#WrestleTokyo

#WrestleTokyo Olympic Games Preview: 67kg

Wednesday, July 21, 2021 - 17:34 By Vinay Siwach

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TOKYO, Japan (July 23) – Big challenges lie ahead of returning Olympic champion Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB). The first is he is making his return in a new weight category, eight kilograms above the 59kg in which won a gold medal in the Rio Olympics.

Five world champions appear in the category which may throw a surprise Olympic champion given a mix of youth and veterans at this weight.

The Cuban has won the World Championships gold in the new weight in 2019 to qualify for the Games but a host of other wrestlers will fancy their chances of upsetting him. One of them will be Artem SURKOV (RUS) who lost the final in Nur-sultan.

The two will be the top contenders for the gold medal in Tokyo and are also the number one and three seeded for the Games. If they win all their matches, the two will clash in the final at 67kg.

Borrero, like in the Rio Olympics, is a big match player and raises his level at any big competition. At the 2015 World Championships, he stole the show by winning the gold medal and securing a place for Rio. He repeated the same in Nur-sultan despite not winning a medal at the 2018 Worlds.

In 2019, he has wins over former world champion Frank STAEBLER and upcoming star Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY), both capable enough to topple any big star on the given day.

Surkov, a two-time world champion, will also have problems from the same lot as he debuts at the Olympics. While Borrero is his main rival, there is no doubt he will have to navigate through a minefield to reach the final.

One of his biggest challenges will be Elsayed who is seeded number two in the weight class and will meet Surkov not before the semifinal.

The lanky Egyptian has made a name for himself after he won two U23 World Championships gold medals and reached the semifinal of the 2019 Worlds, losing to Borrero. In the bronze medal, he lost to Staebler by a single point.

The German has three world gold medals but is yet to win an Olympic medal. Toyo could well be his last attempt to win the coveted medal. Lately, he has been competing at the 72kg weight class. After becoming the European champion in 2020, he lost to Selcuk CAN (TUR) in 2021.

He will have to drop down to 67kg and that could pose a big challenge for the 32-year-old who is not seeded and will be entered in a random draw at the Games. His previous two Olympics have resulted in a fifth and seventh-place finish in 2012 and 2016 respectively.

The wrestler who is seeded fourth in Mate NEMES (SRB). In Rio, a Serbian claimed the gold medal at this weight class and the same will be expected from Nemes who will be going to the Games for the first time.

But he will be going as a European champion which he won in 2021. In an incredible run at the 2019 Worlds, managed to reach the quarterfinal against Borrero before droppin that match. But he won the bronze medal, his first at the senior Worlds and since has been a top contender for the gold medal in Tokyo.But his lack of attacks against defensive wrestlers could still be a huge problem when he takes the mat in Tokyo.

A veteran Balint KORPASI (HUN) will also be searching for an Olympic medal after four world championships medals including a gold in 2016. Though he has never won the World medals at an Olympic weight class, he is dropping down from 72kg to try and bring glory to Hungary.

One of the links of the dominant Hungarian Grec-Roman team over the past decade, he will have to make way for the up and coming wrestlers from the country as Paris approaches.

And if Iran wants an Olympic champion after nine years, Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) will be the wrestler they pin their hopes on. The younger of the Geraei brothers, Mohammadreza will take motivation from his brother as both compete at the Olympics. The U23 World champion at 72kg, had a dominant tournament in the Olympic Qualifiers in Almaty, including a win over Hansu RYU (KOR).

Now Ryu himself is looking for that first Olympic medal after he finished fifth at the Rio Games. The 31-year-old will use all his experience to get past that line in Tokyo. A world champion in 2013 and 2017, Ryu defeated Rasul CHANAYEV (AZE) at the 2019 Worlds, avenging his loss from Rio Olympics but lost to Borrero and later to Staebler in the repechage.

Three youngsters that can spring a surprise are Karen ASLANYAN (ARM), Parviz NASIBOV (UKR) and Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO). Don't miss out Aker AL OBAIDI (EOR), the wrestler who was granted the refugee quota for the Games.

Wrestling at the Tokyo Olympic Games kicks off August 1-7 at the Makuhari Messe with 67kg action beginning on August 3.

67kg Entries 
No. 1 Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB)
No. 2 Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY)
No. 3 Artem SURKOV (RUS)
No. 4 Mate NEMES (SRB)
Frank STAEBLER (GER)
Fredrik BJERREHUUS (DEN)
Souleymen NASR (TUN)
Abdelmalek MERABET (ALG)
Julian HORTA ACEVEDO (COL)
Alejandro SANCHO (USA)
Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO)
Balint KORPASI (HUN)
Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI)
Hansu RYU (KOR)
Karen ASLANYAN (ARM)
Parviz NASIBOV (UKR)
Aker AL OBAIDI (REFUGEE)

#BeachWrestling

Zenkina, Khoma power Ukraine to top at U20 Beach Wrestling Worlds

Monday, September 29, 2025 - 09:52 By Vinay Siwach

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KATERINI-PIERRIA, Greece (September 28) -- Riding on inspiring performances by former world U17 champion Mariia ZENKINA (UKR) and European silver medalist Yelyzaveta KHOMA (UKR), Ukraine emerged as the best country at the U20 World Beach Wrestling Championships in Greece.

Out of the four gold medals on offer in women's category, Ukraine won two while Romania and Serbia won one each. In the men’s division, Iran dominated its way to the top of the team rankings.

Ukraine finished at the top of the team race with 85 points while the United States was second with 50 points. Serbia managed to finish third with 39 points.

Zenkina, a U17 World Championships silver medalist in 2022, showed her skills on the beach as well and won all her bouts, including the final, without giving up a point.

Facing compatriot Daria KONSTANTYNOVA (UKR) in the +70kg final, Zenkina got the first point when Konstantynova failed to score after being put on the 30-second activity period. Zenkina then scored via snapdown which forced Konstantynova to touch the sand with her knees.

Zenkina defended her 2-0 lead for the remaining 27 seconds to claim her second world title, the first coming at U17 level in 2021.

Khoma was equally dominant in her run to gold at 60kg but needed strong defense in the final against local favorite Evdoxia PAPADOPOULOU (GRE) to win the gold medal.

The final was off to an electric start with both wrestlers giving it a go and scoring points. It was Papadopoulou who scored the first point with a stepout and took a 1-0 lead. However, Khoma fired back with a snapdown with Papadopoulou's elbow touching the sand and she took a 1-1 criteria lead.

Papdopoulou tried forcing a stepout when Khoma used double underhooks to throw the Greece wrestler who landed on her elbow, giving one more point to Khoma. In the next exchange, Khoma tried a whizzer but she touched her head on sand before Papadopoulou's which cost her one point and the lead exchanged hands. Now, the Greece wrestler led 2-2 on criteria with two minutes remaining in the match.

Khoma wasted no time in launching her next attack and pushed Papadopoulou towards the edge of the ring. As Papadopoulou tried to counter throw, Khoma kept her balance and forced her opponent to touch the sand. This gave Khoma the winning score of 3-2 as in Beach Wrestling, the first wrestler to three points wins.

Ukraine's third finalist Alevtyna LIASHENKO (UKR) was not so lucky as she lost the 50kg final to Ana ROTARU (ROU) via fall. Rotaru hit a blast double to open the scoring in the final and take a 1-0 lead. She used a similar technique to score her second point and lead 2-0 with 53 seconds left in the match.

She left nothing to chance and hit a perfect headlock throw for three points, ending the match 5-0, and victory via fall. [A three-point move in Beach Wrestling is considered fall].

Serbia won its first-ever gold medal at the U20 World Championships after European silver medalist Masa PEROVIC (SRB) scored a fall over world U17 champion Alexandra MOISEI (MDA) to claim the top medal at 70kg.

Moisei scored the first point of the final with hip toss and take a 1-0 lead and extended it to 2-0 by avoiding a trip attempt from Perovic who fell head first and lost another point. Moisei was going for the winning third point when Perovic attempted a lateral drop. While backstepping to avoid the drop, Moisei lost her balance and Perovic used that to her advantage and dropped Moisei on the back for three points and the win.

Iran's golden double

A day after winning the U17 World Championships team title in men's category, Iran continued to dominate Beach Wrestling by winning the U20 team title as well.

Like its U17 team, Iran won two golds in U20 competition to finish at the top of the team rankings with 77 points. Moldova finished second with 57 points while Ukraine was marginally behind at third with 55.

After missing out in the final in the first two weight classes, Ramtin RAVANBAKHSH (IRI) and Mersad SHAKERI (IRI) made sure Iran doesn't miss out on the finals by reaching the gold medal bouts at 90kg and +90kg respectively.

Ravanbakhsh showed impeccable defense in the final against Alexandru BORS (MDA), a former U17 World Championships silver medalist in Freestyle, at 90kg to win the gold medal. In fact, he had to beat Bors twice.

The two first met in a Group A match, which Ravanbakhsh won 1-0, before facing again in the final, where the Iranian repeated the result.

Shakeri was more active in his matches but was tested by Kostiantyn ZADOIANCHUK (UKR) in the final. He, however, managed to hold on to a 2-0 victory.

Shakeri hit a powerful snap which completely unbalanced Zadoianchuk who touched the sand with his knee and Shakeri got the first point. Shakeri got his second point with a stepout which Zadoianchuk had no chance to defend.

At 70kg, Eduard LENARD (ROU) dashed the hopes of local fans by beating Ilias KARNAVAS (GRE) in the gold medal bout in just 44 seconds.

Karnavas was sure that he got the first point as he pushed Lenard towards the edge but Lenard managed to keep himself inside and not give up the point for stepout. As Karnavas kept pushing, Lenard hit a counter whizzer for a point to dramatically turn the advantage around and lead 1-0.

As Karnavas got on a single-leg attack in another sequence, Lenard dropped him on his back with a whizzer which was scored as three points, giving the win to the Romanian. Karnavas challenged the call but on review, the original call for three points was upheld and Lenard was announced as the winner.

Moldova earned itself a gold medal at 80kg as Gabriel OJOG (MDA) scored a victory via fall over Zurab MAMULADZE (GEO) in the final. Mamuladze tried to hit a big move on Ojog who blocked it and landed on top of Mamuladze to score three points and the victory.