#kaspeuro2018

Pair of Olympic Champions Lead Greco-Roman Field at European Championships

By Eric Olanowski

KASPIISK, Russia (April 17) - The 2018 European Championships commence in less than two weeks in Dagestan, Russia. Though line-ups are not official, Greco-Roman preliminary line-ups have been submitted to United World Wrestling and the pair of Olympic champions in Roman VLASOV (RUS) and Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) lead a field littered with Olympic medalists.

The first five weight categories (55kg, 63kg, 77kg, 87kg, and 130kg) will start wrestling on Monday, April 30, and the remaining five weight classes (60kg, 67kg, 72kg, 82kg, and 97kg) being on Tuesday, May 1.  

55kg
Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)

Nedyalko Petrov PETROV (BUL)
Sandro FRANKOL (CRO)
Helary MAEGISALU (EST)
Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO)
VasilII TOPOEV (RUS)
Ekrem OZTURK (TUR)

60kg
Armen MELIKYAN (ARM)
Raphael JAEGER (AUT)
Murad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Maksim KAZHARSKI (BLR)
Avgustin Boyanov SPASOV (BUL)
Leo Alexandre Sylvain TUDEZCA (FRA)
Dato CHKHARTISHVILI (GEO)
Etienne KINSINGER    (GER)
Erik TORBA (HUN)
Illya TSARYUK ISR)
Jacopo SANDRON (ITA)
Justas PETRAVICIUS  (LTU)
Michal Jacek TRACZ (POL)
Antonio MARTINS CABRAL (POR)
Virgil MUNTEANU (ROU)
Sergey EMELIN (RUS)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)

Olympic bronze medalist, Stig-Andre BERGE (NOR). Photo by Tony Rotundo. 

63kg
Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM)
Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE)
Rakhmatsikhudo KHAIBARAU (BLR)
Nikolay Ivanov VICHEV (BUL)
Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Levani KAVJARADZE (GEO)
Mate KRASZNAI (HUN)
Donior ISLAMOV (MDA)
Stig-Andre BERGE (NOR)
Mihai Radu MIHUT (ROU)
Zaur KABALOEV (RUS)
Tamas NAD (SRB)
Rahman BILICI (TUR)

67kg 
Karen ASLANYAN  (ARM)
Elman MUKHTAROV (AZE)
Soslan DAUROV (BLR)
Deyvid Tihomirov DIMITROV (BUL)
Michal NOVAK (CZE)
Fredrik Holmquist BJERREHUUS (DEN)
Yasin OZAY (FRA)
Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Erik WEISS  (GER)
Istvan KOZAK  (HUN)
Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT)
Edgaras VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Valeriu TODEREAN (MDA)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Dawid KARECINSKI (POL)
Pedro Miguel DE MATOS OLIVEIRA DE MORAIS CA  (POR)
Artem SURKOV (RUS)
Mate NEMES  (SRB)
Hussam Saad Ali OMAR (SWE)
Enes BASAR (TUR)

Olympic bronze medalist, Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE). Photo by Tony Rotundo. 

72kg
Christoph BURGER (AUT)
Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE)
Yury KANKOU (BLR)
Danijel JANECIC (CRO)
Jan ZIZKA (CZE)
Evrik NIKOGHOSYAN (FRA)
Iuri LOMADZE (GEO)
Maximilian Andreas SCHWABE (GER)
Balint KORPASI (HUN)
Nikita MASJUKS (LAT)
Daniel CATARAGA (MDA)
Pal Eirik GUNDERSEN (NOR)
Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL)
Ilie COJOCARI  (ROU)
Adam KURAK (RUS)
Aleksandar MAKSIMOVIC (SRB)
Denis HORVATH (SVK)
Daniel Mattias SOINI  (SWE)
Murat DAG (TUR)

Two-time Olympic champion, Roman VLASOV (RUS). Photo by Tony Rotundo. 

77kg
Karapet CHALYAN (ARM)
Florian MARCHL (AUT)
Elvin MURSALIYEV (AZE)
Kazbek KILOU  (BLR)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
Oldrich VARGA (CZE)
Ismael NAVARRO SANCHEZ (ESP)
Tero Antero Matias HALMESMAEKI (FIN)
Tornike DZAMASHVILI (GEO)
Florian NEUMAIER (GER)
Georgios PREVOLARAKIS (GRE)
Tamas LORINCZ  (HUN)
Igor PETRISNIN (ISR)
Riccardo Vito ABBRESCIA (ITA)
Paulius GALKINAS (LTU)
Igor BESLEAGA (MDA)
Mateusz Lukasz WOLNY (POL)
Roman VLASOV (RUS)
Viktor NEMES (SRB)
Nicolas Peter CHRISTEN (SUI)
Alex Michel BJURBERG KESSIDIS (SWE)
Serkan AKKOYUN (TUR)

82kg 
Maksim MANUKYAN (ARM)
Michael WAGNER (AUT)
Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE)
Radzik KULIYEU (BLR)
Daniel Tihomirov ALEKSANDROV (BUL)
Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO)
Petr NOVAK  (CZE)
Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (GEO)
Roland SCHWARZ (GER)
Laszlo SZABO  (HUN)
Viorel BURDUJA (MDA)
Edgar BABAYAN (POL)
Ramazan ABACHARAEV (RUS)
Zarko DICKOV  (SRB)
Jan Alexander JERSGREN (SWE)
Emrah KUS (TUR)

87kg
Artur SHAHINYAN  (ARM)
Islam ABBASO (AZE)
Viktar SASUNOUSKI  (BLR)
Tarek Mohamed ABDELSLAM SHEBLE MOHAMED (BUL)
Pedro Jacinto GARCIA PEREZ (ESP)
Eerik APS (EST)
Rami Antero HIETANIEMI (FIN)
Roberti KOBLIASHVILI (GEO)
Denis Maksymilian KUDLA (GER)
Dimitrios TSEKERIDIS (GRE)
Viktor LORINCZ (HUN)
Roman ZHERNOVETSKI (ISR)
Fabio PARISI (ITA)
Julius MATUZEVICIUS (LTU)
Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL)
Bekkhan OZDOEV (RUS)
Nikolaj Georgiev DOBREV (SRB)
Kristoffer Zakarias BERG (SWE)
Metehan BASAR (TUR)

98kg Olympic champion, Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM). Photo by Tony Rotundo.

97kg
Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM)
Daniel GASTL  (AUT)
Orkhan NURIYEV (AZE)
Siarhei STARADUB (BLR)
Nikolay Nikolaev BAYRYAKOV (BUL)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Mathias BAK (DEN)
Matti Elias KUOSMANEN (FIN)
Mélonin NOUMONVI (FRA)
Kukuri KIRTSKHALIA (GEO)
Ramsin AZIZSIR (GER)
Laokratis KESIDIS (GRE)
Balazs KISS (HUN)
Robert AVANESYAN (ISR)
Vilius LAURINAITIS (LTU)
Marcel Adam KASPEREK (POL)
Musa EVLOEV (RUS)
Mikheil KAJAIA (SRB)
Tamas SOOS (SVK)
Carl Erik Andre PERSSON (SWE)
Cenk ILDEM (TUR)

Three-time world champion and Olympic silver medalist, Riza KAYAALP (TUR). Photo by Tony Rotundo. 

130kg
Sabah SHARIATI (AZE)
Georgi CHUGOSHVILI (BLR)
Miloslav Yuriev METODIEV (BUL)
Stepan DAVID (CZE)
Juan Rafael HEREDIA MENA (ESP)
Artur VITITIN (EST)
Tuomas Heikki Juhani LAHTI (FIN)
Iakobi KAJAIA  (GEO)
Christian JOHN (GER)
Balint LAM (HUN)
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
Rafal Andrzej KRAJEWSKI (POL)
Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU)
Vitalii  SHCHUR (RUS)
Riza KAYAALP (TUR)

#BeachWrestling

Asian Beach Games: Iran Sweeps Men's Golds; India Wins 2 in Women's

By United World Wrestling Press

SANYA, China (April 29) -- Iran swept the gold medals in men's Beach Wrestling at the 6th Asian Beach Games in Sanya, winning all four finals.

In women's, India won two golds, hosts China one and Sri Lanka won a historic gold medal, its first of the Games which began on April and will close on April 30.

The gold rush of Iran began when Aliakbar ZAROUDI (IRI) defeated SIDDHARTH (IND) convincingly in the 70kg final, 3-0. The second gold medal came at 80kg as Ali GHOLAMI (IRI) pinned Muhammad Asad ULLAH (PAK) in the final.

In two of the matches of the day, Amirhossein KAVOUSI (IRI) defeated former Beach Wrestling world champion Muhammad INAM (PAK), 3-0, not letting the Pakistan wrestler stay in his defensive shell as he is rather used to.

The +90kg final between Seyedamirreza SAHRAEIMAHALI (IRI) and the seven feet tall Da LU (CHN) also ended in Iran winning 3-0, dashing the hopes of hosts China winning at least one gold in men's weight categories.

"It is the best gift for the people back home," said ​Iran coach Ali BAZYAR. "I hope this brings some happiness during the tough times our nation is navigating."

PRIYA (IND)PRIYA (IND) won the gold medal in +70kg weight category in Sanya. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

India Wins 2 Golds

India had two finalists in women's and both came home with gold medals. Former U17 and U20 world champion PRIYA (IND) earned the gold medal in +70kg in a thrilling final against Bolortungalag ZORIGT (MGL). Priya needed a late point to win 3-2 against a tiring Zorigt to give India its third gold of the Games.

The second gold came from Pushpa YADAV (IND) who stunned Asian champion and local favorite Mengyu XIE (CHN), blanking her 3-0 in the 60kg final.

But Jia LONG (CHN) made sure the host China claim at least one gold in Beach Wrestling as she won the 70kg gold medal over Thi Linh DANG (VIE), pinning the Vietnam wrestler in the final.

Sri Lanka's historic gold in Beach Wrestling was won by Nipuni HEWA PEDIGE (SRI), who held on to a 3-1 victory over Thi Kim Oanh DOAN (VIE) in the 50kg final.

“This is my first international medal, and it is a gold medal, so I am very happy with my performance," Hewa Pedige was quoted as saying by OCA.

RESULTS

Men's Beach Wrestling

70kg
GOLD: Aliakbar ZAROUDI (IRI) df. SIDDHARTH (IND), 3-0

BRONZE: Adis RAKHAT UULU (KGZ) df. Muhammad ABDULLAH (PAK), 3-0

80kg
GOLD: Ali GHOLAMI (IRI) df. Muhammad Asad ULLAH (PAK), via fall

BRONZE: Feng LU (CHN) df. Yermakhan KOSHKINBAYEV (KAZ), 3-0

90kg
GOLD: Amirhossein KAVOUSI (IRI) df. Muhammad INAM (PAK), 3-0

BRONZE: Turbold GANBOLD (MGL) df. Peilong LI (CHN), 3-1

+90kg
GOLD: Seyedamirreza SAHRAEIMAHALI (IRI) df. Da LU (CHN), 3-0

BRONZE: Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN) df. Muzafar ZHAPPUEV (KGZ), 3-0

Women's Beach Wrestling

50kg
GOLD: Nipuni HEWA PEDIGE (SRI) df. Thi Kim Oanh DOAN (VIE), 3-1

BRONZE: Funa YANO (JPN) df. Priyanshi PRAJAPAT (IND), via inj. def.

60kg
GOLD: Pushpa YADAV (IND) df. Mengyu XIE (CHN), 3-0

BRONZE: Thi My Hanh NGUYEN (VIE) df. Youngjin KWON (KOR), 4-0

70kg
GOLD: Jia LONG (CHN) df. Thi Linh DANG (VIE), via fall

BRONZE: Jaspreet KAUR (IND) df. Beibit SEIDUALY (KAZ), 2-0

+70kg
GOLD: PRIYA (IND) df. Bolortungalag ZORIGT (MGL), 3-2

BRONZE: Wenji LI (CHN) df. Alina YERTOSTIK (KAZ), 2-0