#WrestleBucharest

Ukraine Wins Women’s Wrestling European Team Title

Friday, April 12, 2019 - 19:59 By Eric Olanowski

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BUCHAREST, Romania (April 11) – Ukraine, who had a solo bronze medalist and finished last year’s Kaspiisk European Championships in seventh place, capped off their improbable run to a European team title on the backs of four individual women’s wrestling championship performances. 

They had three champions on Thursday night and added one more gold medal on Friday to bring their overall title total to four European championships. Their lone Day 5 champion was Alina BEREZHNA STADNIK MAKHYNIA (UKR), who won the 72kg gold medal. 

In the 72kg finals, former two-time continental champion Alina Berezhna Stadnik won her third European title with a fall over Anna SCHELL (GER) four minutes into the finals. It was the second time the Berezhna Stadnik threw her German opponent to her back but was able to put an exclamation point on Ukraine’s run to a European team title with a fall to close out the competition. 

Ukrainian's also welcomed Day 5 points from silver medalists Lilya HORISHNA and Tetyana KIT. 

Bulgaria, who grabbed an individual title from Taybe YUSEIN (BUL) at 62kg, finished in second place with 112 points. 

At 62kg, returning world and European champion Taybe Yusein successfully defended her title with a controlling 4-0 victory over Italy’s first time continental medalist  Aurora CAMPAGNA (ITA). 

The final three women's wrestling gold medals went to Russia, Hungary, and Azerbaijan. 

In the 53kg finals, defending champion Stalvira ORSHUSH (RUS) punished two-time U23 European gold medalist Lilya HORISHNA (UKR), 13-3, and won her second consecutive continental title.

Orsush trailed early after Horishnia was awarded an inactivity point, but the Russian outscored her Ukrainian opponent 13-2 before ending the match early. 

Orsush started her 13 points scoring streak off with a takedown, then wasted no time getting to a gut wrench and commanded the 4-1 lead after trailing 1-0. She continued to stay offensive, grabbing a second takedown, then transitioned into a pair of gut wrenches and led 10-3 after the first period. 

In the second period, she kept the heat on and scored a stepout and a third takedown to win her second consecutive European title. 

A lot of close and tense moments in the 57kg finals, but in the end, it was fifth-ranked returning world bronze medalist Emese BARKA (HUN) who came out on top against world bronze medalist Tetyana KIT (UKR), 4-2. 

In their gold-medal match, Barka and Kit exchanged two-and-two in the opening period, but it was Barka who had the lead on criteria. The Hungarian wrestler picked up her other two points off of Ukrainian cautions and added a continental gold medal to her resume for the first time in her career. 

At 65kg, Elis MANOLOVA (AZE) spoiled Kriszta INCZE’s (ROU) hopes of becoming the first Romanian women’s wrestler to win a European gold medal by scoring six unanswered second-period points to win the gold medal, 6-4. 

Manolova was down 4-0 heading into the intermission, but never panicked and tied the match with a takedown and a pair of stepouts, but still trailed on criteria. The Azeri thought she took the lead with a stepout with 15 seconds left, but a challenge determined the wrestlers were grounded and the call was reversed. 

With under 10 seconds left, the Azeri took a desperation shot and silenced the crowd with a takedown as time expired to win her third continental title and first since 2015. 

RESULTS
GOLD - Ukraine (168 points)
SILVER  - Bulgaria  (112 points)
BRONZE - Turkey (98 points)
Fourth – Azerbaijan (96 points)
Fifth - Russia (89 points)

53kg 
GOLD - Stalvira ORSHUSH (RUS) df. Lilya HORISHNA (UKR), 13-3
BRONZE - Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR) df. Roksana ZASINA (POL), 2-0 
BRONZE - essica Cornelia Francisca BLASZKA (NED) df. Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA), 6-4 

57kg
GOLD - Emese BARKA (HUN) df. Tetyana KIT (UKR), 4-2
BRONZE - Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) df. Mathilde Hélène RIVIERE (FRA), 8-7 
BRONZE - Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE) df. Mimi HRISTOVA (BUL), via fall 

62kg
GOLD - Taybe YUSEIN (BUL) df. Aurora CAMPAGNA (ITA), 4-0 
BRONZE - Marianna SASTIN (HUN) df. Moa NYGREN (SWE), 3-2 
BRONZE - Tetiana OMELCHENKO (AZE) df. Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR), 6-4 

65kg
GOLD - Elis MANOLOVA (AZE) df. Kriszta Tunde INCZE (ROU), 6-4 
BRONZE - Petra OLLI (FIN) df. Henna JOHANSSON (SWE), 2-2 
BRONZE - Mariia KUZNETSOVA (RUS) df. Asli DEMIR (TUR) , 14-3

72kg 
GOLD - Alina BEREZHNA STADNIK MAKHYNIA (UKR) df. Anna Carmen SCHELL (GER), via fall 
BRONZE - Tatiana KOLESNIKOVA MOROZOVA (RUS) df. Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU), 5-4 

#WrestleTirana

World Championships: Five years after third, Kinjo earns shot at fourth gold

Tuesday, October 29, 2024 - 17:12 By Ken Marantz

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TIRANA, Albania (October 29) -- Two-time Olympic champion Risako KINJO (JPN) earned a shot at a fourth world title and first in five years, but Jia LONG (CHN) denied the powerful Japanese team a potential sweep of the women's golds.

Kinjo broke open a tight semifinal at 59kg against Svetlana LIPATOVA (AIN), scoring eight points in the second period for a 9-0 victory at the Non-Olympic Weight Categories World Championships on Tuesday in Tirana.

Japanese hopes of winning all four of the women's titles on Wednesday ended when Asian champion Long rode a second-period surge to an 11-1 victory over Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) at 65kg, avenging a loss to the Japanese in the final at the 2022 World Championships.

The two other Japanese in action, Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) at 55kg and Ami ISHII (JPN) at 72kg, had little trouble advancing to the finals of their respective weight classes.

At 59kg, Kinjo earned just an activity point in the first period against Lipatova, but came out firing in the second, scoring a takedown off a low-ankle shot that she topped off with an exposure and gut wrench for a 7-0 lead. Kinjo then added a double-leg takedown.

Kinjo, who needed a dramatic last-second victory in a domestic playoff with 18-year-old Sakura ONISHI (JPN) to earn her ticket to Tirana, will be aiming to add to her consecutive world titles from 2017 to 2019 in Wednesday's final against veteran Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL).

Sukhee, a world champion in 2014 and silver medalist in 2015, scored a late takedown to clinch a 4-1 victory over MANSI (IND) in the other semifinal. Both Kinjo and Sukhee were bronze medalists this year at the Asian Championships, with the Mongolian's coming at 62kg.

Kinjo could have been expected to retire after failing to make Japan's team to Paris 2024 in a bid for an Olympic three-peat, but she has often said that she wants her daughter, now 2 1/2, to see
how good her mother was, not just hear about it.

The 30-somethings Kinjo and Lipatova's careers had crossed paths before, meeting in the semifinals at the 2018 World Championships. Kinjo won that one 10-0 en route to the second of her three consecutive gold medals.

Kiyooka, winner of both the world U23 and U20 golds in 2022, will be aiming to capture her first senior global title, after seeing her brother Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN) and Ikuei University teammates Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN) and Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) all strike gold at the Paris Olympics.

She got the parade into the final started by scoring a takedown in each period for a 4-0 victory over reigning European champion Iryna KURACHKINA (AIN), who was the losing finalist to Kinjo in the 57kg final at the Tokyo Olympics.

In the final, Kiyooka will face world U20 champion Jin ZHANG (CHN), who advanced with a victory by fall over Areana VILLAESCUSA (USA). Zhang got in on a deep single for a takedown that led to two quick exposures, then levered the American over before securing the fall.

At 65kg, Morikawa was ahead 1-1 on criteria in the second period when Long used a counter lift for 2 points (originally ruled 4, but later changed on the challenge). She had Morikawa's arm locked and used that for three rolls. After the match was resumed following the challenge, Long ended it with 43 seconds left with another counter lift.

In the final, Long will face European silver medalist Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU), who scored a second-period fall over Valeriia DONDUPOVA (AIN) after building up an 11-6 lead.

Morikawa and Long were meeting for the second time, but one round earlier than before. Morikawa edged the Chinese 2-0 in the final at the 2022 World Championships.

The two finalists at 62kg at the World U23 Championships held last week at the same venue, champion Iryna BONDAR (UKR) and runnerup Macey KILTY (USA), lost to Morikawa and Zelenykh, respectively.

Ishii, the 2022 world 68kg silver medalist, won a battle of newly crowned world U23 champions by overwhelming Kylie WELKER (USA) with a 12-1 technical fall that she concluded in the final seconds. Ishii had won the U23 68kg title, while Welker had triumphed at 72kg.

In the final, Ishii will face three-time former Asian champion Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ), who will be looking to take home a first world gold after winning two silvers and a bronze over the past three years.

Bakbergenova prevailed in an entertaining 8-6 victory over Bolortungalag ZORIGT (MGL), scoring 4 points in a first-period scramble and clinching the win with a late takedown in the second.

Both Morikawa and Ishii lost out on the place at the Paris Olympics at 68kg to Nonoka OZAKI (JPN), who ended up with a bronze medal.

For Ishii, the pain of missing out on Paris was particularly sharp, as she had earned the quota for Japan by placing fifth at the 2023 World Championships, only to lose in the last second of a playoff against Ozaki.

Morikawa rebounded from her disappointment by making the team at 72kg to the 2023 worlds, from which she took home a bronze. Now she is back at her normal weight class, in which she won the world gold in 2022 and finished second in 2021.

Women's Wrestling Results

55kg (18 entries)
SF: Jin ZHANG (CHN) df. Areana VILLAESCUSA (USA) by Fall, 1:28 (8-0)
SF: Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) df. Iryna KURACHKINA (AIN), 4-0

59kg (22 entries)
SF: Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL) df. MANSI (IND), 4-1
SF: Risako KINJO (JPN) df. Svetlana LIPATOVA (AIN), 9-0

65kg (19 entries)
SF: Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU) df. Valeriia DONDUPOVA (AIN) by Fall, 1:59 (11-6)
SF: Jia LONG (CHN) df. Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) by TF, 11-1, 5:17

72kg (18 entries)
SF: Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ) df. Bolortungalag ZORIGT (MGL), 8-6
SF: Ami ISHII (JPN) df. Kylie WELKER (USA) by TF, 12-1, 5:58