#WrestleBelgrade

World Champ Tynybekova Captures Title in Dominant Fashion

Tuesday, December 15, 2020 - 20:15 By Andrew Hipps

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Day 4 Photos
Interview with Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE)
Interview with Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR)

BELGRADE, Serbia (December 15) -- World champion Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) made it look easy in Belgrade, Serbia, winning the gold medal at the Individual World Cup with four consecutive dominant victories over two days, outscoring her opponents 47-2, capped off by a 14-0 technical superiority in the 62kg final on Tuesday night.

Tynybekova wasted little time scoring in her final against three-time European champion Anastasija GRIGORJEVA (LAT). The 27-year-old Kyrgyzstani women's wrestler shot a double leg and scored four points early in the match to go up 4-0. She built her lead to 9-0 after two more takedowns and a step out. Needing just one point to finish the match, Tynybekova shot a double leg and lifted Grigorjeva off her feet before bringing her to the mat for a five-point move to put an exclamation point on the match. 

All five women's wrestling champions crowned Tuesday came from different nations. 

Ekaterina POLESHCHUK (RUS) won by technical superiority in the 50kg final (Photo: Gabor MARTIN, UWW)

World bronze medalist Ekaterina POLESHCHUK (RUS) claimed the gold medal at 50kg with a 10-0 technical superiority over Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR). Poleshchuk picked up an early takedown before locking up a gut wrench and turning the Ukrainian four times to finish the match in the first period. 

Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE) took the title at 53kg with a 5-1 victory (Photo: Gabor MARTIN, UWW)

Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE) used a big second period to help her earn a 5-1 win over Roksana ZASINA (POL) in the 53kg final. The two wrestlers traded passivity points, with Zasina scoring the second one in the final period to take the criteria lead. Midway through the second period, Prevolaraki hit a four-point throw to go up by four, which was enough to earn the victory.

Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) shut out Annika WENDLE (GER) in the 55kg final (Photo: Gabor MARTIN, UWW)

Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) cruised to a decisive 9-0 shutout over Annika WENDLE (GER) to claim gold at 55kg. Kurachkina scored two takedowns in the first period to lead 4-0 at the break. She added a third takedown early in the second period before countering an attack from Wendle for a two-point exposure and adding a point off a step out. 

Yuliana YANEVA (BUL) celebrates after earning the title at 72kg (Photo: Gabor MARTIN, UWW)

Yuliana YANEVA (BUL) won the gold medal at 72kg with a 5-2 victory over Buse TOSUN (TUR). Yaneva scored her first point off the activity clock before picking up two takedowns to lead 5-0 at the break. Tousun would get on the scoreboard in the second period with two step outs, but the Bulgarian would earn the victory. 

Russia finished with four medals on Tuesday. In addition to Poleshchuk's gold at 50kg, three Russian women earned bronze medals: Anzhelika VETOSHKINA (53kg), Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (55kg) and Liubov OVCHAROVA (62kg).

Ukraine earned a pair of bronze medals from Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (62kg) and Alla BELINSKA (72kg). 

Miglena SELISHKA (BUL) and Lisa ERSEL (GER) won the bronze medals at 50kg.

Also winning bronze medals on Tuesday were Zalina SIDAKOVA (BLR) at 53kg, Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL) at 55kg and Zsuzsanna MOLNAR (SVK) at 72kg.

Women's Wrestling Medal Match Results

50kg
GOLD: Ekaterina POLESHCHUK (RUS) df. Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR) by VSU, 10-0
BRONZE: Miglena SELISHKA (BUL) df. Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR) by VSU1, 13-2
BRONZE: Lisa ERSEL (GER) df. Gloria Estefanny ASCA VILCAPOMA (PER) by VSU, 10-0

53kg
GOLD: Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE) df. Roksana Marta ZASINA (POL) by VPO1, 5-1
BRONZE: Anzhelika VETOSHKINA (RUS) df. Nina HEMMER (GER) by VPO1, 12-4
BRONZE: Zalina SIDAKOVA (BLR) df. Zeynep YETGIL (TUR) by VPO, 3-0

55kg
GOLD: Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) df. Annika WENDLE (GER) by VPO, 9-0
BRONZE: Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL) df. Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA) by VPO, 7-0
BRONZE: Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS) df. Pinki PINKI (IND) by VSU, 10-0

62kg
GOLD: Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) df. Anastasija GRIGORJEVA (LAT) by VFA, 14-0
BRONZE: Liubov OVCHAROVA (RUS) df. Kriszta Tunde INCZE (ROU) by VPO1, 1-1
BRONZE: Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR) df. Luisa Helga Gerda NIEMESCH (GER) by VPO1, 3-1

72kg
GOLD: Yuliana Vasileva YANEVA (BUL) df. Buse TOSUN (TUR) by VPO1, 5-2
BRONZE: Alla BELINSKA (UKR) df. Evgeniia ZAKHARCHENKO (RUS) by VFA, 6-2
BRONZE: Zsuzsanna MOLNAR (SVK) df. Luz Clara VAZQUEZ (ARG) by VFA, 2-2
 

#WrestleUlaanbaatar

Kamal survives scare in Ulaanbaatar amid Turkiye gold rush

Friday, May 30, 2025 - 13:58 By Vinay Siwach

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ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (May 30) -- Turkiye captured all three Greco-Roman gold medals on offer on Friday with European champion Kerem KAMAL (TUR) surviving a tough final to win at 63kg, and Paris Olympians Enes BASAR (TUR) and Hamza BAKIR (TUR) winning at 60kg and 130kg respectively.

Kamal, who won European Championships gold in dominant fashion, could not replicate that performance from April but still managed to win gold. In the final, he survived a scare against Asian Championships bronze medalist Hanjae CHUNG (KOR), winning 6-6 on criteria, thanks to a foul from Chung.

Both had wrestled in the group stages as well as this weight category only had seven wrestlers and were divided into two groups. Kamal came out on top 6-3 in that match.

But the final began with Chung scoring a takedown in the first minute and then adding another point when he was given the par terre advantage. However, he failed to score from that position.

In the second period, Kamal scored a push from par terre and had Chung's back on the mat for two points. He then lifted Chung upside down and completed a throw during which Chung committed a defensive leg foul.

Korea challenged the call but lost which gave Kamal a 6-4 lead. Chung tried to score and during the final 10 seconds, he pushed Kamal to the zone and the Turkish wrestler lost his balance, giving up a takedown.

Chung tied it 6-6 but Kamal led on criteria as Chung had committed the leg foul earlier. Chung realized it later that he was losing the final.

"I think it was a bit of a misjudgment because I thought I was winning and I didn't try hard for last 7 seconds at the end," Chung said. "I'm training hard with [former world champion] Hansu RYU (KOR) as my role model, and I'm trying to copy his style a lot."

For Kamal, the tournament was an eye-opener, especially for his performance against the Asian wrestlers.

"It was a very difficult tournament," Kamal said. "From the first round to the final match, I had very strong and very tough opponents. It was one of the hardest matches I've had this year. Winning is important, but in this tournament I realized that I have many mistakes. I'm thinking that I'm going to watch all my matches over and over again and analyze them and try to wrestle in a way that is more error-free and less pointless."

As he gears up to win his first senior world title in Zagreb later this September, Kamal is now wary of his opponents from Asia and wants to tackle them with more conviction.

"All my opponents are Asian," he said. "Kyrgyz, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Iranian. These are my strongest opponents. When you look at it, most of my opponents are from Asia, so I try to wrestle like Asians. I try to train like them, because they are very difficult to keep up with, they are very active. But as I said, as much as I can stop them, as much as I can do, as long as I can, I will continue to wrestle with them and wrestle like him."

Despite his close matches against Chung, Kamal looked in supreme form, especially while defending on par terre, as he captured his second Ranking Series gold medal of the year. His first gold was in Tirana, Albania.

"I don't think about it there [on the mat], to be honest, because I'm in a completely negative position," he said. "I'm trying to get out of it by doing all the weird things I can. The important thing is that I don't get scored there. It doesn't matter how I do it, what I do, the important thing is not to give points to my opponent and to continue in that way. So I'm very happy that I was able to do that."

Enes BASAR (TUR)Enes BASAR (TUR), blue, won gold medal at 60kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Basar, who was at the Paris Olympics at 60kg, won four bouts in the day to claim the gold medal. He began with an 8-3 win over Kurmanbek ZHAPAROV (KGZ) but his second against Akyl SULAIMANOV (KGZ) tested him to the limits. He made two comebacks to win 16-5, using a strong gut-wrench.

He followed that win by beating SURAJ (IND), 8-0, in a minute and 13 seconds before finishing his campaign with a 10-2 win over Ganbayar NAMSRAI (MGL).

Hamza BAKIR (TUR)Hamza BAKIR (TUR) claimed the 130kg gold medal in Ulaanbaatar. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

The most dominant run of the day came from Hamza BAKIR (TUR) at 130kg, as he won all his four bouts via technical superiority.

In his first bout, he gave up a point for passivity but still managed to win 9-1 against Erlan MANATBEKOV (KGZ). That was the only point he gave in the competition, winning his next three bouts via technical superiority.

He defeated Turbat BATBAYAR (MGL), 8-0, in Round 2, PREM (IND) with identical scoreline in Round 3 and in Round 5, he won against Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL), 8-0.

RESULTS

60kg
GOLD: Enes BASAR (TUR)
SILVER: SURAJ (IND)
BRONZE: Akyl SULAIMANOV (KGZ)

63kg
GOLD: Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Hanjae CHUNG (KOR), 6-6

BRONZE: Aref MOHAMMADI (QAT) df. Mohammad KESHTKAR (IRI),

130kg
GOLD: Hamza BAKIR (TUR)
SILVER: Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL)
BRONZE: Erlan MANATBEKOV (KGZ)