Zhou Erases Eight-Point Deficit, Downs World Champ Mensah

Thursday, January 16, 2020 - 20:17 By Eric Olanowski

ROME, Italy (January 16) --- It's no secret that ZHOU Feng (CHN) was the underdog coming into her Matteo Pellicone finals against reigning world champion Tamyra MENSAH (USA), and though she fell behind by eight points, she remained composed enough to erase an 8-0 second-period deficit to win the 68kg gold medal. Zhou’s shocking win stopped Mensah, the 2019 Women's Wrestler of the Year, from winning her fourth consecutive Ranking Series title.

“For the first period, I didn’t feel prepared or ready, but I didn’t give up,” said Zhou. At that point of the match, Zhou surrendered three takedowns and a trapped arm gut and trailed 8-0. “I was thinking the match is not finished and I didn’t give up.”

Zhou, a two-time world medalist, kickstarted her unexpected comeback with two points from a defensive stop, which ended in a takedown. She tacked on six additional points from three gut wrenches and closed out the match on top, 8-8.

After her remarkable come-from-behind win, Zhou said, “I’m happy and excited. From this competition, most of (these wrestlers) will participate in the Olympic Games, so to get the gold medal makes me very happy.”

Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) downed Anshu ANSHU (IND), 10-0, in the 57kg finals. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

At 57kg, a friendly wager between two presidents sparked three-time world medalist Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) past Anshu ANSHU (IND) for the gold medal. Understanding the wager was a joke, and with a smile on her face, the long and lengthy Adekuoroye said, “Before the match, my president and one other president had a bet that I’d maybe lose to (Anshu). So, I told him to keep calm; I’m ready for the match. I’m happy to make him proud.”

The Nigerian, who was last year’s world bronze medalist at 57kg, quickly handled Anshu in the finals, 10-0. She scored an early takedown off a single leg, then picked up eight straight points off exposures – six of which came from a match-ending leg lace.

“I came here to win a gold medal. For me, it’s not like a surprise, and I look forward to some matches again.”

Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) fought through illness to win the 62kg title. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

Even though the reigning world champion Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) has been fighting through a nasty illness since the start of the year, she decided to still compete at the Matteo Pellicone. “At the beginning of this year, I got sick and ill, so I wasn’t 100% ready for the competition,” Tynybekova said. “And, actually, before this final, my coach thought I should not go on the mat because of my illness.”

But, midway through today’s session, she felt strong enough to compete in the medal-match session. And luckily for her, she didn’t have to wrestle the entire six minutes.

She only wrestled for just over a period – three minutes and 16 seconds to be exact -- and after leading 7-2, was awarded the gold medal when 2019 world silver medalist Liubov OVCHAROVA (RUS) broke her nose in the second period and injury defaulted out of the finals.

“In the final match, I didn’t give my 100%. In my mind, I planned on keeping my energy and strength to wrestle for the two periods. But, accidentally, my Russian opponent couldn’t continue.”

Erica WIEBE (CAN) wrapped up her 76kg finals match against ZHOU Qian (CHN) in the opening period after a takedown, followed by four leg laces. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

In the 76kg finals, Olympic champion Erica WIEBE (CAN) ended her gold-medal bout against two-time world medalist ZHOU Qian (CHN) in the opening period with a 10-0 shutout victory.

“When I get into wrestling position, that’s when it gets really fun. She went for kind of a double leg, I redirected, went behind, we get into a scramble, and that’s what wrestling is all about.”

Wiebe barrel-rolled into four straight leg laces and ended the match 10-0 in the first period. Jokingly, Wiebe said, “I’ve been working on my lace. Watch out world!”

Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY) scored the come-from-behind fall over Selcuk CAN (TUR) in the 72kg finals. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

Meanwhile, Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY), Zotlan LEVAI (HUN) and Singh GURPREET (IND) closed out the Greco-Roman portion of the competition with gold medals on Thursday night.

Elsayed and Levai picked up falls in the 72kg and 77kg finals, respectively, while Gurpreet scored the 8-5 victory over Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) in the 82kg finals.

Elsayed, a two-time U23 world champion, trailed 5-1 but flattened Selcuk CAN (TUR) in the 72kg finals and backflipped his way to a second career Ranking Series title. And after a pair of Ranking Series final losses, Levai finally got his long-awaited gold medal when he stuck Yunus BASAR (TUR) in the 77kg finals.

The third day of wrestling at the Matteo Pellicone kicks off on Friday at 10:30 (local time) in Ostia, Italy.

RESULTS
57kg
GOLD - Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) df. Anshu ANSHU (IND), 10-0
BRONZE - Linda MORAIS (CAN) df. Jenna Rose BURKERT (USA), 10-0
BRONZE - Allison Mackenzie RAGAN (USA) df. Alina AKOBIIA (UKR), 4-4

62kg
GOLD - Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) df. Liubov OVCHAROVA (RUS), via injury default
BRONZE - Jia LONG (CHN) df. Kayla MIRACLE (USA), 6-1
BRONZE - Yuliia TKACH OSTAPCHUK (UKR) df. Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR), 3-1

68kg
GOLD - Feng ZHOU (CHN) df. Tamyra MENSAH (USA), 8-8
BRONZE - Danielle LAPPAGE (CAN) df. Divya KAKRAN (IND), 12-2
BRONZE - Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) df. Alina BEREZHNA STADNIK MAKHYNIA (UKR)

76kg
GOLD - Erica Elizabeth WIEBE (CAN) vs. Qian ZHOU (CHN), 10-0
BRONZE - Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) df. Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ), via injury
BRONZE - Aline ROTTER FOCKEN (GER) df. Vasilisa MARZALIUK (BLR), 4-2

Greco-Roman
72kg
GOLD - Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed Ibrahi ELSAYED (EGY) df. Selcuk CAN (TUR), via fall
BRONZE - Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR) df. Parviz NASIBOV (UKR), 6 - 0
BRONZE - Maksym YEVTUSHENKO (UKR) df. Gaoquan ZHANG (CHN), 5-3

77kg
GOLD - Zotlan LEVAI (HUN) df. Yunus Emre BASAR (TUR), via fall
BRONZE - Wuileixis RIVAS ESPINOZA (VEN) df. Ravaughn Richard Ravelle PERKINS (USA), 8 - 2
BRONZE - Sajan SAJAN (IND) df. Emrah KUS (TUR), via fall

82kg
GOLD - Singh GURPREET (IND) df. Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR), 8-5
BRONZE - Florian NEUMAIER (GER) df. John Walter STEFANOWICZ JR (USA), 5 - 1
BRONZE - Salih AYDIN (TUR) df. Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB), 6-5

#WrestleZagreb

Kusaka earns shot at world title; Iran puts 3 in final

Thursday, September 18, 2025 - 15:57 By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (September 18) -- Olympic champion Nao KUSAKA (JPN) is a step away from winning his first world title.

After finishing with a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships at 77kg, Kusaka went on to win the 2024 Paris Olympic Games at the same weight. The Olympic champion now wants the tag of world champion.

Returning for the first time since Paris, Kusaka wrestled like is the Olympic champion, beating Robert FRITSCH (HUN), 3-1, in the semifinals. He scored a takedown to open the scoring before getting the par terre advantage. He failed to score but led 3-0. Fritsch was in danger of giving up a four-pointer but he flung Kusaka on counter for a point to make it 3-1.

There was no action in the second period and Kusaka defended his lead till the time expired to earn his first trip to the finals at a World Championships.

"Like at the Olympics, you can't predict what will happen. But a year after the Olympics, I want to show my strength to the world again," Yoshida said after the win. " I always worked out with him, so we know each other well. But to me, it didn't matter if he had a strategy or not."

Earlier in the quarterfinals, he defeated Olympic silver medalist Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ), 4-2, in a rematch of the Olympic final. Kusaka had to come back as he was down 2-2 on criteria as Zhadrayev launched a counter throw for two points. But Kusaka added two stepouts in the second period to win 4-2.

He will now face Olympic bronze medalist Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) for the gold medal after the Armenian defeated world U20 champion Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI) in a one-move semifinal.

Amoyan got the first chance in par terre and he loaded for a suplex on the edge. Abdevali was ready to land on his hands but Amoyan changed his throw and slammed the Iranian in a reverse throw for four and lead 5-0.

Abdevali failed to score from par terre in the second period and dropped the semifinal 5-1 against Amoyan.

Despite Abdevali's loss, Iran managed three other wrestlers in the finals with world champion Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) leading the way. Two World Championships debutants, Payam AHMADI (IRI) and Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) reached the finals at 55kg and 82kg, respectively.

At 130kg, world champion Mirzazadeh had no trouble reaching the final after he defeated Wenhao JIANG (CHN), 3-1, in the semifinals. He got a roll from par terre for two points and despite par terre position in the second period, he won 3-1.

He will face a surprise finalist Darius VITEK (HUN) who denied Pavel HLINCHUK (UWW), 1-1, as he got the criteria for the first point in a 1-1 finish.

Farokhi, who won the Zagreb Open this year, powered his way to the 82kg final after denying local star Karlo KODRIC (CRO), 7-1, in the semifinals. Farokhi led 3-1 at the break after a takedown. He scored another as soon as the second period began before adding two stepouts to win.

He will face Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO) for the gold medal after the Georgian denied Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN) yet another comeback as he had all day on Thursday. Yoshida began with two stepouts before getting the par terre. He failed to score any points but led 3-0 at the break.

It was all Bolkvadze in the second period as he scored three turns from par terre to take a 7-3 lead. Japan challenged the last turn saying that Yoshida's head was out of bounds before last turn. However, the review showed that it was inside and Bolkvadze got a point for the lost challenge to make it 8-3 with 1:10 remaining.

Yoshida used an arm drag to takedown and make it 8-5 but he did not have any another action and Georgia got its second finalist of the night.

Ahmadi upsets Azizli

Iran's gamble to switch Pouya DAD MARZ (IRI) with world U20 champion Payam AHMADI (IRI) a week before the World Championships paid off as he denied four-time world champion Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) a record fifth at 55kg.

Ahmadi was subjected to a selection bout against Dad Marz in Iran and he defeated the former world silver medalist with ease thus earning a trip to Zagreb a month after winning the gold at the U20 World Championships.

In the semifinals, Ahmadi got a takedown to put Azizli on the backfoot. He was awarded the par terre position as well but failed to score. However, he led 3-0 at the break. Azizli got his chance in the second period but Ahmadi brought out his top defense to not give up any points and keep his 3-1 lead, a score he went on to win with.

He will face another teenager for the gold medal, Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO), who defeated Emin CAKIR (TUR), 2-2, on last point criteria to earn a spot in the final.

Lolua, just 18 years of age, won a bronze medal at 55kg at the U20 World Championships in which Ahmadi was the champion. Lolua and Cakir traded passivity points with the latter holding first-point criteria. Lolua got a third passivity which is without points and only position, but he failed to score from that as well. Georgia challenged for a leg-foul but there was none.

Cakir got a point for lost challenge from Georgia which made it 2-1 with 40 seconds left. However, Lolua got a stepout soon after and got the 2-2 criteria for the last point scored to win.

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Payam AHMADI (IRI) vs. Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO)

SF 1: Payam AHMADI (IRI) df. Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE), 3-1
SF 2: Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO) df. Emin CAKIR (TUR), 2-2

77kg
GOLD: Nao KUSAKA (JPN) vs. Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)

SF 1: Nao KUSAKA (JPN) df. Robert FRITSCH (HUN), 3-1
SF 2: Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) df. Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI), 5-1

82kg
GOLD: Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) vs. Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)

BRONZE: Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO) df. Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN), 8-5
BRONZE: Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) df. Karlo KODRIC (CRO), 7-1

130kg
GOLD: Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) vs. Darius VITEK (HUN)

SF 1: Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) df. Wenhao JIANG (CHN), 3-1
SF 2: Darius VITEK (HUN) df. Pavel HLINCHUK (UWW), 1-1

Zhou Erases Eight-Point Deficit, Downs World Champ Mensah

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Kusaka earns shot at world title; Iran puts 3 in final