#WrestleTallinn

Russia Wins Greco-Roman Team Title; Kamal Claims Third Junior World Gold

Sunday, August 18, 2019 - 20:31 By Eric Olanowski

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TALLINN, Estonia (August 18) – The Russian Federation joined their fellow freestyle countrymen as junior world team champions, while Kerem KAMAL (TUR) gained ownership of his third consecutive junior world title.

Russia entered the final day of wrestling in Tallinn, Estonia, with the seven-point team lead over Iran, and ended with winning the team title by 37 points. They closed out the Junior World Championships with three additional medals – bringing their overall total to seven junior world medal winners. In total, Russia had four world champs, a pair of silver medalists, and a bronze-medal finisher. 

Sergei STEPANOV (RUS) joined Greco-Roman teammates Anvar ALLAKHIAROV (55kg), Abu AMAEV (63kg) and Ilia ERMOLENKO (87kg) as junior world champs. 

Stepanov, who said the plan coming into the final “was to be first,” collected two points in the first period and one point in the second period and snatched his first world title with a gritty 3-1 victory over Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE). After his win, Stepanov said, “I can’t say (how I feel), I’m just so emotional.”

In the opening period of the finals, Stepanov scored two points from inactivity point and step-out point and carried the 2-0 lead into the closing period. The second period was scoreless until the 65-second mark when Stepanov was thrown down in par terre after being hit for inactivity. He escaped without surrendering a point and managed to tack on a point of his own after a failed leg-foul challenge from the Azerbaijani corner. Stepanov ultimately held on to win, 3-1 -- giving Russia their fourth Greco-Roman gold medal of the tournament, but more importantly, the team title. “Russia is so strong, and I am so happy to become team champions.” 

Kerem KAMAL (TUR) won his third junior world title with a 7-2 win over Sahak HOVHANNISYAN (ARM) in the 60kg finals. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

Meanwhile, Kerem Kamal held up three fingers to the crowd, signaling his possession of a third consecutive junior world title after he defeated Sahak HOVHANNISYAN (ARM), 7-2 in the 60kg gold-medal bout. “I’m very happy to win the third gold medal in the junior category. I was before in the cadet finals three times and I lost,” said Kamal.  

In his finals match, the Turkish wrestler trailed after the first period, but he expected to be in that position. “The match plan was (to be) safe in the first (period)…Safety first.” The second period was pivotal for Kamal in grasping his third junior world gold. After playing it safe in the first period, Kamal said, “In the second period, I go full power.” And that’s exactly what he did. In the final three minutes, Kamal earned an inactivity point and got to work quickly -- smothering Hovhannisyan with a right-side gut wrench follow by a four-point lift from the right side and commanded the 7-1 lead. He conceded a second-period point but ended up carrying the Turkish flag around the mat at a Junior World Championships for the third consecutive year with a 7-2 victory. 

Giorgi SHOTADZE (GEO) defeated Shant KHACHATRYAN (ARM), 6-3 in the 67kg finals and captured his second age-group world title. His first came at the 2016 Cadet World Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia. 

Final Trio of Day Seven Champions
In the 67kg finals, Giorgi SHOTADZE (GEO) and Shant KHACHATRYAN (ARM) exchanged one-point sequences, but it was the Georgian who headed into the second period with the lead on criteria. A stepout 15 seconds into the second period, followed by a four-point throw with 25 seconds left gave the reigning European champion his second world title and first since winning the 2016 Cadet World Championship in Tbilisi, Georgia. 

Istvan TAKACS (HUN) scored 48 offensive points on his way to the 82kg title. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

Istvan TAKACS (HUN) stopped Russia from winning their second gold medal of the night with a 7-1 statement win over Aues GONIBOV (RUS) in the 82kg finals. “I came for the gold, and I got it,” Takacs said after the award ceremony.  

In the opening period, the Hungarian traded inactivity points with his Russian opponent but wasn’t too worried because it was all a part of his initial game plan. “The plan was to defend the first par terre position, then pick up my points.” He successfully defended the par terre, and when it was his turn, he capitalized on his opportunity -- scoring six points from a pair of two-point lifts and a leg foul.  

Takas closed out the Junior World Championships scoring 48 offensive points. When asked about his offensive efficiency, Takas said, “I thought about it before the matches. I wanted to win by one or two points, but in the matches, I felt good and the points just came... Everything clicked.” 

With his win on Sunday night, Takas became Hungary’s first junior world champion since 2012, when Baliant LAM won the 120kg title in Pattaya, Thailand. 

Gabriel ROSILLO KINDELAN (CUB) easily handled Patrick NEUMAIER (GER), 8-0 in the 97kg gold-medal bout. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

At 97kg, it only took 74 seconds for Cuba’s Gabriel ROSILLO KINDELAN to impose his will on Patrick NEUMAIER (GER) and pick up the technical superiority victory. The Cuban suplexed his way to a four-point lead, then stacked on a takedown and a gut wrench -- giving Cuba their first junior Greco-Roman world title since Yasmany LUGO CABRERA’S (CUB) 2009 world title run in Ankara, Turkey.

RESULTS 

Final Greco-Roman Team Scores
GOLD - Russia (157 points)
SILVER - Iran (121 points)
BRONZE - Turkey (117 points)
Fourth - Georgia (91 points)
Fifth - Hungary (62 points)

60kg
GOLD - Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Sahak HOVHANNISYAN (ARM), 7-2
BRONZE - Georgii TIBILOV (RUS) df. Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO), 5-2 
BRONZE - Asgar ALIZADA (AZE) df. Talastan KANZHARBEK UULU (KGZ), 11-2 

67kg
GOLD - Giorgi SHOTADZE (GEO) df. Shant KHACHATRYAN (ARM), 6-3 
BRONZE - Peyton Louis OMANIA (USA)  df. Xin HUANG (CHN), 6-5 
BRONZE - Valentin PETIC (MDA) df. Abdul Samet BASAR (TUR), 3-1

72kg
GOLD - Sergei STEPANOV (RUS) df. Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE), 3-1 
BRONZE - Ihor BYCHKOV (UKR)  df. Rasmus Lilleman AASTROEM (SWE), via fall 
BRONZE - Mohammadreza Mahmoud ROSTAMI (IRI) df. Ismail GUN (TUR), 6-5 

82kg
GOLD - Istvan TAKACS (HUN) df. Aues GONIBOV (RUS), 7-1 
BRONZE - Maksim BANDARENKA (BLR) df. Hosein FOROUZANDEH GHOJEHBEIGLOU (IRI), 5-4 
BRONZE - Dogan KAYA (TUR) df. Lucas Alexandros LAZOGIANIS (GER), 8-6 

97kg
GOLD - Gabriel Alejandro ROSILLO KINDELAN (CUB) df. Patrick NEUMAIER (GER), 8-0 
BRONZE - Uladzislau PUSTASHYLAU (BLR) df. Gerard Cyprian KURNICZAK (POL), 3-1 
BRONZE - Beytullah KAYISDAG (TUR) df. Alex Gergo SZOKE (HUN), 1-1 

#WrestleAthens

Olympic legend Icho returns to Athens to lead Japan’s next generation

Sunday, August 3, 2025 - 09:59 By Vinay Siwach

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ATHENS, Greece (August 2) -- In Athens, home of the Olympics, Kaori ICHO (JPN) is already one of the pantheon of greats.

Having once made history as an athlete here -- winning the first of four Olympic gold medals at the 2004 Olympics -- Icho now sets out to carve a new legacy, this time as coach to the next generation of Japanese talent.

In Athens, she is making her international debut as coach of the Japanese women's team at the World U17 Championships as she returns to the Ano Liossia Olympic Sports Hall, the same venue she won the Olympic gold.

"I have returned to this arena for the first time in 21 years," Icho told United World Wrestling. "I won an [Olympic] gold medal in this arena for the first time."

Icho, who ended her wrestling career in 2019, started coaching after the Tokyo Olympics. She has coached Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) domestically as both Morikawa and Icho are recruited with ALSOK.

Japan managed to win only one gold medal in Women's Wrestling at the World Championships and finished third in the team race. While Japan is not used to finishing at that position in Women's Wrestling, the third-place highlighted that even Japan's second-tier team poses a significant challenge to the world.

The presence of Icho definitely helped the wrestlers, who were not only helped by her experience but the presence of the four-time Olympic champion motivated them.

Japan's world champion in Athens, Hanano OYA (JPN), said that watching Icho win her record fourth gold medal in Rio 2016 inspired her to take up wrestling.

"The reason I started wrestling was because of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics," Oya said. "It was when Kaori achieved her fourth consecutive victory, and I saw it on TV. I started wrestling myself, so I was very happy when she accompanied me and acted as my second coach, and I felt that I had to live up to her expectations."

Kaori ICHO (JPN)Kaori ICHO (JPN) coaches one of the members of the Japanese team. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

For Icho, not being on the mat and coaching from the corner was a different experience.

"I feel really strange being able to come back here as a coach," she said. "This tournament is the World Championships for those under 17 years old. I also became an Olympic gold medalist at this venue when I was 20 and I hope that the young athletes will work hard towards their Olympic dreams."

Back in 2004, the first Olympics when Women's Wrestling became part of it, Icho remembered the nervous and the excitement. The enjoyment, however, came only after she had won the gold.

"It was my first Olympics," she said. "I was very nervous and excited. I was here for about two weeks, from the opening ceremony to the closing ceremony. After winning, I went swimming in the Aegean Sea. It was a very enjoyable Olympics."

Kaori ICHO (JPN)Kaori ICHO (JPN) during a warm-up session of the Japanese team in Athens. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

When she landed at the airport in Athens on Monday, memories from the past came rushing back.

"I don't particularly feel it at the airport, but I wondered if it was this hot," she said. "I wondered what the venue will be like. I was reminiscing about 21 years ago."

Once at the venue, Icho was requested for photos from wrestlers and coaches which she obliged. With her first tournament as coach behind her, Icho is determined to work even harder as she prepares the senior Japan team for the World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, this September.

"Coaches and players asked me to take pictures with them," she said. "I felt stronger coming here. I want to work harder as a coach."