#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 

#WrestleNoviSad

U23 Worlds: Fujinami ready for first international test at 57kg

Friday, October 10, 2025 - 10:32 By Ken Marantz

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TOKYO, Japan (October 9) -- She already has an Olympic gold and two senior world titles, not to mention a 141-match winning streak that dates back to her junior high school days. And there is that undefeated record against non-Japanese opponents.

So what has compelled Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) to even bother entering the U23 World Championships, a tournament that, on paper at least, she should have no problem winning?

Rest assured there is method to what she would not regard as madness. It is all part of a grand plan, centered on the 21-year-old's much-publicized move from 53kg directly up to the next Olympic weight of 57kg with eyes firmly on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

"This will by my first world tournament since I moved up in weight class," Fujinami said in an interview via social media. "I want to try out what I have been practicing, and get an idea of where I stand in terms of my current ability. I also want to identify areas to work on ahead of the All-Japan Championships in December."

Fujinami tops the marquee as she makes her debut at the U23 World Championships, to be held October 20-27 in Novi Sad, Serbia. Currently in her senior year at Nippon Sports Science University, it will be just her third competition since she cruised to the 53kg gold at the Paris Olympics, where she won all four matches by either fall or technical superiority.

The two other outings -- one a collegiate team event in November 2024 and the other the Japan Queen's Cup in April at which she qualified for the U23 Worlds -- did not provide much of a workout. She won a total of four matches in a combined time of 7:11 without giving up a point.

Fujinami expressed no concerns about her extended absence from top-level competition. "This will be my first tournament in six months," she said. "I'm not worried about regaining my match feeling. For the Olympics, I had about a seven-month blank."

Fujinami had at first planned to try for the senior worlds, but decided she would not be ready as she makes the physical adjustment to 57kg. So will we see a bulked-up Fujinami in Novi Sad?

"Compared with the time when I was in the 53kg class, my natural weight is more than then," Fujinami said. "I am also going to have cut weight before the tournament at 57kg. I'm also working hard on weight training, and I'll try to show the effects of that in the matches."

Despite her exalted status, Fujinami knows not to take any opponent lightly – a lesson she learned fully well when she won her second senior world title in 2023. In the quarterfinals, she was stunned when Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) tagged her for five points early in the match and seven overall, marking the most points ever scored upon her by a non-Japanese.

Although Fujinami came back to take the lead and win by fall, it showed any lapse can lead to disaster – which, ironically, makes the sport more appealing for her.

“You never know what will happen in a match,” Fujinami said. “But I think that’s what makes it interesting. For me, a match is like a presentation of yourself, so I will go into it aiming to win while having fun.”

In Novi Sad, Fujinami may have to share some of the spotlight with compatriot, fellow Paris Olympic gold medalist and recently crowned senior world champion Sakura MOTOKI (JPN).

A victory by Motoki at 62kg would make her the third member of the “Golden Grand Slam” club -- those who have combined an Olympic gold with titles on the senior and all three age-group levels. The two current members are Yui SUSAKI (JPN) and Amit ELOR (USA).

Ironically, circumstances beyond her control worked against Fujinami ever having a chance to also gain entry into the club.

A world U17 champion in 2018, she was deprived twice of chances to win a U20 world title – first in 2021 when Japan opted to not send a team during the pandemic, and again in 2022 when an injury forced her to withdraw. Those same years she qualified for the U23 worlds, but missed out for the same reasons.

This time, her preparations have gone without a hitch. "I've been able to continue to train and practice without any major injuries," she said.

Prior to securing a second Olympic gold in Los Angeles, Fujinami has a more immediate goal — winning her first at the Asian Games, to be held next October in Nagoya / Aichi Prefecture, which borders her native Mie Prefecture. Because of the early deadline for entries, she needs a victory at the All-Japan Championships in December to make the Japanese squad.

“My goals are to win gold at the Asian Games in Nagoya and at the Los Angeles Olympics,” she said. “To achieve those goals, I’ve dedicated myself to strengthening myself during this period. It’s been a time for me to look inside myself and explore my wrestling. Now the time has come to show the results.”