#WrestleNoviSad

Trio of Russians Make Day Three Finals

Tuesday, March 5, 2019 - 20:06 By Eric Olanowski

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NOVI SAD, Serbia (March 5) – Russia, who trails Georgia by 38 points heading into the third day of wrestling, won all three of their semifinal matches on Tuesday night and inserted their fourth Greco-Roman wrestler into the U23 European finals. 

Alen MIRZOIAN (RUS), Magomed YARBILOV (RUS), and Vaag MARGARIAN (RUS) are the trio of Russians who locked up their spot in the Day 3 finals. The trio will have an opportunity on Wednesday night to match their teammate Islam OPIEV's Day 2 gold-medal performance.

Defending U23 European champion Alen Mirzoian defeated 2017 U23 European bronze medalist Artur POLITAIEV (UKR), 9-4, in the semifinals and will meet Serbia’s Sebastian NAD for the 67kg title. 

At 72kg, Magomed Yarbilov became Russia’s second Day 3 finalist after he won the battle between past junior world bronze medalists and beat Islambek DADOV (AZE), 3-0, in the semifinals.

Yarbilov will wrestle Georgia’s returning U23 European champion Ramaz ZOIDZE in the 72kg gold-medal bout. 

In his opening round matchup, Zoidze exacted revenge on Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR), the man who stole the U23 world title from him a season ago. Zoidze also defeated Hrant KALACHYAN (ARM) and Norway’s Juan AAK on his way to a second consecutive U23 European final.

Russia's third Day 3 finalist is defending U23 European champion Vaag Margarian. Margarian defeated Turkey’s Hasan YILDIRIM (TUR) in the 82kg semifinals and set up a finals date with Hungary’s Zotlan LEVAI. 

Returning champion Kerem KAMAL (TUR) will wrestle for his second consecutive U23 European title (Photo: Gabor Martin)

The pair of Day 3 gold-medal matches that won’t feature a Russian wrestler will take place at 60kg and 97kg. 

At 60kg, Turkey’s defending U23 European champion Kerem KAMAL (TUR) scored the impressive 9-0 win over Georgia’s Irakli DZIMISTARISHVILI. Kamal will meet Romania’s Razvan ARNAUT (ROU) in the 60kg gold-medal match. 

At 97kg, Finland’s 2018 junior world champion and U23 European bronze medalist Arvi SAVOLAINEN scord the 4-0 shutout win over Turkey’s Ibrahim TIGCI in the semifinals and will take on Giorgi MELIA (GEO) in tomorrow’s gold-medal bout. 

The Day 3 finals begin on Wednesday at 18:00 (local time).

Results  
60kg
GOLD - Razvan ARNAUT (ROU) vs. Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
SEMIFINAL - Razvan ARNAUT (ROU) df. Zhora ABOVIAN (UKR), 2-0
SEMIFINAL - Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Irakli DZIMISTARISHVILI (GEO), 9-0

67kg
GOLD - Sebastian NAD (SRB) vs. Alen MIRZOIAN (RUS)
SEMIFINAL - Sebastian NAD (SRB) df. Alexandru SOLOMON (ROU),6-1
SEMIFINAL - Alen MIRZOIAN (RUS) df. Artur POLITAIEV (UKR), 9-4 

72kg
GOLD - Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO) vs. Magomed YARBILOV (RUS)
SEMIFINAL - Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO) df. Juan AAK (NOR), 12-4 
SEMIFINAL - Magomed YARBILOV (RUS) df. Islambek DADOV (AZE), 3-0 

82kg 
GOLD - Zotlan LEVAI (HUN) vs. Vaag MARGARIAN (RUS)
SEMIFINAL - Vaag MARGARIAN (RUS) df. Hasan YILDIRIM (TUR), 3-1
SEMIFINAL - Zotlan LEVAI (HUN) df. Stanislau SHAFARENKA (BLR), 8-0 

97kg 
GOLD - Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN) vs. Giorgi MELIA (GEO)
SEMIFINAL - Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN) df. Ibrahim TIGCI (TUR), 4-0|
SEMIFINAL - Giorgi MELIA (GEO) df. Arif NIFTULLAYEV (AZE), 7-4

#WrestleBudapest

Yazdani: 'I was 60 percent fit in Budapest, want to win Olympic gold'

Saturday, June 8, 2024 - 13:05 By Vinay Siwach

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (June 8) -- Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) returned to the mat for the first time in eight months. After winning the Asian Games, Yazdani underwent shoulder surgery and returned to training only a month ago. The selection process for the Paris Olympics needed him to participate in the Ranking Series in Budapest to prove his fitness.

Yazdani wrestled like he was never away. Yazdani ended a long day with a 12-2 win over Trent HIDLAY (USA), his fourth win via technical superiority in as many bouts.

"I thank God that I was able to get on the mat in international competitions after seven months and 13 days," Yazdani said. "I started wrestling training a month ago and, it was good. With my relative preparation, I tried to get an acceptable result in this course of competition."

Yazdani said that he still needs to work on a few of his weaknesses which were exposed in the tournament. Yazdani gave up six points in his four matches and was stuck in a danger position a couple of times.

"I had a little preparation and it was around 60 percent," he said. "I hadn’t wrestled for a long time and when they announced my name for this tournament, I had about 25 days to train and it got better as time passed. When you’re not ready, you may face problems. My opponents used this opportunity and scored some points on me."

"I have some weaknesses that I hope I can fix before the Olympics so that I can wrestle better than these competitions and get the gold medal. I hope that until the Olympics, I can eliminate my weaknesses so I can win the best medal for my country and our good people."

For his return to the mat, Yazdani expressed his gratitude to several individuals but was grateful for the support from his family.

"I want to thank all those who have been by my side during this time," he said. "Dr. Rezaei, my physiotherapist and also Samereh Ghanbari as they didn’t leave me alone during this time. Dr. Aslani, my doctor and Javad Rahmani, my bodybuilding coach, and of course, my old coach Mehdi Yegane Jafari, who was by my side during these difficult days after the shoulder surgery. My family has its own place but these loved ones contribute to winning this medal and the Olympics medal. So far everything has been successful, I hope we can get the best result in the future.

RESULTS

Freestyle

74kg
GOLD: Razambek JAMALOV (UZB) df. Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN), 7-4

BRONZE: Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ) df. Bekzod ABDURAKHMONOV (UZB), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Ali Abbas REZAEI (IRI) df. Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO), 5-3

86kg
GOLD: Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) df. Trent HIDLAY (USA), 12-2

BRONZE: Hayato ISHIGURO (JPN) df. Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ), 5-1
BRONZE: Evsem SHVELIDZE (GEO) df. Bobur ISLOMOV (UZB), 7-3

92kg
GOLD: Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
SILVER: Iuza TSERTSVADZE (GEO)
BRONZE: Balasz JUHASZ (HUN)