#Rome2018

Russia Squeaks past Azerbaijan, Wins Freestyle Euro Team Title

Sunday, August 5, 2018 - 19:04 By Eric Olanowski

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ROME, Italy (August 5) - Thanks to impeccable performances by Akhmed SHOKUMOV (RUS) and Azamat ZAKUEV (RUS), Russia added two additional European Championship gold medals and brought their overall tournament total to thirteen gold medals. In addition to the thirteen individual gold medals, Russia also obtained team titles in freestyle, Greco-Roman and women’s wrestling. 

Shokumov and Zakuev, Russia’s third and fourth freestyle champions each cruised to victories in their gold-medal matches, ending their bouts early by fall and technical superiority, helping Russia (141 points) squeak past second place Azerbaijan (136 points) and third place Armenia (135 points).

Akhmed SHOKUMOV (RUS) won one of Russia's two gold medals on the final day of wreslting at the Junior European Championships. (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne)

Akhmed Shokumov was manhandling Dzhemal Rushen ALI (BUL) in the 74kg title match before picking up the second-period fall. 

Shokumov grabbed a pair of opening period takedowns, shutting out Ali while controlling the 4-0 lead after the first three minutes. 

In the second period, a deflated Ali got to his offense and spun behind Shokumov, but was unable to get the Russian’s knee to touch, and the wrestlers were brought back up to their feet. 

Shortly after, the frustrated Ali looked for a homerun throw, but Shokumov pancaked him to his back and scored the fall, picking up Russia’s third freestyle title and their twelfth overall Junior European Championship gold medal. 

Azamat ZAKUEV (RUS) crused to a 10-0 win in the 92kg gold-medal bout. (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne) 

Returning European champion, Azamat Zakuev crushed Askhab HAMZATOV (AZE), 10-0 in the 92kg gold medal bout. 

Zakuev blazed out to an eight-point lead in the opening period, transitioning to a pair of gut wrenches from two separate takedowns. 

The Russian capped off his title run with a second period cross-ankle-pick, giving him the ten-point advantage and back-to-back junior continental championships.

Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) flexes after winning his first European title since 2016. (Photo by Max-Rose Fyne) 

Russia wasn’t the only nation busy winning a pair of gold medals on the seventh and final day competition , as Armenia’s Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) and Hovhannes MAGHAKYAN (ARM) were also crowned European champions. 

Vazgen Tevanyan, last year’s Cadet European Championship runner-up defeated Intigam VALIZADA (AZE), 5-2 in the extremely slow 61kg gold-medal bout. 

The opening period was filled with underhooks and fake shots, but Tevanyan was able to score the periods only point with a step-out that gave him the 1-0 lead into the break. 

Tevanyan added another step-out to open the second period but fell behind 2-2 on criteria after forfeiting a deep two-point double leg. 

The Armenian wrestler regained the lead with 90 seconds left, scoring his third step-out point of the match. He closed out the bout by stopping Valizada's throw attempt, scoring his first offensive points of the bout and winning his first European title since claiming the gold back in 2016.  

Hovhannes MAGHAKYAN (ARM) gave Armenia their second gold medal of the day after winning the 125kg weight class. (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne) 

In the 125kg gold medal bout, Hovhannes used a left-side underhook to slow down Yurii IDZINSKYI (UKR) and won the bout, 4-2. 

Maghaky gave up an early takedown and trailed 2-0 right out of the gate. The two-time age-level runner-up rebounded before the period ended and threw the Ukranian wrestler with a monstrous four-point throw, taking the 4-2 lead into the final three minutes. 

After a scoreless second period, the match ended 4-2 and Armenia, who finished one point behind Azerbaijan walked away with the third place team trophy. 

RESULTS 
TEAM SCORES 
GOLD – Russia (141 points)
SILVER –Azerbaijan (136 points)
BRONZE - Armenia (135 points)
Fourth –Turkey (126 points)
Fifth – Ukraine (109 points)

61kg 
GOLD - Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) df. Intigam VALIZADA (AZE), 5-2

BRONZE - Ramaz TURMANIDZE (GEO) df. Leomid COLESNIC (MDA), 10-0 
BRONZE - Ihor NYKYFORUK (UKR) df. Arman ELOYAN (FRA), via fall 

74kg 
GOLD - Akhmed SHOKUMOV (RUS) vs. Dzhemal Rushen ALI (BUL), via fall 

BRONZE -  Ismail ABDULLAEV (AZE) df. Hrayr ALIKHANYAN (ARM), 10-5 
BRONZE -  Piotr CARASENI (MDA) df. Kevin LUCHT (GER), 10-6 

86kg
GOLD - Arif OZEN (TUR) df. Patrik SZUROVSZKI (HUN), 4-2 

BRONZE - Uri KALASHNIKOV (ISR) df. Ivan NEDEALCO (MDA), 6-3 
BRONZE - Demur MEGENEISHVILI (GEO) df. Mher MARKOSYAN (ARM), 8-4 

92kg 
GOLD - Azamat ZAKUEV (RUS) df. Askhab HAMZATOV (AZE), 10-0 

BRONZE - Ertugrul AGCA (GER) df. Beka NADASHVILI (GEO), 8-7 
BRONZE - Erhan YAYLACI (TUR) df. Gheorghe ERHAN (MDA), 14-4 

125kg
GOLD - Hovhannes MAGHAKYAN (ARM) vs. Yurii IDZINSKYI (UKR), 4-2 

BRONZE - Oktay GUNGOR (TUR) df. Samhan JABRAILOV (MDA), 4-4 
BRONZE - Rahid HAMIDLI (AZE) df. Jakub BRYLEWSKI (POL), 7-4

#JapanWrestling

Fujinami to move up to 57kg in quest for consecutive Olympic golds

Wednesday, November 27, 2024 - 12:12 By Ken Marantz

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TOKYO (November 26) -- Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) won't be defending her Olympic gold at women's 53kg at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. That's bad news for anyone aiming to strike gold at 57kg.

Fujinami has announced that she will move up to the next Olympic weight class starting next year, the Japan federation website and Japan media widely recently reported.

Fujinami, who turned 21 on November 11, cited the difficulty of cutting weight for the decision, as well as the historic aspect that no woman wrestler has ever won a second straight Olympic gold after moving to a higher weight class.

"I have decided to move up to the 57kg weight class," Fujinami said after Sunday's East Japan Collegiate Women's League, a team tournament that marked her first competition since winning the gold at the Paris Olympics in August. "Considering my height and my normal weight, I think I can give my best performance at 57."

Fujinami competed at 59kg in the five-team league tournament (one school was a no-show), which was run in a round-robin, duel-meet format with only three weight classes -- 53kg, 59kg and 76kg.

She won both of her matches by fall, extending her current winning streak to 139 matches dating back to her junior high school days in September 2017.

The 1.64-meter Fujinami was actually wrestling near her natural weight, which she says is "about 61kg." But even against two opponents from higher weight classes -- Ikuei University's Ichika ARAI (JPN) was the 2023 world U20 silver medalist at 57kg -- her skills and speed were still overwhelming.

"It has been really hard to cut down to 53kg," Fujinami said. "I felt I lost muscle during the process. I feel I can give my best performance by going down three kilos from my natural weight."

Asked when she expects to make her full-fledged "debut" at the new weight, she replied in a text message, "It will be sometime next year. I haven't decided exactly when yet."

With a full schedule of post-Olympic TV appearances and local events curtailing her training, she has already ruled out appearing at next month's Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships.

It is likely she will compete at the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships in the spring, as that tournament, along with the Emperor's Cup, will serve as qualifiers for the 2025 World Championships.

The move up to 57kg will likely put her on a collision course with the reigning Olympic champion, Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN). The two met last year at the East Japan Collegiate tournament, with Fujinami coming away with a 5-0 victory.

The challenge of possibly accomplishing a historic first appeals to Fujinami, who last year won her second career world title at 53kg in Belgrade.

"I heard that no [woman] has moved up a weight class and won another Olympic gold," Fujinami said. "It will difficult, but that's what makes it challenging. I hope I can become stronger at the next [Olympics] in Los Angeles."

Two Japanese women -- Saori YOSHIDA (JPN) and Kaori ICHO (JPN) -- have won an additional Olympic gold after going down a weight, but that was mainly because the number of weight classes was expanded from four to six, allowing them to compete more closely to their normal weight.

Among men, the legendary Aleksandr MEDVED (URS) won the freestyle 97kg gold in 1964, then triumphed again at 97+kg in 1968, while Levan TEDASHVILI (URS) won at freestyle 82kg in 1972 and 90kg in 1976. More recently, Abdulrashid SADULAEV claimed the freestyle 86kg gold in 2016, then won again at 97kg in 2021.

Fujinami said she doesn't expect to make any major alterations to her wrestling style at the heavier weight.

"I have no intention of making any big changes in my wrestling style," she said. "I will still try to keep the opponent from getting at my legs, and take the initiative to score points. Still, I can feel the extra weight of four kilos, so how I increase my weight could affect how I perform."

At this year's East Japan league tournament, Fujinami's Nippon Sport Science University was relegated to second by Ikuei University, which won 2-1 in their duel meet. Ikuei got victories from Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) and Ami ISHII (JPN), who both won gold medals at last month's Non-Olympic Weight Category World Championships.