#WrestleIstanbul

Live Blog: Yasar Dogu, Vehbi Emre & Hamit Kaplan Ranking Series Day 3

Saturday, February 26, 2022 - 07:18 By United World Wrestling Press

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ISTANBUL, Turkey (February 26) -- The Yasar Dogu, Vehbi Emre & Hamit Kaplan Ranking Series event enters the third day with six women's and two men's freestyle weight classes in action.

Three-time Ranking Series gold medalist Vinesh PHOGAT (IND) will be in action at 55kg and can face world champion Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) in the later stages of the tournament. Junior world champion Emma MALMGREN (SWE) and world silver medalist Iulia LEORDA (MDA) are wrestling at 53kg with Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Bolortuya BAT OCHIR (MGL) also in the same bracket. In the men's 97kg bracket, Mohammad MOHAMMADIAN (IRI) makes a comeback since the Tokyo Olympics.

MATCH ORDER | LIVE STREAM

15:55: A pin for Winchester! She puts Phogat on the back and there is no resistance from the Indian wrestler. Winchester wins her semifinal. At 53kg, world silver medalist Iulia LEORDA (MDA) pulls off a 4-4 semifinal against Milana DADASHEVA (RWF)

15:50: No space given by either wrestler. Phogat is put on the clock in the second period. She has 30 seconds to score. Winchester gets the point. She leads 1-1. A go behind to extend the lead 3-1. She also gets exposure for two more. 5-1 Winchester. Phogat gets a stepout and a caution point. 5-3 Winchester.

15:40: Vinesh PHOGAT (IND) and Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) are on Mat C for their 55kg semifinal. A minute goes by and no points on the board by any wrestler. Both wrestlers get verbal warnings for inactivity. Winchester is put on the clock first. Phogat gets the one point. Phogat tried the whip while Winchester went for a double leg. None materializing. Phogat leads 1-0 at the break

15: 20: Anna SCHELL (GER) and Buse CAVUSOGLU TOSUN (TUR) is just what we needed. Tosun had a 9-2 lead but then Schell worked hard to get it to 11-13. Exposure to make it 13-13 for the German before she closed it out 15-13. 28 points in that 72kg semifinal

15:05: Taha AKGUL (TUR) is into the semifinal at 125kg. He beats Oleg BOLTIN (KAZ) 6-1 with a quick takedown and roll. On Mat B, Mohammad MOHAMMADIAN (IRI) rolls on with another technical superiority win at 97kg

15:00: Forrest MOLINARI (USA) avenges her Ivan Yargiun Grand Prix loss to Emma BRUNTIL (USA) with a pin at 65kg. A cradle to the back to get the fall

14:50: Zhabrailov's strength is just a notch higher than Moore's and he takes the bout 8-2. Taha AKGUL (TUR) coming up on Mat A 

14:45: Kollin MOORE (USA) and Alikhan ZHABRAILOV (RWF) are wrestling on Mat A. The RWF wrestler is up 4-2 at the break. Moore needs a big comeback here

14:35: Forrest MOLINARI (USA) vs Emma BRUNTIL (USA) is coming up on Mat B next!

14:30: Emilia VUC (ROU) moves into the semifinal at 50kg with a 10-5 win over Amy FEARNSIDE (USA). She looks on a mission here in Istanbul

14:25: A big bout at 97kg. Kollin Raymond MOORE (USA) will be up against Alikhan ZHABRAILOV (RWF) on Mat A shortly. Could be some fireworks. The other semifinal will have Mohammad MOHAMMADIAN (IRI) and Mustafa SESSIZ (TUR)

14:15: Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) continues her winning run at 59kg. She has got another pin and will be moving into the semifinals later in the evening.

13:55: Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) over Ekaterina ISAKOVA (RWF) 9-5. Winchester completely tired out Isakova to move on at 55kg. A Phogat-Winchester bout on the line

13:45: Vinesh PHOGAT (IND) was in real trouble against ANJU (IND) after she gave up a four and lost the challenge. But she managed a takedown in the final 15 seconds to secure an 8-7 win. 

13:25: USA wrestlers Emma BRUNTIL and Frank MOLINARI remain on course to face each other as the former wins 10-0 while Molinari pins her opponent

13:05: Tokyo bronze medalist Bolortuya BAT OCHIR (MGL) in her elements as she goes past Pooja GEHLOT (IND) 12-1 at 53kg. Just too easy for the Mongolian

12:55: World silver medalist Iulia LEORDA (MDA) had two chances to pin Emma MALMGREN (SWE) but the Sweden wrestler survived both times. But Leorda gets in the third time. Looks like Malmgrem might have got stuck in a lock there. 

12:50: Taha AKGUL (TUR) is moving on! He dominates Magomedgadzhi NURASULOV (SRB) and makes it looks easy. 11-0 win for him

12:40: Otgonjargal DOLGORJAV (MGL) with a statement win over Erin GOLSTON (USA). She moves on at 50kg. On Mat A, we have Gennadij CUDINOVIC (GER) leading Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB) 6-1 at 125kg. He pins to win

12:20:  Two-time world medalist Emilia VUC (ROU) is on Mat B. She is wrestling Evin DEMIRHAN YAVUZ (TUR) who has a lot of support in the arena. Vuc leads 1-0 after Demirhan was called for inactivity. A takedown to add two more. Vuc defending every shot attempt from Demirhan. But the Turkey wrestler has a cradle looking for pin. But the clock runs out. Vuc hangs on for a 3-2 win. Wait... There's a challenge from Turkey. Demirhan is asking for another exposure. Challenge lost and it's actually Vuc's move. She gets two points for exposure. One point for Demirhan for reversal. 6-1 win for Vuc

12:00: European champion Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) was not starting the day in any other style. She pins Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE) inside two minutes to win her first bout at 59kg

11:45: Former world champion Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) led 7-0 at the break and then needs 43 seconds more to finish her qualification bout 11-0 against KAPPAR (KAZ).

11:44: World bronze medalist Sartita MOR (IND) is up against Jowita WRZESIEN (POL). The two start off on a slow note. Wrzesin is called passive and Mor has a 1-0 lead. The Poland wrestler scores a takedown and leads 2-1. A takedown for Mor and it's 3-2 for her. Dying moments of the bout Wrzseien seals it with another to win 4-3

11:40: A single leg takedown to finish things off. It's 11-0 win for the Iran wrestler. A comeback on a positive note for the Tokyo Olympian.

11:35: Mohammad MOHAMMADIAN (IRI) is up on Mat C. He is wrestling Mukhammadrasul RAKHIMOV (UZB). A takedown on the edge for Mohammdian to begin the proceedings. He is up 2-0. A step out to add one more. He adds another takedown plus a gut wrench. One more and he leads 9-0 at the break.

11:25: Junior world champion Emma MALMGREN (SWE) begins the day with a convincing pin over Anzhelika VETOSHKINA (RWF). Some clean shots from her to be up 8-1 before getting the fall

11:10: Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB) is wrestling Asian champion Alisher YERGALI (KAZ) at 125kg. Back and forth from the two with Rakhimov leading Yergali 4-4 on criteria. He then gets a takedown close to the danger zone and makes it 6-4. Huge win on his comeback from Rakhimov. He wins 8-4

10:55: Taha AKGUL (TUR) is making his way to Mat A. A loud section of fans. He is wrestling Gabriel TYSZ (SVK). That was quick. Akgul begins with an 11-0 win

10:30: Welcome to the third day of the Ranking Series event here in Istanbul. Women's and men's freestyle wrestlers will be in action in what promises to be an action-packed day.

#BeachWrestling

Zenkina, Khoma power Ukraine to top at U20 Beach Wrestling Worlds

Monday, September 29, 2025 - 09:52 By Vinay Siwach

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KATERINI-PIERRIA, Greece (September 28) -- Riding on inspiring performances by former world U17 champion Mariia ZENKINA (UKR) and European silver medalist Yelyzaveta KHOMA (UKR), Ukraine emerged as the best country at the U20 World Beach Wrestling Championships in Greece.

Out of the four gold medals on offer in women's category, Ukraine won two while Romania and Serbia won one each. In the men’s division, Iran dominated its way to the top of the team rankings.

Ukraine finished at the top of the team race with 85 points while the United States was second with 50 points. Serbia managed to finish third with 39 points.

Zenkina, a U17 World Championships silver medalist in 2022, showed her skills on the beach as well and won all her bouts, including the final, without giving up a point.

Facing compatriot Daria KONSTANTYNOVA (UKR) in the +70kg final, Zenkina got the first point when Konstantynova failed to score after being put on the 30-second activity period. Zenkina then scored via snapdown which forced Konstantynova to touch the sand with her knees.

Zenkina defended her 2-0 lead for the remaining 27 seconds to claim her second world title, the first coming at U17 level in 2021.

Khoma was equally dominant in her run to gold at 60kg but needed strong defense in the final against local favorite Evdoxia PAPADOPOULOU (GRE) to win the gold medal.

The final was off to an electric start with both wrestlers giving it a go and scoring points. It was Papadopoulou who scored the first point with a stepout and took a 1-0 lead. However, Khoma fired back with a snapdown with Papadopoulou's elbow touching the sand and she took a 1-1 criteria lead.

Papdopoulou tried forcing a stepout when Khoma used double underhooks to throw the Greece wrestler who landed on her elbow, giving one more point to Khoma. In the next exchange, Khoma tried a whizzer but she touched her head on sand before Papadopoulou's which cost her one point and the lead exchanged hands. Now, the Greece wrestler led 2-2 on criteria with two minutes remaining in the match.

Khoma wasted no time in launching her next attack and pushed Papadopoulou towards the edge of the ring. As Papadopoulou tried to counter throw, Khoma kept her balance and forced her opponent to touch the sand. This gave Khoma the winning score of 3-2 as in Beach Wrestling, the first wrestler to three points wins.

Ukraine's third finalist Alevtyna LIASHENKO (UKR) was not so lucky as she lost the 50kg final to Ana ROTARU (ROU) via fall. Rotaru hit a blast double to open the scoring in the final and take a 1-0 lead. She used a similar technique to score her second point and lead 2-0 with 53 seconds left in the match.

She left nothing to chance and hit a perfect headlock throw for three points, ending the match 5-0, and victory via fall. [A three-point move in Beach Wrestling is considered fall].

Serbia won its first-ever gold medal at the U20 World Championships after European silver medalist Masa PEROVIC (SRB) scored a fall over world U17 champion Alexandra MOISEI (MDA) to claim the top medal at 70kg.

Moisei scored the first point of the final with hip toss and take a 1-0 lead and extended it to 2-0 by avoiding a trip attempt from Perovic who fell head first and lost another point. Moisei was going for the winning third point when Perovic attempted a lateral drop. While backstepping to avoid the drop, Moisei lost her balance and Perovic used that to her advantage and dropped Moisei on the back for three points and the win.

Iran's golden double

A day after winning the U17 World Championships team title in men's category, Iran continued to dominate Beach Wrestling by winning the U20 team title as well.

Like its U17 team, Iran won two golds in U20 competition to finish at the top of the team rankings with 77 points. Moldova finished second with 57 points while Ukraine was marginally behind at third with 55.

After missing out in the final in the first two weight classes, Ramtin RAVANBAKHSH (IRI) and Mersad SHAKERI (IRI) made sure Iran doesn't miss out on the finals by reaching the gold medal bouts at 90kg and +90kg respectively.

Ravanbakhsh showed impeccable defense in the final against Alexandru BORS (MDA), a former U17 World Championships silver medalist in Freestyle, at 90kg to win the gold medal. In fact, he had to beat Bors twice.

The two first met in a Group A match, which Ravanbakhsh won 1-0, before facing again in the final, where the Iranian repeated the result.

Shakeri was more active in his matches but was tested by Kostiantyn ZADOIANCHUK (UKR) in the final. He, however, managed to hold on to a 2-0 victory.

Shakeri hit a powerful snap which completely unbalanced Zadoianchuk who touched the sand with his knee and Shakeri got the first point. Shakeri got his second point with a stepout which Zadoianchuk had no chance to defend.

At 70kg, Eduard LENARD (ROU) dashed the hopes of local fans by beating Ilias KARNAVAS (GRE) in the gold medal bout in just 44 seconds.

Karnavas was sure that he got the first point as he pushed Lenard towards the edge but Lenard managed to keep himself inside and not give up the point for stepout. As Karnavas kept pushing, Lenard hit a counter whizzer for a point to dramatically turn the advantage around and lead 1-0.

As Karnavas got on a single-leg attack in another sequence, Lenard dropped him on his back with a whizzer which was scored as three points, giving the win to the Romanian. Karnavas challenged the call but on review, the original call for three points was upheld and Lenard was announced as the winner.

Moldova earned itself a gold medal at 80kg as Gabriel OJOG (MDA) scored a victory via fall over Zurab MAMULADZE (GEO) in the final. Mamuladze tried to hit a big move on Ojog who blocked it and landed on top of Mamuladze to score three points and the victory.