#WrestleBucharest

Ukraine Leads Bulgaria By Ten Points After Day 4

Thursday, April 11, 2019 - 20:31 By Eric Olanowski

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BUCHAREST, Romania (April 11) - Ukraine’s national anthem played three times on Thursday night as Oksana LIVACH, Iryna HUSYAK, and Alla CHERKASOVA captured three of the five women’s wrestling European Championships titles on the fourth day of wrestling in Bucharest, Romania. Ukraine, who finished Day 4 with 85 points, leads Bulgaria by 10 points heading into the final day of the women’s wrestling competition. 

In the 50kg gold-medal bout, Oksana Livach trailed 4-4 on criteria with under 15 seconds left but was able to gain the 6-4 outright advantage over her Bulgarian opponenet Miglena SELISHKA to win her first senior-level European title. 

Ukraine’s second European champion came at 55kg, where Iryna Husyak also defeated a Bulgarian wrestler to win a gold. Husyak trailed Evelina NIKOLOVA (BUL), 4-2, after the first period, but was the aggressor in the second period. She scored eight points off two takedowns and a four-point throw to reach the top of the continental podium for the first time with a 10-4 victory. 

Reigning world champion Alla Cherkasova gave Ukraine their third and final Day 4 gold medal. In what turned out of being the most exciting bout of the day, Cherkasova and her Czech Republic opponent Adela HANZLICKOVA combined to score 17 points. But, it was the reigning world champion who prevailed in the end, winning the 68kg gold medal, 11-6. 

Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL) won her second consecutive European title with a 3-0 victory in the 59kg finals. (Photo: Gabor Martin) 

Bulgaria, who sits in second place in the team race, finished with one champion and two silver medals. 

Bilyana DUDOVA  was Bulgaria's Day 4 champion, where she won the title at 59kg. The reigning world runner-up at 57kg made the smooth transition up to 59kg and capped off her run to her second consecutive continental gold medal, stopping Russia’s Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS), 3-0. Dudova scored an inactivity point and a takedown off a Russian tie and helped Bulgaria claim the 25 first place points. 

Bulgaria's two silver medals came from the aforementioned Miglena Selishka and Evelina Nikolova who fell short in the 50kg and 55kg gold-medal bouts respectively. 

Turkey is in third place heading into the final day of women's wrestling. They had a champion in Yasemin ADAR and a trio of bronze medalists, Evin DEMIRHAN, Bediha GUN, Elif YESILIRMAK. 

Yasemin Adar, last year's world runner-up, was the final women’s wrestler who won a gold medal on Day 4. Adar defeated Austria’s Martina KUENZ (AUT), 6-1, using an arm spin and four-point throw to win her fourth consecutive European title.

Adar, who entered the European Championships ranked No. 2 in the world, will take over the top spot in the world after her title-winning performance in Bucharest.  

Greco-Roman wrestling begins tomorrow at 11:30 (local time) and can be followed on www.unitedworldwrestling.org.

RESULTS 

Team Scores 
GOLD - Ukraine (85 points)
SILVER - Bulgaria  (75 points)
BRONZE - Turkey (70 points)
Fourth - Azerbaijan (41 points)
Fifth - Romania (35 points)

50kg 
GOLD - Oksana LIVACH (UKR) df. Miglena Georgieva SELISHKA (BUL), 6-4 
BRONZE - Kseniya STANKEVICH (BLR) df. Stefania PRICEPUTU (ROU), 10-2 
BRONZE - Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR) df. Turkan NASIROVA (AZE), 10-3

55kg
GOLD - Iryna HUSYAK (UKR) df. Evelina NIKOLOVA (BUL), 10-4
BRONZE - Andreea ANA (ROU) aforementioned. Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA), 6-4 
BRONZE - Bediha GUN (TUR) df. Zalina SIDAKOVA (BLR), 10-0 

59kg 
GOLD - Bilyana Zhivkova DUDOVA (BUL) df. Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS), 3-0 
BRONZE - Elif YESILIRMAK (TUR) df. Ramona GALAMBOS (HUN), 5-1 
BRONZE - Elmira GAMBAROVA (AZE) df. Anhelina LYSAK (UKR), 11-6

68kg 
GOLD - Alla CHERKASOVA (UKR) df. Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE), 11-6 
BRONZE - Anna FRANSSON (SWE) df. Iryna Petrovna NETREBA (AZE), 5-2
BRONZE - Anastasija GRIGORJEVA (LAT) df. Danute DOMIKAITYTE (LTU), 8-3 

76kg
GOLD - Yasemin ADAR (TUR) df. Martina KUENZ (AUT), 6-1 
BRONZE - Aline ROTTER FOCKEN (GER) df. Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU), via fall 
BRONZE - Zsanett NEMETH (HUN) df. Iselin SOLHEIM (NOR), 6-1

#JapanWrestling

Another Ono rises: Konami follows brother's footsteps

Friday, August 29, 2025 - 02:52 By Ikuo Higuchi

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TOKYO (August 27) -- When you think of the name Ono from Shimane Prefecture, many will recall Masanosuke ONO (JPN), a world champion who is quickly becoming a global star, who now primarily competes in the United States.

Ono's younger sister Konami, who was undefeated in the national tournament during her elementary school years, is just like her brother. She went on to attend Nippon Sport Science University Ohka High School in Tokyo, where she grew up steadily, winning the Inter-High School Championships in 2023 and also winning silver at the U17 World Championships the same year.

A shoulder injury caused her to slow down, but through repeated practice at Nippon Sport Science University she regained her former strength and won the East Japan Student Championships and the All Japan Amateur Championships [women's competition is open to university students as well] last week.

Konami ONO (JPN)Konami ONO (JPN), left, won a silver medal at the 2023 U17 World Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Being coached by 2004 Athens Olympic bronze medalist Chikara TANABE and Kaori ICHO, she described herself as being in "the best environment."

Ono had been suffering from pain in the right shoulder and had to undergo a surgery in June last year. She had initially aimed for a comeback last year at the All Japan Championships [Emperor's Cup] in December, but was forced to withdraw. She returned to competition in April of this year at the Junior Queen's Cup U20, where she won one match, but lost the next match to a junior from high school by technical superiority.

"There were times when my shoulder would dislocate just by walking. It was a frustrating year," said Ono with her voice becoming teary, as if the pain had returned. "I'm happy because I was injured and couldn't wrestle for a while," she said but added, "I realized I need to practice more and get stronger."

Inspiration from brother Ono

While she was off the mat, Konami watched her brother Masanosuke win the gold medal at the U20 World Championships in 2024 and later become the world champion at 61kg at the Non-Olympic World Championships.

"It's not something I could ever imitate," she says, and although he is someone she should "admire" rather than "target," he is also someone close to her, having competed alongside since childhood. "I want to study hard and catch up," she says.

Konami ONO (JPN)Konami ONO (JPN) with world and Olympic champion Jordan BURROUGHS (USA). (Photo courtesy: Masaharu Ono) 

Earlier in spring, Konami accompanied her older brother to the United States, where he trains at Pennsylvania State University. She was still recovering and was unable to train, but she watched her brother's win against 2024 Paris Olympic silver medalist Spencer LEE (USA).

"I thought American wrestling was really amazing. It was inspiring," she said.

What made the biggest impression on Konami was how much fun her brother seemed to be having wrestling, even though he was in a foreign country.

"He really enjoys wrestling," she said. "I was amazed that there are people who love wrestling that much [laughs].

"My brother is my role model," she said. "I often watch his techniques and aspire to be like him."

What she finds particularly impressive is his speed, and the way he unconsciously develops his techniques. She herself sometimes has trouble deciding what to do next during a match, but her brother's body moves without a second thought. "I need to be able to come out with techniques one after the other," she said.

Training with Fujinami, Onishi

While Ono found his path in the United States, Konami is thinking of firmly establishing herself in Japan.

"I think that if I stay at Nippon Sport Science University, I will become really strong," she says, believing that his current environment is the place where she can develop the skills to compete on the world stage.

Not only is there an impressive coaching staff, but there are also world-class athletes such as 2024 Olympic champion Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) and Asian champion Sakura ONISHI (JPN) in the 57kg and 59kg weight class, respectively. Fujinami won gold at the Olympics in 53kg.

"I practice with Akari every day. She's really strong..." she said, admiringly, and when she's not sparring, she's always following Fujinami's movements to study them.

Since they are both in the 57kg weight class, could she challenge Fujinami as early as the All Japan Championships in December? To that question, she gave no clear answer, saying, "I'm not at the level where I can fight yet..." and said that she might move up a weight class as her body grows, so it's still up in the air, but perhaps the day is approaching when the middleweight trio, including Onishi, will take to the world stage.

Rather than setting big goals, her current goal is to "compete in many matches and enjoy wrestling." She says that she is actually enjoying it, so perhaps she is getting closer to her brother's level. Her next concrete goal is the All Japan Women's Open Championships in October.

She vowed to make a leap forward, saying, "I want to train both my body and mind and become even stronger. I want to become a star from Shimane Prefecture!"