#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

#UWWAwards

Ono, Bondar, Hedayati named UWW's Rising Stars for 2024

Thursday, December 12, 2024 - 15:56 By Vinay Siwach

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United World Wrestling has named Masanosuke ONO (JPN), Iryna BONDAR (UKR) and Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) as the Emerging Stars of the Year in Freestyle, Women's Wrestling and Greco-Roman for 2024.

Masanosuke ONO (JPN)

A storm hit the wrestling world late in the season. 20-year-old Masanosuke ONO (JPN) went on a rampage at the U20 and senior World Championships, winning both titles.

He first competed internationally at the Yasar Dogu tournament in March this year, winning the gold medal in a 28-wrestler 61kg bracket. Then he moved up to 65kg for the Asian Championships in Bishkek. However, he suffered a fall against Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL) in his first bout. He returned to win the bronze medal.

That loss against Tumur Ochir would be a distant memory as Ono went on to win gold at the U20 World Championships, winning three out of four bouts via technical superiority. Then came the World Championships Tirana with Ono being a dark horse.

He quickly changed that to the favorite to win the gold medal as he opened with a huge 10-2 win over Tokyo Olympic champion Zavur UGUEV (AIN). He went on to add four more wins for the gold medal with scores reading 12-0, 11-0, 12-0 and 10-0.

Ono, currently a student at Yamanashi Gakuin University, earned new fans in Tirana with his dynamic style of wrestling and his celebrations. Most fans are glued to their seats when Ono is on the mat as in Tirana as he showed his range of attacks, from leg attacks to par terre and from upper body throws to leg laces.

Iryna BONDAR (UKR)Iryna BONDAR (UKR) won six gold medals, including two at world championships, this year. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Iryna BONDAR (UKR)

Among one of the most active wrestlers this year, Iryna BONDAR (UKR) clearly emerges as the future star in the making.

Bondar has competed at a staggering eight tournaments this year and won gold medals at six. Bondar began the year with an eighth-place finish at the Zagreb Open, her first senior competition, but then began a prolific run of winning gold medals at all age-group tournaments.

Bondar began with the U23 European Championships, added the second at the Budapest Ranking Series before adding the gold at the U20 European Championships. Then came the World Championships season. She won the U20 World Championships gold medal at 62kg, a month later she added the U23 World Championships gold medal at 62kg.

She could have capped off her season on a high but she participated in her first senior World Championships days after the U23 event. Wrestling at 65kg, she suffered a close loss to Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN).

In the four championships this year, Bodnar has outscored her opponents 155-25 in 18 bouts. Before that loss in Tirana, she was on a 24-0 winning run this year.

Bondar has been an active wrestler on the tour and won medals at the U20, U23 World Championships before, finishing with silvers and bronzes. However, the gold rush came this year.

Her form at 62kg makes her the heir apparent to two-time Olympic medalist Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) who recently won a silver medal at the Paris Olympics.

Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI)Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) won the 130kg gold at the U23 World Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI)

While a lot can be said about Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) and his age-group world titles, his stunned the wrestling world in Budapest this year.

At the Budapest Ranking Series in July, a tune-up tournament for the Paris Olympics, Hedayati shocked world and Olympic champion Riza KAYAALP (TUR) at Greco-Roman 130kg with a 4-0 win. Hedayati broke the Turkish legend in the six-minute bout and claimed the most famous win of his career so far.

Hedayati has been knocking on the 130kg door of the Iran team for long but Olympic bronze medalist Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) is still holding the spot. But the 2024 year has further Hedayati's claim over it.

Beginning the year with the Zagreb Open Ranking Series, Hedayati won he gold medal at 130kg with victories over Laszlo DARABOS (HUN), Wenhao JIANG (CHN), Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB), Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU) and Lingzhe MENG (CHN).

Then came the 2024 Vehbi Emre tournament in which he challenged Mirzazadeh for the spot on Iran team but suffered a loss, his only of the season. He bounced back quickly from that and won the Budapest Ranking Series gold medal. Hedayati's style an be gauged with the fact that he did no give up a single point in three bouts in Budapest, making him a highly active wrestler.

He capped off the year with his first U23 World Championships gold medal at 130kg in Tirana. Hedayati's golden run included victories over some of the biggest names in age-group wrestling like Pavel HLINCHUK (AIN), Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR), Hamza BAKIR (TUR).

Only Vyshnyvetskyi, who defeated Hedayati for the gold at the U20 World Championships in 2022, was able to score points on Hedayati when he hit an arm-throw. However, even in that bout, the Iranian never looked in any trouble.

Hedayati's active wrestler makes it difficult for his opponents to get him in forced par terre, making it difficult for them to score.