Russia Closes Out Dominant Performance in Belgrade with 4 More FS Gold Medals

Friday, December 18, 2020 - 20:48 By United World Wrestling Press

Links:
Finals Highlights
Day 7 Photos
Interview with Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM)

BELGRADE, Serbia (December 18) -- Russia made a triumphant return to the international wrestling stage with a dominant performance at the 2020 Individual World Cup in Belgrade, Serbia.

A day after winning four freestyle gold medals, Russia bagged four more freestyle gold medals on Friday to finish with eight of the ten freestyle gold medals. The eight gold medals put Russia firmly atop the freestyle team standings. Turkey finished in second place, 106 points behind Russia.

Russia concluded the Individual World Cup with 24 medals overall, including 17 gold medals.

Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (61kg), Akhmed USMANOV (79kg), Dauren KURUGLIEV (86kg) and Abdulrashid SADULAEV (97kg) added to Russia's gold medal tally on the event's final day.

Magomedov, a 2018 junior world champion, was the first Russian to compete for gold on Friday. He picked up a 5-1 over 2016 world bronze medalist Akhmednabi GVARZATILOV (AZE) in the 61kg final. Magomedov scored a takedown in each of the two periods, while holding the Azerbaijani wrestler to a single point off a reversal.

Akhmed USMANOV (RUS) gets a turn in the 79kg final (Photo: Gabor MARTIN, UWW)

Usmanov, a 2016 junior world silver medalist, cruised to an 11-0 technical superiority over Muhammet KOTANOGLU (TUR) in the 79kg final. The Russian scored an early takedown off a single leg before turning Kotanoglu twice to go up 6-0. Kotanoglu attempted a throw early in the second period, which Usmanov countered, scoring two points before turning the Turkish wrestler to close out the technical superiority.

Dauren KURUGLIEV (RUS) won the gold at 86kg (Photo: Kadir CALISKAN, UWW)

The 2017 European champion Kurugliev controlled Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL) 5-1 in the 86kg final. Kurugliev fired off a double leg in the first 10 seconds of the match and secured a takedown to go up 2-0. He extended his lead to 3-0 early in the second period after getting a step out. A short time later, Kurugliev was hit with a caution, giving Baranowski his first point. The score stayed 3-1 in favor of the Russian until the final 30 seconds when Baranowski attempted a shot, which Kurugliev countered for a takedown.

Olympic champ Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS) finished on top at 97kg (Photo: Gabor MARTIN, UWW)

Sadulaev, a Rio Olympic champion and four-time world champion, won by injury default as Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (BLR) was unable to compete in the 97kg final. The Russian Tank outscored his opponents 32-3 in Belgrade.

Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) celebrates after winning the gold medal at 65kg (Photo: Kadir CALISKAN, UWW)

Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM), a 2019 U23 European champion, captured gold at 65kg with a 9-1 win over 2019 world bronze medalist Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN). The Armenian used a late surge to help him earn the victory. The two wrestlers traded passivity points, with Muszukajev scoring the second one in the final period to take the lead on criteria. With under a minute remaining, Tevanyan fired off a shot to Muszukajev's left leg and secured a takedown to go up 3-1. He then locked up a gut wrench and turned Muszukajev three times to earn a decisive victory.

The bronze medals at 61kg went to Agustin DESTRIBATS (ARG) and Georgi VANGELOV (BUL). The 23-year-old Destribats, who already qualified for the Tokyo Olympics at 65kg, looked impressive in earning a 5-2 win over Razmik PAPIKYAN (ARM). Vangelov, a 2020 Yasar Dogu gold medalist at 57kg, scored late to edge Muhamad IKROMOV (TJK), 9-8.

Three-time world champion Haji ALIYEV (AZE) rebounded from a semifinal loss to Muszukajev to earn a bronze at 65kg with a 10-4 victory over Ilman MUKHTAROV (FRA). Hor OHANNESIAN (UKR) won the other bronze at 65kg with a comfortable 7-1 win over Nicolai GRAHMEZ (MDA).

Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (BLR) made quick work of Baliyan GOURAV (IND) in the first bronze-medal match at 79kg, earning a 14-1 technical superiority in the first period. After going up 10-1, Kadzimahamedau finished the match with a four-point move. Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR) held on to beat Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK) 4-3 in the other bronze-medal match at 79kg.

Piotr IANULOV (MDA) topped world No.2 Deepak PUNIA (IND) 4-1 to earn a bronze at 86kg. The other bronze medal at 86kg went to Osman GOCEN (TUR), who defeated Taimuraz FRIEV NASKIDAEVA (ESP) 11-8.

Ahmed BATAEV (BUL) gave Bulgaria its second freestyle medalist by defeating Shamil ZUBAIROV (AZE) 8-1 in the first 97kg bronze-medal match. Suleyman KARADENIZ (TUR) edged Valerii ANDRIITSEV (UKR) 2-1 to win the other bronze at 97kg.

Freestyle Medal Match Results

61kg
GOLD: Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (RUS) df. Akhmednabi GVARZATILOV (AZE) by VPO1, 5-1
BRONZE: Georgi VANGELOV (BUL) df. Muhamad IKROMOV (TJK) by VPO1, 9-8
BRONZE: Agustin DESTRIBATS (ARG) df. Razmik PAPIKYAN (ARM) by VPO1, 5-2

65kg
GOLD: Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) df. Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) by VPO1, 9-1
BRONZE: Hor OHANNESIAN (UKR) df. Nicolai GRAHMEZ (MDA) by VPO1, 7-1
BRONZE: Haji ALIYEV (AZE) df. Ilman MUKHTAROV (FRA) by VPO1, 10-4

79kg
GOLD: Akhmed USMANOV (RUS) df. Muhammet Nuri KOTANOGLU (TUR) by VSU, 11-0
BRONZE: Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR) df. Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK) by VPO1, 3-2
BRONZE: Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (BLR) df. Baliyan GOURAV (IND) by VSU1, 14-1

86kg
GOLD: Dauren KURUGLIEV (RUS) df. Zbigniew Mateusz BARANOWSKI (POL) by VPO1, 5-1
BRONZE: Osman GOCEN (TUR) df. Taimuraz FRIEV NASKIDAEVA (ESP) by VPO1, 11-8
BRONZE: Piotr IANULOV (MDA) df. Deepak PUNIA (IND) by VPO1, 4-1

97kg
GOLD: Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS) df. Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (BLR) by VIN, 0-0
BRONZE: Suleyman KARADENIZ (TUR) df. Valerii ANDRIITSEV (UKR) by VPO1, 2-1
BRONZE: Ahmed BATAEV (BUL) df. Shamil ZUBAIROV (AZE) by VPO1, 8-1

#WrestleBelgrade

Wrestling scores big at World C'ships with 706 percent jump in engagements

Tuesday, October 4, 2022 - 20:21 By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (October 4) -- Wrestling scored big both on and off the mat during this year’s UWW World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, recording a staggering growth in viewership and engagement numbers digitally. Fans watched twenty-seven million minutes, close to 10 million page views on the mobile app, and a massive 706 percent jump in social media engagements in the last year.

The 2022 edition of the UWW’s flagship event, held September 10-18 was the first digitally-focussed World Championships. Special emphasis was laid on providing a high-quality fan experience that was easy to navigate and, at the same time, engaging to follow on the website, app, and various social media platforms. And the athleticism of the wrestlers drove the digital consumption, with wrestling recording impressive numbers across all platforms.

"The latest numbers from the World Championships show the importance of digitalization and with the current times, UWW is moving into the digital era," Nenad LALOVIC, UWW President, said. "The growth is reflected by the increased engagement across UWW’s new digital platforms and social media channels. This year's World Championships and the millions of fans who watched, interacted, or helped us grow, have laid the foundation for expanding the federation's digital potential."

Be it the UWW website, mobile app, the new streaming hub, or social media platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, wrestling showed impressive year-on-year growth compared to last year’s World Championship on different metrics, such as social media growth, total views, total minutes and time spent on the web.

“We made the digital jump during these World Championships and the results validated our initial projections that now was the time more than ever to invest into a more robust digital experience across UWW platforms,” Gordon Templeman, UWW Commercial and Communications Director said. “There was tremendous benefit from a consolidation of tools that are more interconnected than ever before. We made an initial push in a short period of time and are optimistic for continued growth.”

Key highlights from the data analysis are:

* 27 million minutes were watched during the World Championship on the new video streaming hub, which gave the fans control of the viewing experience due to its multi-view option;

* The new UWW mobile app received 9.77 million page views and an average of 13 minutes and 46 seconds per session were spent, which is roughly equivalent to one bout. The high numbers meant the app topped the sports categories in app stores in key UWW markets;

* The total social media engagements surpassed 6.2 million in September, up by 706 percent since the 2021 World Championships.

Apart from these, the average time spent on the website grew by 41 percent to seven minutes, and the total page views across the website and mobile app were recorded at close to 19 million.

"Data is key to delivering digital experiences that fans want," Hisham Shehabi, COO, N3XT Sports, said. "Therefore, a diverse digital ecosystem helps augment fan intelligence capability. With 500 social media posts, millions in streaming viewership, and increased overall engagement, UWW's ability to customize the user experience has grown."

The massive growth is a direct consequence of the path-breaking steps taken by the UWW in the last few years under the leadership of President Lalovic. The UWW has identified and prioritized digital transformation as one of the five pillars for its 2022-2026 Strategic Plan, which was presented and approved at the 2021 UWW Congress.

UWW has taken several steps aimed at improving the fan experience and increasing the value to its partners to become future-proof and modernize further. A new mobile app was launched along with a video hub, which offered features like the multi-functionality view during the live streaming. This is one of the best examples of fan-led design and development as this was in direct response to the fans’ behavior while streaming.

“We focused our efforts on digital tools that would improve the competition for our fans and those at the competition. Launching an App, developing a video hub and putting in motion an audience database was a challenge, but the World Championships were too big of an opportunity not to start in this new digital direction,” said Sebastien Guenat, UWW Director of IT.

The 2022 World Championships also helped the UWW to establish itself as a true media and entertainment content house, creating more than 500 posts during the World Championships for use across its channels.

All these initiatives have helped the UWW establish a direct relationship with the fans and expand the digital footprint, as evident from the latest figures.

Russia Closes Out Dominant Performance in Belgrade with 4 More FS Gold Medals

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Wrestling scores big at World C'ships with 706 percent jump in engagements