Alpyeyeva, Livach golds keep Ukraine ahead of Turkiye at Europeans
Friday, April 11, 2025 - 12:22 By Vinay Siwach
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (April 10) -- Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) was facing a legend in her first-ever European Championships final. While she was chasing her first senior title, her opponent Yasemin ADAR (TUR) was chasing her eighth European title.
It would have been a fairytale for Adar. The Turkish legend who is the first to win Olympic medal, world gold and European gold, would have extended her record of most European titles in Women's Wrestling for Türkiye.
But Alpyeyeva did not get overawed but the occasion or her opponent and handed Adar a 6-0 loss in the 76kg final, which was also the last match for Adar.
The 34-year-old decided to put her shoes on the mat after the match, marking her retirement from the sport. She thanked the crowd of the X-Bionic Sphere, shook hands with Alpyeyeva and vanished into the background as the Ukrainian began her victory lap with the Ukraine flag.
Alpyeyeva did not get any chance to Adar in the final, overpowering her with strength and speed. Alpyeyeva hit three double-leg attacks and managed to score on all three of them.
While Adar did try matching Alpyeyeva, she was slow for the Ukrainian. Alpyeyeva managed to keep an upper hand for the full six minutes and won 6-0.
Alpyeyeva was the second gold medal for Ukraine on Thursday as 2019 European champion Oksana LIVACH (UKR) claimed her second title after beating Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR), 8-0, in an equally dominant fashion.
Livach began with a stepout and added a double-leg takedown for a 3-0 lead. She kept her attacks going and went for a big four-point move and another stepout made her lead 8-0 which she defended in the final minute.
The 27-year-old finished fifth at the Paris Olympics and was lacking on motivation recently. But the gold medal has revived her love for wrestling.
At 55kg, Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW) made her senior European debut a successful one when she defeated 34-year-old Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA), 6-5, with a takedown in the final five seconds of the 55kg final.
Debien, who earned a bronze medal at the World Championships last year, scored a stepout and then tripped Verbina for four to lead 5-0. The French wrestler then decided to defend her lead for the remaining time.
This was a similar result to the last time the two faced each other at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series, with only the winner being different. Debien won that semifinal 5-4.
"I was confident that I could win," Verbina said. "I prepared for this match. I knew it would be intense. Two months ago, we faced each other at the Ranking Series event, and it was already a very rough match. I was ready for the same kind of wrestling, the same pressure — I expected it.
"I was angry. When there was one minute left, I looked at the scoreboard and saw that there was one minute remaining; my mind just switched off, and I started moving on autopilot."
Verbina has made a habit of winning gold medal at first continental championships over the years. She won gold at U17 European Championships in 2017, then the U23 European Championships in 2021 and now at senior level in 2025. She also has a U20 European gold which came in 2019, her second trip at that age-level.
"This is the first step for me into senior-level wrestling, because I hadn’t wrestled at the European or World Championships at the senior level before," she said. "This was my first major start. I competed at a ranking tournament earlier, didn’t do well, took third place, and I really wanted to prove myself at the senior level."
Verbina was born in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia but moved to Dagestan with her parents. She has trained in Makhachkala, Dagestan since 2005 and has been competing for Dagestan.
"Now I live and train in Makhachkala," she said. "My coach is Sveta Gracheva — she trains me day and night. She’s a very tough coach, but she believes in me."
Former world U20 champion Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (UWW) needed a last second takedown to beat Bediha GUN (TUR), 4-2, and win the gold medal at 59kg.
Sidelnikova was called passive twice which gave Gun a 2-0 lead but the Turkish wrestler was put on the 30-second clock which made the score 2-1. Gun was heading towards victory when Sidelnikova hit an inside trip which made Gun fall and give two points for Sidelnikova for 3-2 win. Gun challenged the call but lost adding another point to Sidelnikova score.
Another final was decided in the minute when Alina SHAUCHUK (UWW) managed to hang on to a 2-2 criteria win against Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU) in the 68kg to win her first major medal.
Shauchuk scored a takedown in the first period but was called passive which gave Zelenykh a point. The Romanian scored a stepout and tied it 2-2 but Shauchuk led on criteria for her bigger technique.
RESULTS
50kg
GOLD: Oksana LIVACH (UKR) df. Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR), 8-0
BRONZE: Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (UWW) df. Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA), 11-1
BRONZE: Natallia VARAKINA (UWW) df. Emilia GRIGORE VUC (ROU), 4-1
55kg
GOLD: Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW) df. Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA), 6-5
BRONZE: Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA) df. Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN), 7-4
BRONZE: Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR) df. Tuba DEMIR (TUR), 6-2
59kg
GOLD: Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (UWW) df. Bediha GUN (TUR), 4-2
BRONZE: Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR) df. Erika BOGNAR (HUN), 3-2
BRONZE: Aurora RUSSO (ITA) df. Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE), 3-2
68kg
GOLD: Alina SHAUCHUK (UWW) df. Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU), 2-2
BRONZE: Buse TOSUN (TUR) df. Manola SKOBELSKA (UKR), 9-6
BRONZE: Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE) df. Sophia SCHAEFLE (GER), 12-0
76kg
GOLD: Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) df. Yasemin ADAR (TUR), 6-0
BRONZE: Martina KUENZ (AUT) df. Enrica RINALDI (ITA), 2-1
BRONZE: Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (UWW) df. Laura KUEHN (GER), 2-2
Jiaqing JIANG (CHN) defeated Epenesa ELISON (USA) in the 53kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)
Hanano OYA (JPN) won the 46kg gold medal in Athens. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)
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