Weekly FIVE! February 19, 2019

Monday, February 18, 2019 - 20:00 By Eric Olanowski

Previewing this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix and reviewing results from the 25th Annual Klippan Lady Open. Also looking at Makhmudov's injury, Ramonov's return, and Magomed Kurbanaliev opening up his sports school in Dagestan.

1. Hungarian Grand Prix Begins This Weekend
Azerbaijan's reigning world champion Eldaniz AZIZLI headlines a Hungarian Grand Prix field of over 175 wrestlers from 25 different nations which boasts an impressive eight returning world medalists (listed in bold in below link).

Though they only enter three wrestlers, Azerbaijan has arguably the most successful team in the tournament. Their three entries are Azizli, Rasul CHUNAYEV, and Sabah SHARIATI.

Azizli is coming off a run to his first world title and is the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the world at 55kg, while Chunayev and Shariati both hold Rio Olympic bronze medals.

Chunayev, who's 25 points is good enough for the No. 4-ranking in the world at 72kg has three world medals to go along with his Rio bronze-medal finish. In 2015, he won the world title and grabbed bronze medals at the 2014 and 2018 world championships.

The last Azeri entry is Sabah Shariati, who will be making his 2019 season debut at 130kg.

Korea and Serbia are two other nations that enter stacked squads into the second Ranking Series event of the year.

Korea's team features Olympic champion KIM Hyeonwoo, two-time world champion RYU Hansu, and reigning 130kg world bronze medalist KIM Minseok.

Kim Hyeonwoo brings 25 Ranking Series points into the Hungarian Grand Prix and is ranked third in the world after a bronze-medal finish at last weekend's Zagreb Open.

Kim Minseok, the fifth-ranked wrestler in the world at 130kg, is looking to bounce back after failing to medal at the Zagreb Open, and two-time world champion Ryu Hansu will make his season debut at 67kg.

Viktor NEMES, the 2017 world champion and reigning world bronze medalist Mihail KAJALA lead Serbia's team into the second Ranking Series event of the year. Both wrestlers are ranked fourth in the world at 77kg and 97kg respectively.

The Hungarian Grand Prix begins on February 23 at the Olimpiai Sportpark in Gyor, Hungary.

Click here for full list of entries.

Schedule

Friday (February 22)
Till 12:00 - Final entries for GR cat. 55, 63, 72, 82, 97 kg
15:00 - Referee meeting
16:00 - Technical conference – all teams
17:00 - Draw – GR cat. 55, 63, 72, 82, 97 kg

Saturday (February 23)
08:00 - Medical examination & Weigh-in for GR cat. 55, 63, 72, 82, 97kg
10:00 - Qualification rounds and repechage for GR cat. 55, 63, 72, 82, 97kg
Till 12:00 - Final entries/ Inscriptions définitives pour GR cat. 60, 67, 77, 87, 130kg
16:30 - Draw – GR cat. 60, 67, 77, 87, 130kg
17:00 - Opening Ceremony
18:00 - Finals for GR cat. 55, 63, 72, 82, 97kg Award ceremonies

Sunday (February 24)
8.30- Medical examination & Weigh-in for GR cat. 60, 67, 77, 87, 130kg
10.00 - Qualification rounds and repechage for GR cat. 60, 67, 77, 87, 130kg
16.00 - Finals for GR cat. 60, 67, 77, 87, 130kg and Award ceremonies

Monday (February 25)
Departure of the delegations

China's reigning world champion NINGNING Rong grabbed her first Klippan Lady Open title. (Photo: Martin Gábor )

2. China Wins Four Golds at 25th Annual Klippan Lady Open
The 25th Annual Klippan Lady Open, one of the oldest all women's wrestling tournaments in the world, took place in Sweden last weekend and four different nations had wrestlers claim a gold medal, but it was China who led the way with a quartet of gold medalists.

China’s 2018 world champion Rong NINGNING and Rio Olympic bronze medalist YANAN Sun (CHN) were the leaders of the Chinese squad that had four champions.

Rong, who made her first Klippan Lady Open appearance, won the 57kg gold medal, while Sun improved on her 2015 fifth-place finish by winning the 50kg title.

The other two Chinese champions were FENG Zhou (CHN) and JUAN Wang (CHN). The pair won the 68kg and 76kg championships respectively.

The host nation of Sweden finished with the second most gold medalists, grabbing a trio of titles.

Jenny FRANSSON, Sweden's 2016 Rio bronze medalist, won her second consecutive 72kg Klippan Lady Open title and third overall while making her tenth Lady Open appearance.

The other two Swedish wrestlers who won gold medals were Moa NYGREN (SWE) Henna JOHANSSON (SWE).

Nygren, who was wrestling in her fifth Klippan Lady Open had never placed higher than eight before winning the 62kg title on Sunday.

Johansson finally got over the hump and claimed a Klippan Lady Open title after nine previous attempts.

Japan grabbed two titles and Russia rounded out the winners with a solo gold medalist.

Umi IMAI (JPN) and Sena NAGAMOTO (JPN) won the 53kg and 55kg gold medals respectively, while Russia’s Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS) won the last gold medal, which came at 59kg.

RESULTS

50kg
GOLD - YANAN Sun (CHN)
SILVER - Remina YOSHIMOTO (JPN)
BRONZE - Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (RUS)
BRONZE - Iwona MATKOWSKA (POL)

53kg
GOLD - Umi IMAI (JPN)
SILVER - QIANYU Pang CHN)
BRONZE - Annika WENDLE (GER)
BRONZE - Ekaterina POLESHCHUK (RUS)

55kg
GOLD - Sena NAGAMOTO (JPN)
SILVER - Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR)
BRONZE - Diana WEICKER (CAN)
BRONZE - Marina SIMONYAN (RUS)

57kg
GOLD - NINGNING Rong (CHN)
SILVER - Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR)
BRONZE - Roksana ZASINA (POL)
BRONZE - Ramóna GALAMBOS (HUN)

59kg
GOLD - Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS)
SILVER - Pei XINGRU (CHN)
BRONZE - Lauren LOUIVE (USA)
BRONZE - Emma JOHANSSON (SWE)

62kg
GOLD - Moa NYGREN (SWE)
SILVER - Jessica BROUILLETTE (CAN)
BRONZE - Veranika IVANOVA (BLR)
BRONZE - JUAN Kang (CHN)

65kg
GOLD - Henna JOHANSSON (SWE)
SILVER - Gabriella SLEISZ (HUN)
BRONZE - Kriszta INCZE (ROM)
BRONZE - Naomi RUIKE (JPN)

68kg (One bronze)
GOLD - FENG Zhou (CHN)
SILVER - Natalia KHRAMENKOVA (RUS)
BRONZE - Alena SUKHAREVA (RUS)

72kg
GOLD - Jenny FRANSSON (SWE)
SILVER - CHUCHU Yan (CHN)
BRONZE - Yuka KAGAMI (JPN)
BRONZE - Tatiana KOLENIKOVA (RUS)

76kg
GOLD - JUAN Wang (CHN)
SILVER - Epp MAE (EST)
BRONZE - Masako FURUICHI (JPN)
BRONZE - Francy RADELT (GER)

3. Kyrgyzstan’s Makhumdov to miss Two Months
The future of Kyrgyzstani Greco-Roman wrestling Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) is set to have surgery to repair torn ligaments in his left knee and is expecting to miss at least two months.

Makhmudov told United World Wrestling that he will depart Kyrgyzstan on February 18 and will travel to Germany where he'll have surgery February 20.

The 19-year-old expects to return to the mat in mid-April and projects that he'll compete at the September’s Astana World Championships, which are seven months away.

If you’re not familiar with Makhmudov, he’s the three-time age-level Greco-Roman world medalist who introduced himself to the senior level by forging an 8-6 win over Paris 2017 world silver medalist Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ) in the 72kg Asian finals. That match, which took place in Bishkek Kyrgyzstan’s Kozhomkul Sports Palace, was voted United World Wrestling's Greco-Roman Match of the Year.

In his memorable post-match interview, Makhmudov thanked the Kyrgyzstani fans for their support, saying, "When I heard it, I thought, 'I can die here on the floor, but I will still win. This win will be for them.'"

4. Olympic Champion Ramonov Returns After Three-Month Layoff
Rio Olympic champion Soslan RAMONOV (RUS) returned to the mat for the first time since undergoing spinal surgery in early November to correct a back issue that has long troubled him.

Ramonov told United World Wrestling, “I’ve returned to the mat. I’m going to wrestle at the Russian National Championships and possibly the World Championships.” (The dates for this year's Russian National Championships have not been announced, but they're usually one month before the World Championships so we can expect them to be in late July or early August.)

Last November, Ramonov told UWW, “It’s true that I had an operation on my back, but I’ve already got back to work and started physical therapy. I expect to return to the mat in January, and hopefully enter a tournament at 65kg closer to the fall.”

Ramonov's November announcement that he's dropping back down to 65kg should raise eyebrows of wrestling fans around the world because the Russian was arguably the most dominant wrestler in the world during his run to the 65kg Rio Olympic gold medal. On that run, he outscored his Olympic opponents 53-11 and thumped the returning Olympic champion Toghrul ASGAROV (AZE) 11-0 in the gold-medal bout.

But, since his title-winning performance in Rio, Ramonov hasn't been the same and a big reason is that he bumped up to 70kg. While up at 70kg, Ramonov has failed to make it back on the Russian world team in back-to-back years after earning medals at three consecutive World Championships and Olympic Games.

For a healthy Ramonov to represent Russia in Astana, he'll have to make a run in one of the countries deepest weight classes. The 65kg weight class in Russia houses returning 65kg world bronze medalist Akhmed Chakaev (RUS), returning two-time 61kg world runner-up Gazhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS) and Yariguin runner-up Nachyin KUULAR.

5. Kurbanaliev Opens Up Wrestling School in Dagestan
Russia’s 2016 world champion Magomed KURBANALIEV recently opened the doors to his namesake sports facility, the Kurbanaliev Sports School, which is “located high in the mountains of Dagestan, in the village of Bezhta that's in the Tsunta district.”

“This sports school is located in my small homeland, where I was born and raised,” said Kurbanaliev.

The reigning European champion went further, saying he aspired to open the school because “We did not have the right conditions for normal training, and there was only a small room and a mat. Our youth had no place to train, and I understand them.”

In addition to freestyle wrestling, the Kurbanaliev Sports School will also be a practice facility for students training boxing, sambo, and volleyball.

The gym is currently open for wrestling practices, but Kurbanaliev won't officially celebrate the grand opening until the summer. “The official opening will take place in the summer, and now training has begun in various sports.”

For more information about the Kurbanaliev Sports School, please visit the school’s official Instagram account.

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media

1. Big Move Monday -- Rəsul Çunayev (AZE) -- 2018 Dan Kolov
2. Sunday Smiles ?. ?: Lu Marin
3. #ScoreThat - Who do you think scored on this exchange? Was it red or was it blue? (Find out by watching the full match, which is linked in our bio).
4. We traveled to Puerto Rico with members of the USA Women’s national team as they took part in a 10-day training camp on the island. Video: Lu Marin @ Lu Marin Creative
5. Four days until the #HungarianGP2019 .

Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! May 28, 2019

Wednesday, May 29, 2019 - 01:37 By Eric Olanowski

Discussing Aleksanyan's return, and results from the Sassari. Also looking at David Taylor's injury and the next set of world rankings.

1. World and Olympic Champ Aleksanyan Victorious in Return
Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM), the three-time world and Olympic champion made his return to competition this weekend for the first time since failing to medal at the 2018 World Championships in Budapest.

Aleksanyan, who had medaled at six consecutive World Championships and Olympic Games, dropped his semifinals match in Budapest against eventual world champion Musa EVLOEV (RUS) and forfeited out of the 97kg bronze-medal bout falling to a fifth-place finish.

This weekend, the “White Bear” returned to the mat at the B. Turlykhanov Cup in Almaty, Kazakhstan, winning the 97kg gold medal. Aleksanyan went 5-0, scoring wins against A. ALIZADEH (IRI), A. ISKAKOV (KAZ), R. NADAREISHVILI (GEO), D. SOTNIKOV (RUS), and A. GOLOVIN (RUS).

The Armenian scored three points in each of his matches and only conceded a single point in his quarterfinals and finals match against Nadareishvili and Golovin, respectively.

FINALS RESULTS
60kg - Ali reza ayat ollah NEJATI (IRI) df. Aidos SULTANGALI (KAZ), via injury default
67kg - Zaur KABALOEV (RUS) df. Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO), via injury default
77kg - Askhat DILMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ) df. Aleksandr CHEKHIRKIN (RUS), 3-1
87kg - Bekkhan OZDOEV (RUS) df. Ramin soltanmorad TAHERISARTANG (IRI), 3-1
97kg - Arturn ALEKSANYAN (ARM) df. Aleksandr GOLOVIN, (RUS), 3-0
130kg - Kiryl HRYSHCHANKA (BLR) df. Vitalii SHCHUR (RUS), 3-0

2. Wiebe Pins Vorobeva in Battle of Olympic Champions; Chamizo wins Gold in Home Country
In arguably the most anticipated women’s wrestling match in the Ranking Series' two-year history, Rio Olympic champion Erica WIEBE (CAN) only needed two minutes to pick up the fall over London Olympic champion Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS).

In the first period of the 76kg finals, Wiebe ducked a front headlock attempt from her Russian opponent and used an unorthodox inside leg hook to throw Vorobeva on her back for the fall. “The secret to my success is I’m pretty dangerous from every position,” Wiebe said when asked about the unconventional maneuver she used to pick up the fall. She went on to say, “Today was a test, and I’m happy with how I competed. I love being creative on the mats, and I love to get to wrestling positions. That’s my bread and butter, so I went for it.”

With her win in Italy last weekend, Wiebe jumps Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ) for the No. 5 spot in the world at 76kg with 52 points.

Meanwhile, Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) capped off his run to a Sassari title in front of his home nation with a 6-4 win over tenth-ranked Daniyar KAISANOV (KAZ) in a battle of reigning 74kg continental champions.

Chamizo used the support from the ruckus Italian crowd to push him past Kaisanov in the finals. “I’m so happy for (the fans). They support me; I needed that. I love the fans.”

The Italian, who won the European Championships last month in Bucharest, Romania, found himself in a four-point hole against the reigning Asian champion after surrendering a takedown and a leg lace - but closed the Kazakh wrester’s lead to two points with a takedown of his own before the ending whistle of the first period sounded.

In the second period, Chamizo picked up his offensive attack rate and gained the criteria lead with an early two. The two-time world champion tacked on his second takedown of the period and third overall for the match and took the 6-4 advantage into the final 30 seconds. Chamzio fought off several attacks and won his first career Sassari gold medal, improving on his eighth-place finish from 2014.

Chamizo entered the Sassari as the fourth-ranked wrestler in the world with 56 points and will jump Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO) and Jordan Ernest BURROUGHS (USA) after collecting 16 points for his gold-medal performance on Saturday.

Final Results
Freestyle
Greco-Roman
Women's Wrestling

3. David Taylor Out For Final X, Nur-Sultan World Championships
David TAYLOR (USA), the reigning 86kg world champion and one of the best pound-for-pound wrestlers in the world, announced on is social media channels that he’s withdrawing from Final X, the United States’ World Team selection tournament. Taylor recently underwent surgery to repair right knee damage sustained in his Beat the Street’s charity bout while wrestling Drew FOSTER (USA).

In the opening sequence of the May 6 bout, Foster got to a low-level shot to the right leg of Taylor and came up through the middle. Foster peaked out the back door and isolated the right leg of Taylor. Foster, who was posted on his right hand, threw his left hip to the mat, which is when Taylor stopped wrestling and immediately grabbed his right knee.

If David Taylor weren't injured and had been healthy enough to compete at Final X, he would have had to defeat Pat DOWNEY (USA) in a best-of-three series for the 86kg spot. With Taylor out, Downey, the winner of the 86kg bracket at US Open, will now be awarded the United States' World Team spot.

Also of note, Taylor’s departure from the Final X means that Fatih ERDIN (TUR), who has 84 Ranking Series points, has locked up the No.1 seed at the World Championships.

Here's what the 86kg rankings look like after removing Taylor:
No. 1 - Fatih ERDIN (TUR) (86 points)
No. 2 - Hassan YAZDANI (43 points)
No. 3 - Taimuraz FRIEV (ESP) (39 points)
No. 4 - Dauren KURUGLIEV (RUS) (36 points)

Henna JOHANSSON (SWE) won the 62kg Sassari title, outplacing two other wrestlers from Sweden in her bracket. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

4. Important In-Country Battles Take Place Sassari
There were 13 in-country battles that took place at the Sassari, but three matches, in particular, are expected to have further implications on the selection process for the upcoming European Games (when applicable) and the 2019 World Championships.

In Greco-Roman, Hungary's Viktor LORINCZ won his third Ranking Series gold medal of the year, to improve his 2019 record to 13-0, and picked up his third consecutive Ranking Series victory over fellow Hungarian Erik SZILVASSY. Lorincz now has wins over the U23 world champion at the Zagreb Open, the Hungarian Grand Prix, and the Sassari, and cemented himself as Hungary’s top 87kg wrestler.

In women’s wrestling, Sweden, who is stumbling over the decision of who to enter into the European Games and World Championships, inserted three world-class athletes into the 62kg bracket in Sardinia: Henna JOHANSSON (SWE), Malin MATTSSON (SWE), and Moa NYGREN (SWE).

The decision is extremely tough because Johansson and Mattsson both have world bronze medals, and Nygren is coming off a European bronze-medal finish in Bucharest last month.

In Sardina, Mattsson and Nygren met in the first round, where Mattsson came out on top, 6-2. Mattsson ultimately settled for a bronze medal finish – but it was Johansson who went undefeated and came out on top of the bracket, defeating Elmira GAMBAROVA (AZE), 6-4.

In freestyle, Iran’s senior Asian champion Alireza KARIMIMACHIANI stopped U23 Asian champion Arashk MOHEBI (IRI), 7-0, and gained supremacy at 92kg. Karimi went on to win the tournament and Mohebi fought back and finished in third.

After winning titles at the Sassari and Asian C'ships, and finishing the World C'ships, Zagreb Open, and Hungarian Grand Prix in third place, KIM Hyeonwoo (KOR) has locked up the 77kg No. 1 seed at the World Championships. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

5. New World Rankings to be Released Next Week
United World Wrestling will be releasing the latest point-based rankings next week. The June edition of the world rankings will include results from the Budapest World Championships, all five of the Continental Championships, and the first three Ranking Series events.

There are two Ranking Series events left where wrestlers can earn additional points before the 2019 World Championships, which take place in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan on September 14-22.

Istanbul, Turkey will host the final freestyle and women's wrestling Ranking Series event, the Yasar Dogu, on July 11-14, and Minsk, Belarus will be the host site for the Oleg Karavaev (July 26-28), which is the remaining Greco-Roman Ranking Series event.

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media

1. Big Move Monday -- P.OLLI (FIN) -- 2018 World C'ships
2. What a second period! Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) erases a three-point second-period deficit by scoring a pair of takedowns to defeat Khetik TSABOLOV, 5-4 #WrestleSassari #freestylewrestling #unitedworldwrestling
3. World Wrestling Day
4. In arguably the most anticipated women’s wrestling match in the Ranking Series' two-year history, Rio Olympic champion Erica WIEBE (CAN) only needed two minutes to pick up the fall over London Olympic champion Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS). “The secret to my success is I’m pretty dangerous from every position.”
5. Gold Medal Matches - Sassari 2019 - Day 1. The Greco-Roman final matches from the Ranking Series event in Italy.

Weekly FIVE! February 19, 2019

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media

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Weekly FIVE! May 28, 2019

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media