Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! June 18, 2018

By Eric Olanowski

Discussing Yui SUSAKI(JPN) avenging her loss against Yuki IRIE (JPN) and Rio WATARI (JPN) winning her battle against cancer. Also taking a look at USA's 2018 world team, along with two rankings series events that kick off this weekend. 

1. Susaki Strikes Back, Avenges Loss to Irie to Grab 50kg Title at Meiji Cup
Yui SUSAKI(JPN), 2017 world champion avenged her devastating December technical fall loss to Yuki IRIE (JPN) in the Emperor’s Cup by claiming the 50kg Meiji Cup title this past weekend. 

Susaki got the revenge she sought and the second chance she needs in her continued quest to defend her world title as the two will now face each other again in a winner-take-all playoff for the berth on the Japanese team in Budapest.


Rio WATARI (JPN) gets emotional after defeating cancer and making Japan's 2018 world team. (Photo by Sachiko Hotaka)

2. Watari Wins Meiji Cup after Defeating Cancer 
Rio WATARI (JPN) capped her remarkable recovery from Hodgkin lymphoma, winning the women’s 68kg title with a 3-2 victory over Chiaki SEKI (JPN) at the All-Japan Invitational Championships in Tokyo,  earning a place on Japan’s team at the world championships in Budapest.

3. Adeline Gray Set to Make World Championship Return After Winning Final X
Adeline GRAY (USA), the three-time world champion made her seventh world team after taking the best-of-three series in two matches against Korinahe BULLOCK (USA). Gray will make her world championship return for the first time since 2015 when she won the gold medal. 

Logan STIEBER (USA),the  2016 world champion locked up his third world team spot, while Kyle DAKE (USA) and David TAYLOR (USA) each made their first world team. 

Freestyle
65kg - Logan STIEBER (USA)  
79 kg - Kyle DAKE (USA)
86 kg - David TAYLOR (USA)

Women's Wrestling 
62 kg - Mallory VELTE (USA)  
72 kg - Erin CLODGO (USA) 
76 kg - Adeline GRAY (USA) 

FINAL X - STATE COLLEGE RESULTS

4. China Open Begins Friday 
The China Open, United World Wrestling's third women's wrestling ranking series event of the year kicks off June 22-23 in Taiyuan, China. 

RANKING SERIES EVENTS
Klippan Lady Open (SWE), February             
Mongolia Open (MGL), June           
China Open (CHN), June                  
Poland Open (POL), September    

5. Hungarian Grand Prix, the Third Greco-Roman Ranking Series Event Starts This Weekend 

The third Greco-Roman ranking series event of the year, the Hungarian Grand Prix kicks off June 23-24 in Gyor, Hungary. 

RANKING SERIES EVENTS
Takhti Cup (IRI), January                             
Granma y Cerro Pelado (CUB), February        
Hungarian GP (HUN), June                    
Vehbi Emre (TUR), July            

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media 

1. Big Move Monday ! FIJLKAM // Jacopo SANDRON, #italia#lotta @fijlkam_official @jacopo_sandron

2. Have a good day! Всем хорошего дня! ??
#wrestling#sport#saturday#uww#arturaleksanyan#olympics#суббота#артуралексанян#олимпиада#спорт#борьба

3. Happy Friday, wrestling fans!  Всем хорошей пятницы! #wrestling#friday#happiness#olympics#олимпиада#пятница#радость#борьба

4. This is historic photo. Guess when and where it was taken? Это историческое фото! Угадате где и когда оно было сделано. #guess#historicphoto#wrestling#womenswrestling#борьба#историческоефото#борьба#женскаяборьба

5. ?? #wrestlingairlines ? @geoffriccio

#WrestleBudapest

Bisultanov preps for Zagreb Worlds with Budapest gold

By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 19) -- After winning the Zagreb Open gold medal in February, Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN) had said that his main goal for the year to become a world champion. For that, he skipped European Championships as he had previously won gold there.

He focused on his shortcoming and weight management as he prepared for the World Championships, to be held in September in Zagreb.

With two months to go for that, Bisultanov entered the Budapest Ranking Series to test his preparations, and came out with flying colors. He won the Greco-Roman 87kg gold medal with a scintillating performance in Budapest.

Bisultanov did not break a sweat to reach the final against David LOSONCZI (HUN), who struggled throughout the day, and later pulled out of the final injured.

This was Bisultanov's second Ranking Series gold of the year and is expected to jump to number three in the rankings for 87kg. If all the top five ranked wrestlers are entered for the World Championships, Bisultanov will likely have Olympic champion Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) on side of the bracket.

But a performance like Saturday could potentially see Bisultanov get he better of Novikov, who lost the European Championships final to Losonczi this year.

Bisultanov, who won Thor Masters in June, warmed up with a 4-1 victory over Bachir SID AZARA (ALG) before he blanked Alan OSTAEV (UWW), 8-0, in the quarterfinal.

He faced local wrestlers Tamas LEVAI (HUN) in the semifinal and after a 7-0 lead, he decided it safe and defended from par terre. He gave a late stepout but managed to win 7-2 easily.

A Bisultanov-Losonczi final was what the fans wanted but Losonczi had struggled with his health all day long and decided to not risk it in the final.

He opened his day with tough bout against former European champion Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB), winning 3-1. His second match was also against a Serbian wrestler, Andrija MIHAJLOVIC (SRB), and he won 6-1.

It was the quarterfinal in which Losonczi was troubled by world U20 champion Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ) who launched him for a suplex to lead 5-0. But Losonczi roared in the second period, scoring from par terre and getting points for Yevloyev's defensive fouls to win 9-5.

He then managed to keep Islam ABBASOV (AZE) quiet to win 4-0 in the semifinal and entertained the local fans with a back-flip. He would later not wrestle the final and win the silver.

In other two Greco-Roman weight classes of the day, Iuri LOMADZE (GEO) defeated Abdullo ALIEV (UZB), 8-2, in the 72kg final took a big step towards being on the Georgian team of the World Championships.

At 130kg, Marat KAMPAROV (UWW) got the better of Darius VITEK (HUN) in the final to win the gold medal.

RESULTS

72kg
GOLD: Iuri LOMADZE (GEO) df. Abdullo ALIEV (UZB), 8-2

BRONZE: Otar ABULADZE (GEO) df. Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Ruslan NURULLAYEV (AZE) df. Giorgi CHKHIKVADZE (GEO), 9-0

87kg
GOLD: Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN) df. David LOSONCZI (HUN), via inj. def.

BRONZE: Islam ABBASOV (AZE) df. Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB), 5-2
BRONZE: Tamas LEVAI (HUN) df. Alan OSTAEV (UWW), 5-2

130kg
GOLD: Marat KAMPAROV (UWW) df. Darius Attila VITEK (HUN), 3-1

BRONZE: Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ) df. Elias KUOSMANEN (FIN), 5-3
BRONZE: Koppany LASZLO (HUN) df. Sarkhan MAMMADOV (AZE), 2-1