Weekly FIVE! February 12, 2019

Tuesday, February 12, 2019 - 13:35 By Eric Olanowski

Reviewing the Freestyle World Cup draws and Kazakhstan's National Championships. Also looking at results from the Zagreb Open and how they changed the Greco-Roman rankings.

1. Wrestling Announces Groups for 2019 Freestyle World Cup

United World Wrestling has announced the draw for the 2019 Freestyle World Cup in Yakutia, Russia. The annual dual-meet event is a highlight of the international wrestling calendar and features the top eight teams from the 2018 World Championships in Budapest.

The UWW executive board determined this week that all World Cup competitions, including the Greco-Roman and Women’s World Cup, should follow the same competition format for placement of teams in their respective pools, or groups. With the new system, the No. 1 team will be paired with the No.4, No.5, and No.8 teams from the world championships.

The No.2 team will in a group with the No.3, No.6, and No.7.

The groups for the 2019 Freestyle World Cup:

Group A - RUS (1), CUB (4), JPN (5), TUR (8)
Group B - USA (2), GEO (3), IRI (6), MGL (7)

Kerem KAMAL, two-time junior world champion, led Turkey to the Zagreb Open team title with his 60kg gold-medal performance. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

2. First GR Ranking Series Event, Zagreb Open Concludes in Croatia

The first Greco-Roman Ranking Series event of the year, the Zagreb Open, wrapped up in Croatia, and Turkey captured the team title with their solo champion Kerem KAMAL (TUR) and three runner-ups. They finished 31 points ahead of second place Uzbekistan, who had two champions, and one second-place finisher.

Croatia’s hometown wrestler Bozo STARCEVIC capped off his impressive run to a fifth consecutive Zagreb Open title with a tactical 2-1 victory over Turkey’s Yunus BASAR in the 77kg finals.

Meanwhile, Bulgaria’s Daniel ALEKSANDROV and Russia’s Ilia BORISOV knocked off reigning world runner-up’s Emrah KUS (TUR) and Kiril MILOV (BUL) respectively to with their first Zagreb Open titles.

Daniel Aleksandrov erased a 7-0 opening-period deficit and scored eight unanswered points in the final period to upend returning world runner-up Emrah KUS (TUR), 8-7, in the 82kg Zagreb Open gold-medal bout.

In the 97kg finals, Ilia Borisov also knocked off a returning Budapest world champion to win his Zagreb Open title. Borisov, the lone Russian finalist, tossed around returning world runner-up Kiril MILOV (BUL) with ease and scored the 9-0 technical superiority victory in the opening period.

Click HERE for a full recap of the Zagreb Open.

Team Scores
GOLD - Turkey (132 points)
SILVER - Uzbekistan (101 points)
BRONZE - Croatia (91 points)
Fourth - Bulgaria (85 points)
Fifth - Hungary (83 points)

55kg (Round-Robin)
GOLD - Poya Soulat DAD MARZ (IRI)
SILVER - Ekrem OZTURK (TUR)
BRONZE - Alexandru Vasile BOTEZ (ROU)

60kg - Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Milad Ali REZANEZHAD (IRI), 9-3
63kg - Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB) df. Xavier JOHNSON (USA), 10-2
67kg - Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) df. Mihai Radu MIHUT (ROU), 4-1
72kg - Robert Attila FRITSCH (HUN) df. Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO), via injury default
77kg - Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO) df. Yunus BASAR (TUR), 2-1
82kg - Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL) df. Emrah KUS (TUR), 8-7
87kg - Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) df. Kristoffer Zakarias BERG (SWE), 3-1
97kg - Ilia BORISOV (RUS) df. Kiril Milenov MILOV (BUL), 9-0
130kg - Oskar MARVIK (NOR) df. Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) , 1-0

3. Kazakhstan National Championships

Kazakhstan, the host nation for this year’s 2019 Astana World Championships, wrapped up their National Championships in freestyle, Greco-Roman, and women’s wrestling last weekend.

In freestyle, six of Kazakhstan’s 2018 world representatives captured a medal at last weekend’s Nationals Championships, but only Daulet NIYAZBEKOV and Adilet DAVLUMBAYEV walked away with gold medals. The other five wrestlers who competed in Budapest all took home bronze medals.

Also of note, two of Kazakhstan’s most successful wrestlers from last season, Nurislam SANAYEV and Zhandos ISMAILOV sat out of the competition due to injury.

Sanayev was last year’s world team representative at the Budapest World Championships, where he fell to Russia’s Zaur UGUEV in the 57kg gold-medal bout. Sanayev also had success at the Asian Championships a season ago, capturing the gold medal, though that title-winning performance came at 61kg.

Kazakhstan’s 57kg Asian Championship bronze medalist Zhandos Ismailov sat this weekend due to injury.

Both of these guys were expected to compete for the 61kg title. Instead, it was Kazakhstan’s U23 world representative Bauirzhan TOREBEK who grabbed the gold medal.

Though a win last weekend puts most of the championship wrestlers into the continental championships, it does not guarantee them a spot on the 2019 Astana World Championship team. That decision won't come after several international tournaments.

Freestyle Results

57kg
GOLD - Meirambek KARTBAY
SILVER - Akbar KURBANOV
BRONZE - Rakhat KALZHAN
BRONZE - Berdakh PIRIMBAYEV

61kg
GOLD- Bauirzhan TOREBEK
SILVER - Rasul KALIYEV
BRONZE - Kuat AMIRTAYEV
BRONZE - Vladidmir KUDRIN

65kg
GOLD - Daulet NIYAZBEKOV
SILVER - Sayatbek OKASSOV
BRONZE -Ilyas ZHUMAY
BRONZE - Meirzhan ASHIROV

70 kg
GOLD - Nurgozha KAIPANOV
SILVER - Azhikul NURDAULET
BRONZE - Kanat MUSABEKOV
BRONZE - Amandik BAKEYEV

74 kg
GOLD - Daniyar KAISANOV
SILVER - Nurlan BEKZHANOV
BRONZE - Bolat SAKAYEV
BRONZE - Azamat OMIRZHANOV

79 kg
GOLD - Galymzhan USSERBAYEV
SILVER - Shamil MURTAZOV
BRONZE - Zhaksibek KARABALAYEV
BRONZE - Abilay NURSULTANOV

86 kg
GOLD - Adilet DAVLUMBAYEV
SILVER - Azamat DAULETBEKOV
BRONZE - Zhiger ZAKIROIV
BRONZE - Elkhan ASADOV

92 kg
GOLD - Yerali ABDRASHEV
SILVER - Abdumanap BAIKENZHEYEV
BRONZE - Abubakr TORGAYEV
BRONZE - Shamil MAGOMEDOV

97 kg
GOLD - Alisher YERGALI
SILVER - Bakdaulet ALMENTAY.
BRONZE - Mamed IBRAGIMOV
BRONZE - Bakhitkhanov SERIK

125kg
GOLD - Oleg BOLTIN
SILVER - Yusup BATYRMIRZAYEV
BRONZE - Duman BOLTIRIKOV
BRONZE - Daulet SHABANBAY

*Kazakhstan's 2018 national team members listed in bold.

Click HERE to review Kazahkstan's Greco-Roman and women's wrestling results.

4. Vlasov and Staebler Train Together in Sochi

The Russian Federation welcomed teams from Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Switzerland, and Uzbekistan, to attend their first training camp of the 2019 season in Russia’s Olympic host city of Sochi.

The camp in Sochi brought together two Greco-Roman superstars in two-time Olympic champion Roman VLASOV (RUS) and three-time world champion Frank STAEBLER (GER), who was a part of a German squad that brought ten wrestlers to train with Russia’s No. 1 Greco-Roman National Team.

Staebler told United World Wrestling that a highlight of the camp was training with Vlasov. “It’s been very hard, but great fun and we both learn from each other and get stronger together. Staebler hopes to one day return to Russia to train, saying, “There’s a great respectful friendship between Germany and Russia, and I hope we can return as soon as possible.”

Staebler, who trained out of a barn for the finals three months leading up to Budapest after he got kicked out of his previous gym, reflected on how improbable his run to a third world title was. The German said he now realizes “How incredible it is that I’ve achieved what I have with my opportunities in Germany. My options compared to what Russia has are ridiculous. Thus, I learned to be even more proud of my German success.”

Oskar MARVIK (NOR) won the 125kg title at the Zagreb Open and moved up to No. 4 in the rankings. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

5. New Greco-Roman Rankings Released

The first set of updated Greco-Roman rankings have been updated after the Zagreb Open and are up on United World Wrestling’s homepage.

The biggest movers in the first set of Greco-Roman rankings were:

55kg - Ekrem OZTURK (TUR) takes sole ownership of the No. 3 spot after a runner-up finish at the Zagreb Open. Ozturk now has 37 points after the Zagreb Open and fifth place finish at the world championships.

67kg - Danijel JANECIC (CRO) leaps Budapest bronze medalists Meiirzhan SHERMAKHANBET (KAZ) (25 points) and Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL) (25 points) with his fifth-place finish at the Zagreb Open. He now has 30 points.

72kg - Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL) was tied with fellow world bronze medalist Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) for the third spot with 25 points, but broke that tie with his bronze-medal finish at the Zagreb Open. MNatsakanian now has 39 points.

77kg - KIM Hyeonwoo (KOR) took possession of the No. 3 ranking with his third-place finish at the Zagreb Open. Kim has 37 points.

125kg - Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ (CHI) and Oskar MARVIK (NOR) moved up to the third and fourth spot after being eighth and tenth respectively. Marvik won the gold medal, while Acosta finished in third place.

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media

1. Big Move Monday -- RUBAEV G. (MDA) -- 2018 Dan Kolov
2. Here are some of our favorite shots of @kadircaliskan ‘s from the #Zagreb2019.
3. Two time World Champion Geno Petriashvili training with the national team in the mountains of Bakuriani @petro700
4. Images from the historic wrestling room in Gori, Georgia.
5. Best match of FR Takhti Cup- 79kg final: Bahman Teymouri (IRI) df. Jabrayil Hasanov (AZE), 6-4

#WrestleBelgrade

Tokyo silvers Fumita, Aleksanyan book Paris Olympic trip in Belgrade

Friday, September 22, 2023 - 18:12 By Vinay Siwach

BELGRADE, Serbia (September 22) – Two Tokyo Olympic silver medalists will look to win a gold medal in Paris next year after Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) and Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) qualified for the Paris Olympics by reaching the final in the respective weight classes at the World Championships in Belgrade.

Fumita, a two-time world champion, reached the final at 60kg while Aleksanyan, a three-time Olympic medalist including gold, reached the gold medal bout at 97kg.

Kyrgyzstan and Cuba earned Paris Olympic quotas as well with world champion Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) reaching the final at 60kg and Gabriel ROSILLO (CUB) at 97kg after he stunned Tokyo bronze medalist Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) in the semifinal.

Fumita defeated Gevorg GHARIBYAN (ARM), who defeated returning silver medalist Edmond NAZARYAN (BUL) in the first round, 5-1 in the semifinal as he got two turns from par terre while defending successfully when he was put in the same position.

But the Japan star's biggest test was in the first bout when he faced former world champion Victor CIOBANU (MDA). Fumita was saved by a challenge from the Japan corner after Ciobanu was awarded a takedown and a four-point throw. In the replay, it was seen that Ciobanu blocked Fumita's attack by hands below Fumita's waist. As a result, Fumita was awarded two penalty points.

The two also met in the quarterfinals at the 2019 World Championships, with Fumita notching a wild 12-5 win en route to his second career gold.

“In the first round, more than my ability, it was the decision of the gods,” Fumita said. “I didn't feel like he touched my leg. But it was definitively shown and I went on to win. If there is a wrestling god, I thought I can't waste the opportunity it gave me.”

As per Japan federation rules, a wrestler who earns the Paris Olympic quota with a medal at the World Championships automatically secures a spot on the Japanese team to Paris.

For Fumita, the trip to Paris will be extra special as his father, who was also his high school coach, and his wife will join him on the trip.

“My condition is not at the very best,” he said. “I went through various things to get here. But my feeling is strong that I have to return with [the Paris berth]. My father also really wants me to take him to Paris. My wife, too. I'm really happy that I can proudly bring them with me to the arena in Paris.”

The 3-1 win over Ciobanu and the 5-1 victory in the semifinal were unlike the Fumita of old. The Japanese star was known for his big moves, which even cost him a few bouts in the past, but he has made peace with his subdued way of wrestling to earn wins.

“Last year was really disappointing,” he said. “But if that's the way world wrestling is, instead of doing spectacular moves, to win I can just be very basic. I've spent the past year thinking about it. It's really plain now. Honestly speaking, it's not interesting for me to do it. And it's probably not interesting to watch.”

Fumita will hope to continue his form in the final against defending champion Sharshenbekov who he defeated in the Asian Championships final 4-0 in 2020 in New Delhi.

“He's the defending champion and I'll be the one as the challenger. I'll try to do like I did four years ago,” Fumita said referring to his gold-medal run in Astana in 2019.

Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) won his semifinal against Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) 4-3. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Sharshenbekov has since improved significantly, winning the World and Asian Championships last year along with the world silver in 2021.

He was in a league of his own, making it to the semifinal against Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) with three technical superiority wins.

Mohsen Nejad was on his way to upset the world champion but Sharshenbekov scored a stepout to earn a 4-3 lead and defended it to beat the Iranian.

Sharshenbekov led 3-0 after a front roll from par terre but gave up a takedown when failing to get through a headlock. Mohsen Nejad got the criteria 3-3 lead when Sharshenbekov was called passive in the second period but that was short-lived as Sharshenbekov scored a stepout for one point.

At 97kg, Aleksanyan showed unreal par terre game winning three of his four bouts when his opponent was put in the par terre. He took only a minute and 57 seconds to beat Artur OMAROV (CZE) in the quarterfinal and five seconds more to beat Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU) in the semifinals.

Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) works a gut-wrench against Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU). (Photo: UWW / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Aleksanyan will look to win his fifth world title on Saturday against former U20 world champion and Tokyo Olympian Rossilo who secured a 3-0 win over 2021 world champion and returning bronze medalist Saravi in the semifinal.

Rosillo got the 1-0 lead when Saravi was called passive in the first period. But he used an arm drag to body-lock Saravi and get two points for a correct throw. Saravi never got going after that.

Rosillo's win brings Peter OHLER (GER), Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB), and U20 world champion Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (AIN) to the repechage. One of them will wrestle Saravi for the bronze medal.

In the only non-Olympic weight class in action on Friday, 72kg, returning world champion Ali ARSALAN (SRB), silver medalist Ulvi GANIZADE (AZE) and bronze medalist Selcuk CAN (TUR) failed to reach the final.

Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA) became the first French Greco-Roman wrestler since 2014 to reach the final of the World Championships after he defeated Can 4-0 in the semifinals while Robert FRITSCH (HUN) managed to see off Shingo HARADA (JPN) 3-1 in the other semifinal.

Fritsch, who lost to Arsalan last year, was trailing 9-5 in the quarterfinal against Arsalan but scored a pin over the Serb who seemed to have given up due to exhaustion.

With Arsalan's loss, U20 world champion Daniel SHORABI (IRI) will return to Iran without a medal as he lost to Arsalan 7-7.

Weekly FIVE! February 12, 2019

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Tokyo silvers Fumita, Aleksanyan book Paris Olympic trip in Belgrade