (POL), 13-2 

72kg
GOLD - Alla BELINSKA (UKR) df. Yuliana YANEVA (BUL)

SEMIFINAL - Yuliana Vasileva YANEVA (BUL) df. Dalma CANEVA (ITA), 3-1 
SEMIFINAL - Alla BELINSKA (UKR) df. Evgeniia ZAKHARCHENKO (RUS), via fall 

17:37: That's a wrap for the women's wrestling semifinals. We'll take a 25-minute break and meet back here for the Day Four finals, which start at 18:00 (local time).

17:07: Marianna SASTIN (HUN), the 37-year-old Hungarian, moved into the 62kg after Katarzyna MADROWSKA (POL) injury defaulted out of the semifinals. She'll take on the winner of Valeria KOBLOVA ZHOLOBOVA (RUS) and Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR). 

17:04: WOW! Down by SEVEN points, Lysak tossed Hrushyna to her back and records the fall to move into the 57kg finals.

16:58: Anhelina LYSAK (POL) will take the mat against European Olympic Games Qualifier champion Alina HRUSHYNA AKOBIIA (UKR). Lysak is the first of three wrestlers from Poland who we'll see in tonight's semifinals. 

16:45: We're back with the women's wrestling semifinals. These will take around an hour or so. Once the matches wrap up, we'll roll into the Day Four finals at 18:00. 

13:11: That wraps up the morning session. We'll take a break until 16:45. Semifinal action will be up first, then we'll roll right into the Day Four medal matches. 

Semifinal matches (as they come in): 

53kg 
SEMIFINAL - Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS) vs. Iulia LEORDA (MDA) 
SEMIFINAL - Mariia VYNNYK (UKR) vs. Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE) 

57kg 
SEMIFINAL - Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS) vs. Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) 
SEMIFINAL - Anhelina LYSAK (POL) vs. Alina HRUSHYNA AKOBIIA (UKR) 

62kg
SEMIFINAL - 
Valeria KOBLOVA ZHOLOBOVA (RUS) vs. Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) 
SEMIFINAL - Marianna SASTIN (HUN) vs. Katarzyna MADROWSKA (POL) 

65kg
SEMIFINAL - 
IrIna Petrovna NETREBA (AZE) vs. Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR) 
SEMIFINAL - Aleksandra WOLCZYNSKA (POL) vs. Irina RINGACI (MDA) 

72kg
SEMIFINAL - Dalma CANEVA (ITA) vs. Yuliana Vasileva YANEVA (BUL)
SEMIFINAL - Alla BELINSKA (UKR) vs. Evgeniia ZAKHARCHENKO (RUS)

12:44: Marianna SASTIN (HUN) made her European debut in '01. She'll wrestle tonight for a spot in the 62kg finals. If he wins, she'd be guaranteed a seventh career European medal.

12:39: Prevolaraki shuts out Wendle, 6-0, and moved into the semifinals. She'll take on the winner of  Mariia VYNNYK (UKR) and Zeynep YETGIL (TUR). 

12:35: Tokyo Olympian Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE) is taking on European bronze medalist Annika WENDLE (GER) on Mat B.

12:21: Kurachkina and Mathilde RIVIERE (FRA) had to wait ten minutes for their quarterfinals match but they are wrestling on Mat B.

12:14: And just like that, we're rolling into the quarterfinals.

11:57: Three-time European medalist Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS) is making her return to the Russian lineup for the first time since winning gold at the '20 Individual World Cup. Although she has three European medals, Lipatova is still looking for her first continental gold. She has a pair of silver medals and a bronze. Her most recent medal came in '19, when she dropped her finals match to Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL). 

*Dudova is wrestling for gold in tonight's finals, which start at 18:00!

11:45: '18 Eurpean champion Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) starts her day of with a massive 10-0 win over Evelina NIKOLOVA (BUL). The Bulgarian just won the European Olympic Qualifier and qualified her nation for the Olympic Games at 57kg.

11:43: Looking out the bout sheet, it looks like we have around 30 matches during this morning's session so it'll be a quick one.

Development

New Referee and Rules Courses coming to the UWW Academy

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 9) --- The Development Department and Referee Commission will launch a series of courses centered around Olympic wrestling and refereeing rules. Evaluating holds and situations are not always easy and can be very complex.  These courses are designed to highlight specific and more complicated rules in hopes of providing a better understanding of how situations are being evaluated. Over the next year, will be 10 courses developed and published on the UWW Academy site.

“We are excited to announce new courses on the UWW Academy Platform, designed to elevate refereeing standards and promote excellence across all levels. These courses cover essential topics such as attack-counterattack actions, evaluation of holds, takedown and control, and out-of-bounds situations," said Antonio Silvestri. "As Head of the Refereeing Commission, I encourage all referees—experienced or starting out—to take advantage of these courses. Continuous learning is key to our success, and these courses will help us maintain the highest standards of integrity, fairness, and professionalism in every match. Let's keep raising the bar together." 

The first course on Attack vs Counterattack situations has been published on the Academy site. Attack vs Counterattack situations are referees' most complicated and challenging situations to evaluate. This course will try to highlight how these situations are evaluated and what questions referees must answer during an action. While this course and the others are centered around referees, they are available and encouraged to be completed by all wrestling stakeholders.

The Attack vs Counterattack course will begin with background information and the rules which include video examples.  Then the course will provide 10 specific video examples along with explanations. Next the participants will practice their video analysis with 10 videos.  The course will finish with a 15-video quiz. All the courses that will be published will follow a similar format.

The UWW Academy is the official educational platform for United World Wrestling. It offers numerous courses on coaching, referees, rules, sports administration, and beach wrestling. The academy also offers additional resources, performance analysis metrics from major UWW events, videos, and the Wrestle4Fun curriculum. It is free and available to all participants. To get started and create your free profile, please visit  https://academy.uww.org/.