TASHKENT (September 11) – Aline FERREIRA (BRA) powered her way into the gold medal final and Lissette ANTES (ECU) earned a spot in the bronze medal finals to secure Brazil and Ecuador their best-ever finishes in the wrestling world championships.

Ferreira defeated 2013 world bronze medalist OCHIRBAT Burmaa (MGL), 5-2, in the 75kg semifinals to earn a position in the gold medal final at the Gymnastics Palace arena.

And, win or lose, Ferreira will take home Brazil’s first medal at world meet in any of the three styles of wrestling held in the Olympic Games.

The best previous finish at the world championships for a Brazilian was an eighth place earned by Joice SILVA (BRA) at 59kg in 2013 and equaled by Giulia RODRIGUES (BRA) at 55kg in Tashkent on Wednesday. Brazil was first represented at the world championships in 1987.

Meanwhile, Pan American champ Antes drops into the bronze medal finals at 58kg after a 3-1 loss to Valeria KOBOLVA (RUS) in the semifinals. A win in the bronze medal match would give her a first wrestling medal for Ecuador and a loss would leave her in fifth place – still a best for the South American country.

The previous best for Ecuador, which was first represented at the 2007 world meet, was a seventh place by Yoan BLANCO REINOSO (ECU) in men’s freestyle at 70kg.

Andrea OLAYA (COL), meanwhile, came back in repechage for a berth in the bronze medal finals at 75kg and a win there would be Colombia’s first medal at the world championships.

Also in Thursday’s morning session, Saori YOSHIDA (JPN) and Kaori ICHO (JPN) eased their way in the gold medal finals at 53kg and 58kg, respectively, either by fall or technical fall.

Yoshida will face European champion Sofia MATTSSON (SWE) for the world title for a second year in a row at 53kg, while Icho takes on Koblova, making her debut in a world championships final, at 58kg.

In Thursday night’s finale, Ferreira will square off with 2013 bronze medalist Adeline GRAY (USA), who won a world title at 67kg in 2012.

In earlier bouts, Ochirbat stunned Stanka ZLATEVA (BUL) with a late front-headlock and turn for four points on her way to a 6-3 win over the five-time former world champion at 75kg.

Also, top-ranked favorite Erica WIEBE (CAN) got pinned in a quarterfinal bout by Nordic champion Epp MAE (EST) who stepped over a single-leg attempt by Wiebe, caught the top-ranked wrestler on her back and pressed for the fall.

Medal Finals – Female Wrestling

53kg
Gold – Saori YOSHIDA (JPN) vs Sofia MATTSSON (SWE), 6-0
Bronze – Jillian GALLAYS (CAN) df Natalya MALYSHEVA (RUS), 6-2
Bronze – JONG Myong-Suk (PRK) df. Natalia BUDU (MDA), 9-5

58kg
Gold – Kaori ICHO (JPN) df. Valeria KOBLOVA (RUS) by TF, 10-0
Bronze – Anastassia HUCHOK (BLR) df. Allison RAGAN (USA) 4-4
Bronze – Elif YESILIRMAK (TUR) df. Lissette ANTES CASTILLO (ECU), 8-2

75kg
Gold – Adeline GRAY (USA) df. Aline FERREIRA (BRA), 2-1 
Bronze – OCHIRBAT Burmaa (MGL) vs Andrea OLAYA (COL), 4-0
Bronze – ZHOU Qian (CHN) df. Epp MAE (EST),