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Russia Relying on Three Olympic Champs for Tokyo Berths  

Thursday, March 11, 2021 - 21:12 By Eric Olanowski

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (March 11) --- The Russian Federation will rely heavily on Olympic champions Roman VLASOV (RUS), Davit CHAKVETADZE (RUS) and Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) to earn berths to the Tokyo Olympic Games through next week’s European Olympic Qualifier (March 18-21).  

They’ll need a top-two finish to punch their nation’s ticket to this summer’s Games.

Greco-Roman stars Vlasov and Chakvetadze will compete at 77kg and 87kg, respectively, while Vorobieva will wrestle in arguably the deepest women’s wrestling weight, 76kg.  

Vlasov, already a two-time Olympic champion, is on a mission to become wrestling's fourth Greco-Roman three-time Olympic gold medalist. He’d join a shortlist of three-timers, including fellow Novosibirsk native Aleksandr KARELIN (RUS), along with Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) and Carl WESTERGREN (SWE).

The European Olympic Qualifiers will be Vlasov’s second attempt at earning an Olympic bid. He came up shy of a top-eight finish at the ’19 World Championships. Vlasov dropped his second-round bout to Askhat DILMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ), 3-0, and finished in eighth place.

Since that uncharacteristic loss at the World Championships, "Air Vlasov" returned to his winning ways. He nabbed gold at the Individual World Cup with five wins -- including a one-point victory against fellow world champion and longtime rival, Viktor NEMES (SRB).

Chakvetadze, the Rio Olympic gold medalist, is replacing Russia’s world and European representative Aleksandr KOMAROV (RUS) at 87kg. Komarov needed a top-six finish at the ’19 World Championships to qualify Russia for the Olympics but dropped his second-round match to Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB) and finished in 11th place. 

Chakvetadze received the nod over Komarov for a second straight completion. His last outing came at the '20 Individual World Cup in late December, where he finished in second place. During his run to the Belgrade finals, the Olympic champion looked in top-shape en route to wins over continental champion Semen NOVIKOV (UKR) and Hossein Ahmad NOURI (IRI) before running into the buzzsaw Kiryl MASKEVICH (BLR).

London gold medalist and Rio silver-medal winner Vorobeva is the reigning world and European champion at the non-Olympic weight of 72kg. She’s moving up to 76kg with hopes of becoming the first non-Japanese woman ever to win a pair of Olympic gold medals. 

Vorobieva is replacing Rio Olympic bronze medalist Ekaterina BUKINA (RUS) at 76kg. Bukina lost to Epp MAE (EST) in the first round at the ’19 World Championships and left Nur-Sultan with a disappointing 17th-place finish.

The Olympic Qualifier will be Vorobeva's first tournament up at the Olympic weight in 14 months. In her last outing at 76kg, she went 3-1 and claimed a Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series bronze medal. Vorobeva tallied her biggest win of the competition in the quarterfinals against '19 world bronze medalist Epp MAEE (EST), 11-2.

Wrestling begins on Thursday, March 18, and can be followed live on www.unitedworldwrestling.org. 

#WrestleBudapest

LIVE BLOG: European Olympic Qualifier, Day One

Thursday, March 18, 2021 - 00:00 By Eric Olanowski

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (March 18) -- The quarterfinals are underway. The winners of these quarterfinals matches are one win away from punching their nation's ticket to the Tokyo Olympic Games. The semifinals begin on Thursday night at 18:00 (local time).

WATCH: https://uww.org/event/european-og-qualifier

Match of the Day
Candidate 1: Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (BLR) df. Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR), 8-7
Candidate 2: Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) df. Niurgun SKRIABIN (BLR), 7-5

15:39: That'll do it for the opening session. We'll see you back here at 17:15 for the Opening Ceremony. The semifinals begin at 18:00.

15:36: Shamil SHARIPOV (RUS) is clearly upset with his performance against Robert BARAN (POL), but his 3-2 win puts him in tonight's semifinals against Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (BLR).

15:20: These will be the last matches of the session. We'll take a break until the Opening Ceremony which starts at 17:15. Once those conclude, we'll roll into the semifinals at 18:00.

15:13: Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (BLR) ends his 97kg quarterfinals match against Ahmed BATAEV (BUL) with a big smile on his face. He trailed 3-3 on criteria and scored a stepout with less than five seconds left to win, 4-3. He'll wrestle Abraham CONYEDO (ITA) later tonight in the semifinals.

Semifinal Matchups (as they come in):
57kg
SEMIFINAL: Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) vs. Andrii YATSENKO (UKR)
SEMIFINAL: Georgi Valentinov VANGELOV (BUL) vs. Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)

65kg
SEMIFINAL: Magomedmurad GADZHIEV (POL) vs. Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) 
SEMIFINAL: Haji ALIYEV (AZE) vs. Maxim SACULTAN (MDA) 

74kg
SEMIFINAL: Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO) vs. Ali UMARPASHAEV (BUL) 
SEMIFINAL: Khadzhimurad GADZHIYEV (AZE) vs. Maxim VASILIOGLO (ROU) 

86kg
SEMIFINAL: Osman GOCEN (TUR) vs. Boris MAKOEV (SVK) 
SEMIFINAL: Akhmed MAGAMAEV (BUL) vs. Ali SHABANAU (BLR) 

97kg
SEMIFINAL: Erik THIELE (GER) vs. Suleyman KARADENIZ (TUR)
SEMIFINAL: Abraham CONYEDO (ITA) vs. Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (BLR)

125kg
SEMIFINAL: Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (BLR) vs. Shamil SHARIPOV (RUS)
SEMIFINAL: Jamaladdin MAGOMEDOV (AZE) vs. Gennadij CUDINOVIC (GER) 

14:32: That was a close one! Ali UMARPASHAEV (BUL) led Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (BLR), 4-0, but gave up four unanswered points and escaped a close one. That criteria win pushed him into the 74kg semifinals.

14:08: Tevanyan takes out Olympic champion Khinchegashvili, 7-5, and moves into the semifinals where he'll take on Magomedmurad Gadzhiev for an Olympic berth.

14:00: What a start! Tevanyan puts up five quick points and leads Olympic champion Khinchegashvili, 5-0. 

13:55 Things are getting chippy on Mat A. Kilicsallayan continues to complain that Aliyev is pulling on singlet. Either way, he's trailing 5-0 with less than 30 seconds left.

13:48: The 65kg quarterfinals are about to get underway! 

13:38: European champion Arsen Harutunyunan keeps things rolling with a 10-5 quarterfinals win over Beka BUJIASHVILI (GEO). He'll take on the winner of Gamzatgadzsi HALIDOV (HUN) and Andrii YATSENKO (UKR) in the semifinals.

13:27: What a match! Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) and Niurgun SKRIABIN (BLR) left it all on the mat, but it was Tevanyan who came out on top. The Armenian trailed 5-1 with less than a minute to go but strung together six points from a takedown and a pair of gut wrenches. Tevanyan moved into the quarterfinals with a 7-5 win. He'll wrestle Olympic champion Vlad Khinchegashvili for a spot in tonight's semifinals.

13:10: Aliyev came to scrap! He'll meet '19 European runner-up Selahattin KILICSALLAYAN (TUR) in the quarterfinals after cruising to a 13-2 win over George RAMM (GBR).

13:04: The wait is over! Haji Aliyev, the three-time world champion, is up now on Mat A.

13:03: What a comeback! Gadzhiev trailed 4-2 with less than 30 seconds left but scored a takedown and a stepout to defeat George BUCUR (ROU), 5-4.

13:01: Two-time world medalist Magomedmurad GADZHIEV (POL) is making his first appearance down at 65kg since the '18 World Championships. In December, he claimed 70kg gold at the Individual World Cup.

12:45: There's your Match of the Day! Kadzimahamedau survived a late flurry of points but hung on to upset Demirtas, 8-7. Turkey now has to answer the tough question: Is Demirtas their guy for the final Olympic qualification event, the World OG Qualifier (May 6-9) or do they put the weight on the shoulders of two-time world medalist Yakup GOR?

12:43: There's an upset brewing on Mat B! Kadzimahamedau just scored eight unanswered points against Rio Olympic bronze medalist Demirtas and leads 8-3.

12:38: Rio Olympic silver medalist Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR) is wrestling Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (BLR) on Mat B.

12:37: Kentchazdze opens the seconds period up with a takedown, followed by a pair of leg laces. He's leading 8-2 with 90 seconds left.

12:33: It's still early in the match, but '18 world silver medalist Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO) and Hrayr ALIKHANYAN (ARM) are trading takedowns on Mat C!

12:24: We're all waiting for three-time world champion Haji ALIYEV (AZE) to wrestle his first match! It's been a long morning, but I promise, he's coming up soon. He'll be up in four matches (Bout 15) on Mat A.

12:05: It wasn't anything flashy or highlight-worthy, but that's the name of the game here -- win and move on. Khinchegashvili conserved his energy and wrestled a smart match. He moved into the second round with a 3-1 win over  Vasyl SHUPTAR (UKR). Next up, the Olympic champ will take on Ilman MUKHTAROV (FRA) on Mat C (Bout 63).

11:58: Here. We. Go. Olympic champion "King Vlad" is wrestling on Mat C.

11:57: Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (BLR) ends Finsilver's quest to become Israel's second freestyle Olympian with a 7-0 shutout win.

11:49: Israel has only ever had one freestyle Olympian. Mitchell FINESILVER (ISR) begins his quest to make it two. He's wrestling on Mat C.

11:43: The last time Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) stepped foot on a mat, he had the tournament of his life. He upset reigning world bronze medalist Ismail MUSUKAEV (HUN) and won 65kg Individual World Cup gold. Can Tevanyan put back-to-back competitions together? We'll find out shortly as he's coming up on Mat A in three matches (Bout 8).

11:38: The lone-Russian freestyle wrestler, Shamil SHARIPOV, is up on Mat A. Russia already qualified 56kg, 65kg, 75kg, 86kg and 97kg for the Olympic Games through the Nur-Sultan World Championships. If Sharipov can finish top two today, Russia will be represented at each weight in Tokyo.

11:35: There were no signs that the weight cut was an issue for Arsen Harutyunyan. He looked impressive in his first match The European champion put up ten points against Uladzislau ANDREYEU (BLR) and won, 10-2.

11:23: Rio Olympic champion Vladimer KHINCHEGASHVILI (GEO) is up on Mat C in four matches (Bout 56). He'll try to qualify Georgia and himself for a third Olympic Games. His first Olympics were in '12 where he made it to the finals but fell short of winning gold. Then, in Rio, he reached the summit of the wrestling world by defeating Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) in the 57kg finals to become Georgia's second Olympic champ. 

11:09: European champion (at 61kg) Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) is making his way to Mat A to wrestle Uladzislau ANDREYEU (BLR). It's a big weight cut for the Armenian, so this first match after a draining cut is always telling. Harutyunyan struggled at 57kg at the World Championships, where he finished in 16th place, but bounced back at the Individual World Cup with a silver medal. Which Harutyunyan is going to show up today? 

11:00: Get ready for an emotional day! There will be a total of 12 Olympic berths earned today. The top two wrestlers at each weight punch their nation's ticket to the Olympic Games. One thing to remember: you qualify your nation and not yourself for The Games.

Thursday's Schedule (local time):
11:00: Qualification rounds FS – 57-65-74-86-97-125kg
17:15: Opening Ceremony
18:00: Tokyo 2020 Qualifying Round (Semi-Final) for FS – 57-65-74-86-97-125kg