#WrestleSamokov

Russia Adds Four Golds, Walks Away with Cadet Euro FS Team Title

By Eric Olanowski

SAMOKOV, Bulgaria (June 16) --- Russia reeled in four additional freestyle gold medals and walked away with the cadet European team title -- 75 points ahead of second-place Armenia. In total, Russia won six golds, two silvers, and a bronze medal and only missed medaling in one weight class.

Russia’s four Day Three gold-medal winners Akhmad GALAEV (45kg), Ramzan ISRAPILOV (51kg), Adam ARKHIEV (60kg) and Kantemir SUANOV (92kg). Alu DUKHAEV (RUS) also medaled on Wednesday. He dropped the 71kg finals to Aren ISRAYELYAN (ARM).

Galaev was the first Russian crowned champion on the third day of wrestling in Bulgaria. He picked up a fall over Hayko GASPARYAN (ARM) and won gold at 45kg.

Ramzan Israpilov’s hand was raised in the 51kg finals after Javid JAVADOV (AZE) injury defaulted out of the match. It was his second career continental title. He also won the ’19 U15 European title at 38kg.

Adam Arkhiev claimed a second European title with a one-point (4-3) win over Abdulrahman IBRAHIMOV (AZE) in the 60kg finals.

Kantemir Suanov closed out the day with Russia’s fourth gold. He beat Sali Yusrefov SALIEV (BUL), 3-1, in the 92kg finals.

Armenia (138 points), Georgia (122 points), Azerbaijan (107 points) and Ukraine (93 points) rounded out the top five in the team race.

Wrestling resumes tomorrow at 11:30 (local time) and can be followed on www.uww.org.

RESULTS

45kg
GOLD - Akhmad GALAEV (RUS) df. Hayko GASPARYAN (ARM), via fall
BRONZE - Oleksandr HRYHORYSHYN (UKR) df. Yunus Emre BATTAL (TUR), 6-0
BRONZE - Yusif ISPAROV (AZE) df. Lasha GOGADZE (GEO), 10-7

51kg
GOLD -Ramzan ISRAPILOV (RUS) df. Javid JAVADOV (AZE), via injury default
BRONZE - Tigran BUNIATYAN (ARM) df. Dmytro HUBANOV (UKR), 10-6
BRONZE - Seyfulla ITAEV (FRA) df. Kacper NOWAKOWSKI (POL), 10-0

60kg
GOLD -Adam ARKHIEV (RUS) df. Abdulrahman IBRAHIMOV (AZE), 4-3
BRONZE - Daniel Marian SANDU (ROU) df. Khizir DASIYEV (FRA), 11-0
BRONZE - Giorgi ABULASHVILI (GEO) df. Batuhan BOKE (TUR), 6-5

71kg
GOLD -Aren ISRAYELYAN (ARM) df. Alu DUKHAEV (RUS), 12-1
BRONZE - Cengizhan Ramazan DOGAN (TUR) df. Slavi Rumenov STAMENOV (BUL), 4-4
BRONZE - Giorgi NATOBIDZE (GEO) df. Vadym TSURKAN (UKR), via injury default

92kg
GOLD - Kantemir SUANOV (RUS) df. Sali Yusrefov SALIEV (BUL), 3-1}
BRONZE - Tamaz NIKOLEISHVILI (GEO) df. Roope Eerik Matias KATAJA (FIN), 10-0
BRONZE - Rifat Eren GIDAK (TUR) df. Yaroslav LISNIAK (UKR), 7-0

#JapanWrestling

Ozaki, Tanabe take special wrestling trip to Iran

By Vinay Siwach

TEHRAN, Iran (April 28) — While most Paris Olympic medalist from Japan are preparing for June’s Meiji Cup at their base universities in Japan, world champion Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) and Asian champion Kaisei TANABE (JPN) have managed to squeeze in a educational trip to Iran despite their busy training schedule.

Ozaki, who won bronze medal at the Paris Olympics at 68kg, returned to international competition recently won a silver medal at 62kg at the Asian Championships in March. She is expected to compete at the Meiji Cup which will be held in Tokyo from June 19 to 22.

“I am in Iran right now,” Ozaki told UWW. “It’s a place I always wanted to visit. I am really happy.”

Ozaki visited Tehran as part of her education trip and exchanged wrestling notes with few of the Iranian wrestlers who are part of the team.

“Iran has many world and Olympic champions and I wanted to study wrestling here,” she said. “I stayed for a week and this experience will help me learn me about wrestling.”

Nonoka OZAKI (JPN)Nonoka OZAKI (JPN), left, and Kaisei TANABE (JPN), third from left, in Iran. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Tanabe won the gold medal at the Asian Championships at 65kg and also attended the training camp with Iran wrestlers.

The Nippon Sports Science University wrestler is also expected to compete at the Meiji Cup and if he wins, he will book his ticket to the World Championships in September where he can meet Paris Olympic silver medalist Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) who was present at the training camp in Tehran.

Amouzad lost the 65kg final in Paris to Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN) who is a teammate of Tanabe at NSSU.