SKOPJE, Macedonia (October 5) -- Russia led the way at the Veteran Freestyle World Championships, claiming five gold medals overall. The event concluded Sunday in Skopje, Macedonia.  

Russia's gold medals came in four of the five divisions, with two coming in Division A.

Russia's gold medalists in Division A were Rustam TASHUEV at 78kg and Gadzhimurad TAYMAZOV at 100kg.

Tashuev used two four-point throws on his way to an 11-1 victory over Lkhagvadorj BUYANTUR (MGL) in the gold-medal match. 


Gadzhimurad TAYMAZOV (Photo:Robbert Wijtman)

Taymazov cruised to a 10-0 technical fall in the gold-medal match over Pieter SWART (RSA). After securing a takedown, Taymazov used an ankle lace to put the match away early. 

South Africa and Turkey both finished with three gold medals overall.

Duane VAN STADEN (Photo:Robbert Wijtman)

Winning a gold medal for South Africa in Division A was Duane VAN STADEN, who topped Aleksandar STOJANOV (MKD) in the gold-medal match at 130kg. Other gold medalists for South Africa included Matthys DE BEER in Division D at 100kg and Willem PUTTER in Division E at 88kg.

Turkey's gold medalists included Aydin HALIMOGLU (Group B, 130kg), Ismail ABI (Group D, 78kg) and Zafer KOYAN (Group E, 70kg). 

Georgia, Hungary and Great Britain all finished with two gold medals, and each had a champion in Division A.

Amiran TSIKVADZE (Photo:Robbert Wijtman)

Georgia's Amiran TSIKVADZE (GEO) executed a four-point throw to race out to a 6-0 lead in the gold-medal match at 70kg against Koji FURUSATO (JPN) and held on for a 7-3 victory. 

Gabor HATOS gave Hungary a champion in Division A as he topped Ioseb KHUTSISHVILI (GEO) 4-1 at 88kg. Hatos led 1-0 at the break and pulled away in the second period.


Viorel ETKO (Photo:Robbert Wijtman)

Great Britain's champion in Division A was Viorel ETKO (GBR) at 62kg. He defeated Aidyn IRGIT (RUS) 6-1 in the gold-medal match, with his points coming off two takedowns and a gut wrench turn. 

Thirteen other nations captured a gold medal at the Veteran Freestyle World Championships.

Division A Results

62kg
GOLD: Viorel ETKO (GBR) df. Aidyn IRGIT (RUS) by VPO1, 6-1
BRONZE: Arthouros KALPATSANIDIS (GRE) df. Hirohisa OTA (JPN) by VPO1, 10-5
BRONZE: Rustam LEPSHOKOV (RUS) df. Ramazan Aydin TAS (TUR) by VFA, 14-3

70kg
GOLD: Amiran TSIKVADZE (GEO) df. Koji FURUSATO (JPN) by VPO1, 7-3
BRONZE: Jordin Jarreau Blade HUMPHREY (USA) df. Ile GORGIEV (MKD) by VFA, 6-0
BRONZE: Oleksandr KOSYNTSEV (UKR) df. Jacob Henry Edward VAN DER MERWE (RSA) by VSU1, 11-1

78kg
GOLD: Rustam TASHUEV (RUS) df. Lkhagvadorj BUYANTUR (MGL) by VSU1, 11-1
BRONZE: Aslambek EZERKHANOV (RUS) df. Kairat YERZHEKENOV (KAZ) by VSU, 10-0
BRONZE: Konstantin OBUKHOV (RUS) df. Umar MURZABEKOV (RUS) by VSU1, 14-4

88kg
GOLD: Gabor HATOS (HUN) df. Ioseb KHUTSISHVILI (GEO) by VPO1, 4-1
BRONZE: Sodnompil BAATAR (MGL) df. Sebastian ECKLEBE (GER) by VPO1, 2-1
BRONZE: Dmitrii DARMODEKHIN (RUS) df. Zabihollah Abdolali MOTALEBI AGHJEHROUD (IRI) by VPO1, 5-2

100kg
GOLD: Gadzhimurad TAYMAZOV (RUS) df. Pieter SWART (RSA) by VSU, 10-0
BRONZE: Yuliyan Dimitrov GEORGIEV (BUL) df. Ali Mehmet IMAMOGLU (TUR) by VFA, 5-8
BRONZE: Araik GEVORKYAN (RUS) df. René HOPPE (GER) by VPO1, 3-2

130kg
GOLD: DUANE VAN STADEN (RSA) df. Aleksandar STOJANOV (MKD) by VPO1, 8-1
BRONZE: Paskal Dimitrov KARANIKOV (BUL) df. Mahdi Rezahossein ROUZBAHANI (IRI) by VIN, 0-0
BRONZE: Sukhbaatar BATMUNKH (MGL) df. Naci GUNBEY (TUR) by VFA, 6-0