#WrestleWarsaw

LIVE BLOG: European C'ships (Day Three)

By Eric Olanowski

WARSAW, Poland (April 21) -- We've made it to the third day of wrestling at the European Championships. Women's wrestling action takes center stage today with the freestyle medal matches starting at 18:00 (local time).

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

Returning women's wrestling European champions in action today:
50kg - Miglena SELISHKA (BUL)
59kg - Anastasia NICHITA (MDA)
59kg - Grace Jacob BULLEN (NOR)
68kg - Khanum VELIEVA (RUS)
76kg - Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS)

WATCH: European Championships 

14:40: That wraps up our coverage of the morning session. We'll see you back here at 16:45 for the women's wrestling semifinals. The freestyle finals will start at 18:00.

Semifinal Matches (As they come in): 
50kg

SEMIFINAL - Winner 174 vs. Oksana LIVACH (UKR)
SEMIFINAL - Miglena Georgieva SELISHKA (BUL) vs. Winner 207

55kg
SEMIFINAL - Stalvira ORSHUSH (RUS) vs. Jessica Cornelia Francisca BLASZKA (NED)
SEMIFINAL - Andreea Beatrice ANA (ROU) vs. Roksana Marta ZASINA (POL)

59kg
SEMIFINAL -  Veronika CHUMIKOVA (RUS) vs. Anastasia NICHITA (MDA)
SEMIFINAL - Yuliya PISARENKA (BLR) vs. Bilyana Zhivkova DUDOVA (BUL) 

68kg
SEMIFINAL - Khanum VELIEVA (RUS) vs. Nesrin BAS (TUR)
SEMIFINAL - Koumba Selene Fanta LARROQUE (FRA) vs. Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)

76kg

SEMIFINAL - Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) vs. Vasilisa MARZALIUK (BLR)
SEMIFINAL - Epp MAEE (EST) vs. Cynthia Vanessa VESCAN (FRA)

13:36: Defending European champions Grace BULLEN (NOR) and Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) are wrestling now on Mat A.

13:13: Returning European silver medalist Jessica BLASZKA (NED) is wrestling on Mat A.

13:02: Both wrestlers collect inactivity points in the second period, but it's Vorobeva who comes out on top, 3-1. She take on Vasilisa MARZALIUK (BLR) in a rematch of the European Olympic Games Qualifier finals. 

12:54 Vorobeva leads Focken, 1-0, after the first three minutes.

12:53: There's an upset brewing on Mat A. World runner-up Vasilisa MARZALIUK (BLR) trails Anastasiia OSNIACH SHUSTOVA (UKR) by two points heading into the final two minutes of the match. 

12:40: World champion  Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) and Aline ROTTER FOCKEN (GER) will clash on Mat C (Bout 203) shortly. 

12:26: That's the match of the morning thus far! Livach wins the battle of world bronze medalists and takes down Demirhan, 12-8. She'll face the winner of Emilia VUC (ROU) and Natallia VARAKINA (BLR).

12:21: Two-time world champion Mariya STADNIK (AZE) will make her long-awaited return against world bronze medalist Ekaterina POLESHCHUK (RUS) in five matches on Mat A. She hasn't wrestled since the '19 World Championships. 

12:16: World bronze medalists Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR) and Oksana LIVACH (UKR) are wrestling over on Mat B. We're less than two minutes into the match and there are already 14 points on the board!

12:08: You know the dump is coming, but it's nearly impossible to stop. Vorobeva gets to her signature move and pins  Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU) in less than 90 seconds in her opening-round match. 

11:53: We have an issue, but it's a good one to have. We have too many stars coming up that it's hard to keep track of! First up will be Olympic gold and silver medalist Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) on Mat A. In her last competition, she qualified Russia for the Olympic Games at 76kg after she won the European Olympic Qualifier.

11:38: We'll start the day with some freestyle repechage action before we transition into our full day of women's action.

#WrestleCasablanca

Abdellatif leads Egypt to Greco team title with 8th African gold

By Vinay Siwach

CASABLANCA, Morocco (May 3) — Mohamed ABDELLATIF (EGY) scored three technical superiority wins to win the 130kg and lead Egypt to the Greco-Roman team title at the African Championships in convincing fashion.

Egypt won seven gold and three silver medals to emerge as the best team with 235 points. Hosts Morocco didn’t win any gold but had three silver and six bronze medals to overtake Algeria for the second position with 160 points. Algeria finished third with 125 points, thanks to three golds and other medals.

World bronze medalist Abdellatif won his eighth African Championships gold medal without dropping a point in Casablanca. He defeated Wissam KOUAINSO (MAR) in Round 1, Joel TUKAI (KEN) in Round 2 and tossed around Issah FUSEINI (GHA) in Round 3. He just spent only 2 minutes and 39 seconds on the mat.

That was the final gold for Egypt on Saturday. The gold rush began when Ahmed ALY (EGY) stunned Adem LAMLOUM (TUN) 10-0 in the 55kg final. It was better result than the one when they met in the first round. Aly won the first bout 10-6.

At 60kg, Ahmed SHABAN (EGY) won four bouts in dominant fashion to clinch the gold medal. 

Women’s Wrestling

Medals in five weight classes of Women’s Wrestling were also awarded on Saturday.

Nigeria won four of the five gold medals on offer as Mercy ADEKOUROYE (NGR) became a late withdrawal from the 57kg competition.

RESULTS

Greco-Roman

55kg
GOLD: Ahmed ALY (EGY) df. Adem LAMLOUM (TUN), 10-0

BRONZE: Ayoub SBETE (MAR) df. Bofenda KALUWEKO (ANG), via fall (11-10)

60kg
GOLD: Ahmed SHABAN (EGY)
SILVER: Mouad JAHID (MAR)
BRONZE: Rabby KILANDI (COD)

63kg
GOLD: Mohamed DRIDI (ALG)
SILVER: Youssef MOHAMED (EGY)
BRONZE: Mouncif MESROUR (MAR)

67kg
GOLD: Mohamed ABDELREHIM (EGY) df. Ishak GHAIOU (ALG), 2-0

BRONZE: Oussama NASR (TUN) df. Roland KALAMBAYI (COD), 9-6

72kg
GOLD: Mohamed IBRAHIM (EGY) df. Abdelmalek MERABET (ALG), 3-1

BRONZE: Walid TALBI (MAR) df. Nkosinathi MASHININI (RSA), 9-0
BRONZE: Yamine ATCHIBA (BEN) df. Norvil BUKASA (COD), 7-7

77kg
GOLD: Yehia ABDELKADER (EGY)
SILVER: Radhwen TARHOUNI (TUN)
BRONZE: Souhaib KHDAR (MAR)

82kg
GOLD: Abd OUAKALI (ALG) df. Mohamed DYAB (EGY), 11-3

BRONZE: Elias CHIGUER (MAR) df. Andy MUKENDI (COD), via fall (7-4)

87kg
GOLD: Bachir SID AZARA (ALG)
SILVER: Mahmoud IBRAHIM (EGY)
BRONZE: Wadii OUALAL (MAR)

97kg
GOLD: Mohamed GABR (EGY)
SILVER: Hamza BOUMADIENE (MAR)
BRONZE: Barthelemy TSHOSHA (COD)

130kg
GOLD: Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY)
SILVER: Wissam KOUAINSO (MAR)
BRONZE: Issah FUSEINI (GHA)

Women's Wrestling

53kg
GOLD: Christianah OGUNSANYA (NGR) df. Nogona BAKAYOKO (CIV), 11-0

BRONZE: Chahrazed AYACHI (TUN) df. Zineb ECH CHABKI (TUN), 8-6
BRONZE: Sama MAHMOUD (EGY) df. Matilda KOKERA (RSA), via fall

57kg
GOLD: Chaimaa AOUISSI (ALG) df. Chaima DAHI (TUN), via fall

BRONZE: Mamy RASOANOMENJANAHARY (MAD) df. Mercy ADEKUOROYE (NGR), via walkover

62kg
GOLD: Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR) df. Farah HUSSEIN (EGY), 10-0

BRONZE: Nawel BAHLOUL (ALG) df. Safietou GOUDIABY (SEN), 8-1

68kg
GOLD: Hannah RUEBEN (NGR)
SILVER: Mariam MESBAH (EGY)
BRONZE: Saadia ET TAMMAR (MAR)

76kg
GOLD: Damola OJO (NGR)
SILVER: Amy YOUIN (CIV)
BRONZE: Rayhana BENREZIK (MAR)