#WrestleTunis

Turkey, India share spoils on Zouhaier Sghaier Day 1

By Vinay Siwach

TUNIS, Tunisia (July 14) -- Junior world champion Muhammet BAKIR (TUR) put on a clinical display to lead Turkey's charge on day one of the Zouhaier Sghaier Ranking Series event, the fourth and final of the year.

On the first day, six Greco-Roman gold medals were on offer and Turkey and India snagged three each with close to perfect performances at the Sports Hall of Rades.

Bakir's performance highlighted Turkey's depth at the superheavyweight in Greco-Roman with Riza KAYAALP (TUR) and Osman YILDRIM (TUR) already there.

He wrestled two bouts in the day and won both without much trouble. In the morning, he was up against NAVEEN (IND) and after being given the advantage of Naveen's passivity, Bakir got a roll from par terre to make the score 3-0, a lead which he kept till the clock expired.

In the evening session, he was up against Amine GUENNICHI (TUN) in a virtual gold medal match. Guennichi had also defeated Naveen 5-3 in their bout. 

Bakir was once again the aggressive wrestler of the two and was given a point for Guennichi's passivity. Despite his strong defense, Guennichi gave up two turns to Bakir who was up 5-0.

The positions were reversed in the second period but Bakir was stronger in defense and did not give up any turns. Ultimately, he won the bout and gold 5-1.

Muhutdin SARICICEK (TUR)Muhutdin SARICICEK (TUR), blue, dominated the 97kg weight in Tunis. (Photo: UWW / Bayrem Men Mrad)

The second gold for Turkey came at 97kg as Muhutdin SARICICEK (TUR managed to win all three of his bouts. While he defeated Mohamed JABRI (TUN), 12-0, in the Round 3 bout, it was the morning bout against DEEPANSHU (IND) that all but confirmed his gold.

Saricicek and Deepanshu were involved in a tense battle and the Turkey wrestler managed to pull off a 2-1 win in the end.

Deepanshu rallied back to beat Adem BOUDJEMLINE (ALG), 1-1, in Round 3 in the evening to confirm a silver medal for himself in the Nordic bracket.

Veteran Ayhan KARAKUS (TUR) gave Turkey its third gold when he began the evening session with a 9-0 technical superiority win over Arjun HALAKURKI (IND).

Using the arm-trap after par terre, Karakus finished the bout in just 1:58 to claim the gold at 60kg.

Sachin SAHRAWAT (IND)Sachin SAHRAWAT (IND) won the 67kg gold via classification points. (Photo: UWW / Bayrem Ben Mrad)

At 67kg, Asian Championships bronze medalist NEERAJ (IND) was coming into Round 3 against Volkan CAKIL (TUR) unbeaten. A win against the Turkey wrestler would secure the gold medal for him.

But Cakil surprised Neeraj with a big four early in the bout. Neeraj cut the lead to 4-3 with a takedown which Cakil challenged but lost. The second period also began with a four-pointer from Cakil which made his lead 8-3.

As time progressed, Neeraj continued his attacks against a tiring Cakil and got a stepout, stepout and caution and a takedown to mount a comeback. But Cakil had got another two points when he used Neeraj's momentum for an arm throw in the second period.

A tiring Cakil managed to hang on for an 11-8 win but that did not get him the gold which went to Sachin SAHRAWAT (IND).

Neeraj had defeated Sahrawat in the morning session while Sahrawat had won against Cakil 8-0. With three wrestlers tied with two wins each, the classification points came into play.

Sahrawat collected a total of nine points after his 10-1 win over Koussay MELKI (TUN). Neeraj finished with eight classification points while Cakil had seven.

The two other gold medals for India came with much clearer results.

Former Asian champion Sunil KUMAR (IND) struggled against Mohamed MISSAOUI (TUN) but managed to win 2-1 in the only bout at the 87kg weight class.

The two exchanged passivity points but Kumar had a stepout point which proved to be crucial in the end. Mussaoui got the third passivity as well but he failed to turn Kumar from par terre.

At 60kg, Gyanender DAHIYA (IND) dominated Oussama NASR (TUN) for a 9-0 in the lone bout at the weight class.

After getting the par terre advantage, Dahiya scored via gut wrench and finished the bout with 4:06 still remaining on the clock.

Friday, the second day, will witness the remaining three Greco-Roman weight classes and four women's weights will be in action in Tunis.

Day 1 Results

60kg
GOLD: Ayhan KARAKUS (TUR) df. Arjun HALAKURKI (IND), 9-0

BRONZE: Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG) df. Salim HAMDI (TUN), 10-4

63kg
GOLD: Gyanender DAHIYA (IND) df. Oussama NASR (TUN), 9-0

67kg
Round 3: Volkan CAKIL (TUR) df. NEERAJ (IND), 11-8 
Round 3: Sachin SAHRAWAT (IND) df. Koussay MELKI (TUN), 10-1

Final standings
GOLD: Sachin SAHRAWAT (IND)
SILVER: NEERAJ (IND)
BRONZE: Volkan CAKIL (TUR)

87kg
GOLD: Sunil KUMAR (IND) df. Mohamed MISSAOUI (TUN), 2-1

97kg
Round 3: Muhutdin SARICICEK (TUR) df. Mohamed JABRI (TUN), 12-0
Round 3: DEEPANSHU (IND) df. Adem BOUDJEMLINE (ALG), 1-1

Finals standings
GOLD: Muhutdin SARICICEK (TUR)
SILVER: DEEPANSHU (IND)
BRONZE: Adem BOUDJEMLINE (ALG)

130kg
Round 3: Muhammet BAKIR (TUR) df Amine GUENNICHI (TUN), 5-1

Final standings
GOLD: Muhammet BAKIR (TUR)
SILVER: Amine GUENNICHI (TUN)
BRONZE: NAVEEN (IND)

Development

Successful Level 1 Coaching Course held in Bulgaria

By United World Wrestling Press

PAZARDZHIK, Bulgaria (November 6) – The Bulgarian Wrestling Federation organized a Level 1 Coaching course to help improve and provide training for their coaches.  This 5-day course was held in conjunction with Olympic Solidarity, Bulgarian Olympic Committee and United World Wrestling. 

The Level 1 course was led by UWW Certified Educator Mr. Georgi Sredkov (BUL).

The course was held from 15-20 October and was attended by 40 coaches and 6 athletes. “I point to my many years of experience to emphasize that, from a professional point of view, the seminar held by G. Sredkov was indeed at a very high professional level, with enormous benefit for all participants and especially for young coaches. The selection of the topics and issues in the sport of wrestling, the arrangement of the topics and the inclusion of free discussions submitted by the participants, greatly increases the quality and effect of this seminar.” said Mr. Georgi Kalchev (European Champion and World Medalist). 

This course focuses on the foundational skills to be a great coach.  The topics included: key factor analysis, introducing new techniques, communication skills, improving coaching skills, risk management and safety, and athlete safeguarding.  The participants learned and practiced their skills through theoretical and practical evaluations throughout the course. “Thanks to Georgi Sredkov for the seminar. Everything he offered us in the seminar was completely useful and beneficial.” said Emil Budinov (Olympic Coach).

Additional Comments from Participants

My participation was extremely useful for me as a coach. We exchanged experiences and I learned new practices with which I can upgrade my coaching activity.” – Miroslav Geshev (European Medalist and National Coach)

“I am personally very pleased that I had the opportunity to attend this seminar. I managed to learn many interesting things that will be useful for the development of our wrestling.” – Georgi Dumkov (Club Coach)

“Thanks for the fruitful seminar, especially the way of presentation. Special thanks to Georgi Sredkov - 5-day seminar full of content, excellently structured - balance between theory and practice.” – Vasil Popov (European Champion)