#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
 

#UWWAwards

Ono, Bondar, Hedayati named UWW's Rising Stars for 2024

Thursday, December 12, 2024 - 15:56 By Vinay Siwach

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United World Wrestling has named Masanosuke ONO (JPN), Iryna BONDAR (UKR) and Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) as the Emerging Stars of the Year in Freestyle, Women's Wrestling and Greco-Roman for 2024.

Masanosuke ONO (JPN)

A storm hit the wrestling world late in the season. 20-year-old Masanosuke ONO (JPN) went on a rampage at the U20 and senior World Championships, winning both titles.

He first competed internationally at the Yasar Dogu tournament in March this year, winning the gold medal in a 28-wrestler 61kg bracket. Then he moved up to 65kg for the Asian Championships in Bishkek. However, he suffered a fall against Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL) in his first bout. He returned to win the bronze medal.

That loss against Tumur Ochir would be a distant memory as Ono went on to win gold at the U20 World Championships, winning three out of four bouts via technical superiority. Then came the World Championships Tirana with Ono being a dark horse.

He quickly changed that to the favorite to win the gold medal as he opened with a huge 10-2 win over Tokyo Olympic champion Zavur UGUEV (AIN). He went on to add four more wins for the gold medal with scores reading 12-0, 11-0, 12-0 and 10-0.

Ono, currently a student at Yamanashi Gakuin University, earned new fans in Tirana with his dynamic style of wrestling and his celebrations. Most fans are glued to their seats when Ono is on the mat as in Tirana as he showed his range of attacks, from leg attacks to par terre and from upper body throws to leg laces.

Iryna BONDAR (UKR)Iryna BONDAR (UKR) won six gold medals, including two at world championships, this year. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Iryna BONDAR (UKR)

Among one of the most active wrestlers this year, Iryna BONDAR (UKR) clearly emerges as the future star in the making.

Bondar has competed at a staggering eight tournaments this year and won gold medals at six. Bondar began the year with an eighth-place finish at the Zagreb Open, her first senior competition, but then began a prolific run of winning gold medals at all age-group tournaments.

Bondar began with the U23 European Championships, added the second at the Budapest Ranking Series before adding the gold at the U20 European Championships. Then came the World Championships season. She won the U20 World Championships gold medal at 62kg, a month later she added the U23 World Championships gold medal at 62kg.

She could have capped off her season on a high but she participated in her first senior World Championships days after the U23 event. Wrestling at 65kg, she suffered a close loss to Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN).

In the four championships this year, Bodnar has outscored her opponents 155-25 in 18 bouts. Before that loss in Tirana, she was on a 24-0 winning run this year.

Bondar has been an active wrestler on the tour and won medals at the U20, U23 World Championships before, finishing with silvers and bronzes. However, the gold rush came this year.

Her form at 62kg makes her the heir apparent to two-time Olympic medalist Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) who recently won a silver medal at the Paris Olympics.

Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI)Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) won the 130kg gold at the U23 World Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI)

While a lot can be said about Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) and his age-group world titles, his stunned the wrestling world in Budapest this year.

At the Budapest Ranking Series in July, a tune-up tournament for the Paris Olympics, Hedayati shocked world and Olympic champion Riza KAYAALP (TUR) at Greco-Roman 130kg with a 4-0 win. Hedayati broke the Turkish legend in the six-minute bout and claimed the most famous win of his career so far.

Hedayati has been knocking on the 130kg door of the Iran team for long but Olympic bronze medalist Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) is still holding the spot. But the 2024 year has further Hedayati's claim over it.

Beginning the year with the Zagreb Open Ranking Series, Hedayati won he gold medal at 130kg with victories over Laszlo DARABOS (HUN), Wenhao JIANG (CHN), Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB), Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU) and Lingzhe MENG (CHN).

Then came the 2024 Vehbi Emre tournament in which he challenged Mirzazadeh for the spot on Iran team but suffered a loss, his only of the season. He bounced back quickly from that and won the Budapest Ranking Series gold medal. Hedayati's style an be gauged with the fact that he did no give up a single point in three bouts in Budapest, making him a highly active wrestler.

He capped off the year with his first U23 World Championships gold medal at 130kg in Tirana. Hedayati's golden run included victories over some of the biggest names in age-group wrestling like Pavel HLINCHUK (AIN), Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR), Hamza BAKIR (TUR).

Only Vyshnyvetskyi, who defeated Hedayati for the gold at the U20 World Championships in 2022, was able to score points on Hedayati when he hit an arm-throw. However, even in that bout, the Iranian never looked in any trouble.

Hedayati's active wrestler makes it difficult for his opponents to get him in forced par terre, making it difficult for them to score.