#PolandOpen

World Champ Stadnik Bulldozes Poland Open Field

Friday, September 7, 2018 - 18:34 By Eric Olanowski

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WARSAW, Poland (September 7) - The fourth and final women’s wrestling Ranking Series event of the year, the Poland Open kicked off in Warsaw, Poland, and No. 2 ranked Mariya STADNIK (AZE) once again bulldozed the competition for the third tournament in a row. 

Stadnik, the seven-time world and Olympic medalist, capped off her Poland Open finals run with four technical superiority victories while outscoring the competition 41-1. 

The Azeri has competed three times this season, making the finals of the Klippan Lady Open, the European Championships and now the Poland Open. 

In her three competitions, Stadnik has had twelve matches. In those twelve matches, she’s 11-1, with her only loss coming to defending world champion, Yui SUSAKI (JPN) in the Klippan Lady Open finals.  Even more impressive, Stadnik has finished all 11 victories by technical superiority, while outscoring her opponents 115-3. 

Stadnik will meet Ilona SEMKIV (UKR) in the 50kg finals. Semkiv, the two-time age-level world runner-up scored an impressive 12-2 win over No. 1 Emilia VUC (ROU), sealing her spot in tomorrow’s finals. The Poland Open finals will be Semkiv’s first finals appearance since the 2017 European Championships where she coincidently wrestled Stadnik, who was the victor 10-0. 

In freestyle, Olympic champion Vladimer KHINCHEGASHVILI (GEO) will meet Akhmed CHAKAEV (RUS) for the 65kg title. This is a rematch of the 61kg gold-medal bout at the 2017 European Championships. That match, which was a Match of the Year candidate, was won 10-9 by Khinchegashvili. 

It was said that the highest placer at this tournament between Chakaev and  Ilias BEKBULATOV (RUS) would represent Russia at the 2018 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. It is not clear why, but Bekbulatov entered the tournament but did not compete, dropping out of the match against Dimitar Lyubomirov IVANOV (BUL). 

With that said, one can only imagine that Akhmed Chakaev will represent Russia at 65kg at the World Championships. In 2016, Chakaev finished with a bronze medal while representing Russia at the World Championships.

In Greco-Roman, the most surprising upset came at 97kg where Tracy HANCOCK (USA) stuck four-time world and Olympic champion, Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) in the semifinals. 

Hancock who is wrestling in his first individual international competition since taking tenth place at the U23 World Championships will face Bulgaria’s Nikolay BAYRYAKOV (BUL) for the 97kg gold medal.

The finals will begin tomorrow at 17:00 (local time). The freestyle finals will be on Mat A, the women's wrestling finals will be on Mat B and the Greco-Roman finals will be on Mat C. 

RESULTS
Women's Wrestling 
50kg
GOLD -  Ilona SEMKIV (UKR) vs. Mariya STADNIK (AZE) 

Semifinal -  Mariya STADNIK (AZE) df. Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (RUS), 11-1 
Semifinal - Ilona SEMKIV (UKR) df. Emilia Alina VUC (ROU), 12-2 


55kg
GOLD -  Roksana Marta ZASINA (POL) vs. Tetyana KIT (UKR) 

Semifinal - Tetyana KIT (UKR) df. Olga SHNAIDER (UKR), 10-0 
Semifinal -  Roksana Marta ZASINA (POL) df. Sofia Magdalena MATTSSON (SWE), 4-3 

59kg
GOLD - Marwa AMRI (TUN) vs. Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS) 

Semifinal -  Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS) df. Olena KREMZER (UKR) , 12-1 
Semifinal - Marwa AMRI (TUN) df. Lingling BAO (CHN), 7-2 

65kg
GOLD -  Petra Maarit OLLI (FIN) vs. Danielle Suzanne LAPPAGE (CAN) 

Semifinal - Danielle Suzanne LAPPAGE (CAN) df. Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE), 4-1 
Semifinal - Petra Maarit OLLI (FIN) df. Moa Lena Maria NYGREN (SWE), 2-0 

72kg
GOLD -  Kunming WANG (CHN) vs. Agnieszka Jadwiga WIESZCZEK-KORDUS (POL) 

Semifinal -  Agnieszka Jadwiga WIESZCZEK-KORDUS (POL) df. Catalina AXENTE (ROU), 3-0 
Semifinal -  Kunming WANG (CHN) df. Alexandra Nicoleta ANGHEL (ROU), 9-5

Freestyle 
57kg 

GOLD -  Stevan Andria MICIC (SRB) vs. Givi DAVIDOVI (ITA) 

Semifinal - Givi DAVIDOVI (ITA) df. Frank Vincent PERRELLI IV (USA)  , 9-6
Semifinal -  Stevan Andria MICIC (SRB) df. Nurislam (Artas) SANAYEV (SANAA) (KAZ)  , 9-5 

65kg 
GOLD - Vladimer KHINCHEGASHVILI (GEO) vs. Akhmed CHAKAEV (RUS) 

Semifinal -  Akhmed CHAKAEV (RUS) df. Jordan Michael OLIVER (USA)  , 9-8 
Semifinal -  Vladimer KHINCHEGASHVILI (GEO) df. Dimitar Lyubomirov IVANOV (BUL)  , 11-0 

74kg
GOLD -  Wei WU (CHN) vs. Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO) 

Semifinal -  Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO) df. Nurlan BEKZHANOV (KAZ)  , 5-0 
Semifinal -  Wei WU (CHN) df. Andrzej Piotr SOKALSKI (POL), 7-1 

86kg 
GOLD -  Zbigniew Mateusz BARANOWSKI (POL) vs. Samuel Joseph BROOKS (USA) 

Semifinal - Samuel Joseph BROOKS (USA) df. Akhmed AIBUEV (FRA)  , 6-2 
Semifinal -  Zbigniew Mateusz BARANOWSKI (POL) df. Piotr IANULOV (MDA), 2-2 

97kg
GOLD -  Mamed IBRAGIMOV (KAZ) vs. Elizbar ODIKADZE (GEO) 

Semifinal - Elizbar ODIKADZE (GEO) df. Pavlo OLIINYK (HUN), via injury. 
Semifinal - Mamed IBRAGIMOV (KAZ) df. Chaoqiang YANG (CHN), 5-2 

Greco-Roman 
63kg 

GOLD - Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM) vs. Nikolay Ivanov VICHEV (BUL

Semifinal - Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM) df. Virgil Alexander BICA (SWE), 4-3
Semifinal -  Nikolay Ivanov VICHEV (BUL) df. Hassan Hassan Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY), 8-0 

72kg 
GOLD -  Denis HORVATH (SVK) vs. Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR) 

Semifinal - Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR) df. Shogo TAKAHASHI (JPN), 2-1   
Semifinal - Denis HORVATH (SVK) df. Joilson DE BRITO RAMOS JUNIOR (BRA), 8-0  

82kg
GOLD - Oleksii OSNIACH (UKR) vs. Emrah KUS (TUR) 

Semifinal - Emrah KUS (TUR) df. Daniel Tihomirov ALEKSANDROV (BUL), 7-4  
Semifinal - Oleksii OSNIACH (UKR) df. Petr NOVAK (CZE), 6-6 

97kg 
GOLD - Tracy Gangelo HANCOCK (USA) vs. Nikolay Nikolaev BAYRYAKOV (BUL) 

Semifinal -  Nikolay Nikolaev BAYRYAKOV (BUL) df. Mathias BAK (DEN), 4-1 
Semifinal -  Tracy Gangelo HANCOCK (USA) df. Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM), via fall 

#WrestleUlaanbaatar, #OffTheMat

Purevdorj reignites Olympic quest with Ulaanbaatar Open gold

Friday, June 20, 2025 - 09:31 By Vinay Siwach

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ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (June 18) -- The last time Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL) wrestled in front of home crowd in Ulaanbaatar, she was one of the top wrestlers in the world at 62kg.

She was the 2017 world champion and a year before that, she had ended Kaori ICHO's (JPN) 13-year long unbeaten streak at the Ivan Yaryguin Grand Prix. Then in 2018, she won the Asian Championships in Bishkek and the Mongolian Open gold medal in Ulaanbaatar.

Few months later, she failed a dope test at the Asian Games, where she had won the gold medal in 62kg. Her rise turned into a fatal fall and Purevdorj was left to serve the four-year ban. During her long hiatus, Purevdorj focused on personal life.

“I was very sad but I decided to just live and raised my son. I kept myself busy with him,” Purevdorj says. “The most important thing is my mind. It's important to be strong.”

Purevdorj, who still remains Mongolia last world champion in wrestling, made her comeback in 2022 and was part of the Mongolian team to the World Cup. She won silver medal at the Asian Championships in 2023 and qualified for the Paris Olympics in 2024.

Seven years since the ban and now in the twilight of her wrestling career, Purevdorj is hoping to reignite the fire to wrestle. She took the first step by winning a gold medal at hte Ulaanbaatar Open. The 31-year-old won in 62kg in front of her family and local fans to once again stamp herself as the best wrestler in Mongolia and even Asia.

"I am wrestling for the second time [first time internationally] this year but it's hard," she says after her gold-medal bout against compatriot and rival Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL) who she defeated 11-2 to win the gold medal.

At the Buyant Ukhaa Sport Palace in Ulaanbaatar, Purevdorj is joined by her husband, son and even parents as they watch her wrestle live after a long time. It's not an ideal start for her as she gets hammered 10-0 by Alina KASABIEVA (UWW), a wrestler she has defeated multiple times in her career before.

That's not what Purevdorj or her family expected in the first bout itself. But she runs back to the warm-up hall and prepares for the second bout, this time against Asian champion MANISHA (IND). And Purevdorj looked in form against the Indian, winning via fall. [The 62kg bracket at the Ulaanbaatar Open was a round-robin bracket, hence giving Purevdorj the second chance].

The fall helps Purevdorj get five classification points and a place in the semifinal over Manisha. She will wrestle Ekaterina KOSHKINA (UWW) for a spot in the final. Her son, six years old, keeps cheering every time he sees his mother on the mat.

Koshkina takes Purevdorj to the limits scoring via counters. Still, Purevdorj led 9-7 at the break and both resumed their dynamic wrestling. Purevdorj managed to defend some of the attacks from Koshkina and ultimately won 15-11.

In a high-affair all-Mongolian final at 62kg, Purevdorj put on a defensive masterclass to beat Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL), 11-2, and capture the gold medal.

"I was able to win because I played calmly," she said after the final. "In the first match, I was not good mental state and was not ready. But next match I was better."

Purevdorj celebrated with a few photos with her family and coaches. She looked visibly tired after the four bouts and could use some rest days.

"As I said, it's hard. I am not sure about anything," said Purevdorj, who was wrestling a UWW tournament for the first time since the Paris Games.

Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL)Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL) celebrating after becoming a world champion in 2017. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Martin Gabor)

When she began wrestling 17 years ago in Ulaanbaatar after her cousins introduced her to the sport, Purevdorj did not think she will reach this level. So being a world champion makes her feel happy and she is proud that she choose this sport.

“I'm seventh child in my family and only I am a wrestler. My cousins were wrestlers but they stopped soon but I never stopped. I really loved it."

But she regrets not having an Olympic medal. She has been on that stage twice but fell short. In Rio 2016, she lost in the repechage while in Paris, she lost to her long-time rival Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) in the bronze-medal bout.

Now, the only motivation to be at the 2028 Los Angeles is to get an Olympic medal which may complete her journey. A medal will make her the third Mongolian wrestler to win a medal in Women's Wresting.

“I'm not sure about wrestling till Los Angeles. But I'm just trying,” she said. “The last Olympics were so hard for me in my career. I'm trying again, and I've started this year. There are many wrestlers in 62kg who are better but I have to train more.”