Oborududu leads Nigeria to six golds at African Championships

Friday, May 19, 2023 - 20:28 By Vinay Siwach

HAMMAMET, Tunisia (May 19) -- For a brief period in the evening session of the African Championships in Hammamet, the local Tunisian fans believed that the nation can win the women's wrestling team title.

Led by Olympic bronze medalist Marwa AMRI (TUN), Tunisia remained at the heels of Nigeria in the race with three gold medals after seven weight classes were finished.

But as the session progressed, Nigeria continued to assert its dominance and defended its team title from last year with 230 points, 51 points more than second-placed Tunisia.

Olympic silver medalist Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) won a record-extending 13th African title at 68kg and helped her team to the top of the podium, even as three-time world medalist Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) skipped the tournament.

Oborududu, who had not wrestled since the World Championships, was in a Nelson bracket. She wrestled four bouts Friday and won all four without giving up a point. She began with a 10-0 thrashing of Samah ABDELLATIF (EGY), followed by a win by the same scoreline against Nassma ESSATOURI (MAR). After pinning Nour JELJELI (TUN) in her third bout, Oborududu received a walkover to claim the gold medal.

Joining her as gold medalists were five other Nigeria wrestlers with Miesinnei GENESIS (NGR) at 50kg, Christianah OGUNSANYA (NGR) at 53kg, Jumoke ADEKOYE (NGR) at 55kg, Mercy ADEKUORIYE (NGR) at 57kg, and Ebi BIOGOS (NGR) at 72kg.

Genesis captured her fourth African title and first since 2019 as she had skipped the previous three editions. With only four wrestlers entered at 50kg, Genesis wrestled in three bouts and outscored her opponents 31-0, all three wins being technical superiority.

Wrestling at her first senior championships, Ogunsanya impressed all in Hammamet as she won the gold medal with three dominant victories. She began with an 11-0 win over Ibtissem DOUDOU (ALG) in the quarterfinals followed by a 10-2 win over Shaimaa ABDELZAHER (EGY) in the semifinal.

From the other side of the bracket Nogona BAKAYOKO (CIV), reached the 53kg final for the second straight year. But she had no answers to Ogunsanya's attack in the final and lost 11-0.

At 55kg, Adekoye defended her gold medal from El Jadida as she navigated through a Nelson bracket. She first wrestled Zineb HASSOUNE (MAR) and won 13-2. Lobna ICHAOUI (TUN) gave her best to deny Adekoye in Round 2 but she fell short and lost 6-3. In the Round 3 bout, Adekoye hammered Achouak TEKOUK (ALG) 11-0 to win the gold medal.

Last year in El Jadida, Adekuoroye won the 53kg gold medal but she jumped two weight classes to 57kg for Hammamet. However, there was no change in the color of the medal as she won the gold in the new weight class as well.

Despite a big change in weight, Adekuoroye looked in no trouble as she dispatched Veronica AYO (UGA) 11-0, Louji YASSIN (EGY) via fall and Rayane HOUFAF (ALG) 10-0 in the morning. In the semifinal, Adekuoroye continued her strong performance and defeated Bachir FALMATA SALI (CMR) via fall.

Faten HAMMAMI (TUN), who won three of her four bouts via fall, was expected to give a fight in the final but Adekuoroye was in a league of her own and won the gold medal with an 11-0 thrashing.

At 72kg, Biogos pulled off two incredible wins to capture the gold. She upset home favorite Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN) 4-1 in Round 1 and Menatalla BADRAN (EGY) 5-0 in the decisive Round 5 battle.

3 golds for Tunisia

Amri defended her 62kg title for Tunisia, beating Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR), 7-1, in the gold medal bout, a stunning reversal from the morning Round 1 bout in which Kolawole defeated Amri 4-3. Perhaps taking lessons from that loss, Amri changed her strategy in the final and controlled it for six minutes to win 7-1.

At 59kg, Siwar BOUSETA (TUN) held off Patience OPUENE (NGR) 8-3 in the final to win her first African title. She had reached the final of the 59kg weight class last year as well but lost to Odunayo to finish second.

But there was no stopping Bouseta this year as she won four of her bouts via fall and then remained calm against Opuene who did threaten to deny Bouseta of the gold. However, Bouseta managed to win in front of her home crowd.

Only three wrestlers were entered at 65kg and Khadija JLASSI (TUN) made sure she emerges as the best among them.

The 21-year-old began her day with a 10-0 win over Eunice MBURU (KEN) in Round 1 and looked in trouble against Ebipatei MUGHENBOFA (NGR) who led 5-0 in the Round 2 bout.

But Mughenbofa was not aware of Jlassi's ability to pull off big throws. Jlassi, like many times in her career, unleashed a big throw and put Mughenbofa to her back to secure the fall and capture the gold medal.

Jlassi had missed out on the gold medal last year, winning silver at 65kg. But she has begun this year on a good note, winning the bronze medals at the Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series and Dan Kolov international tournament.

Hamza defends

World silver medalist Samar HAMZA (EGY) managed to defend her 76kg gold medal in Hammamet after a close 4-2 win over Hannah RUEBEN (NGR) in the final.

This was Hamza's sixth African title as she continues to chase Doaa MAHER (EGY) who won a record seven gold medals for Egypt at the event.

In the first bout of the day, Hamza humbled Amy YOUIN (CIV) 11-0 but faced a stern test against Anta SAMBOU (SEN) in Round 2. She survived, barely, to win 3-2.

Hamza pinned Ranim SAIDI (TUN) in the semifinal before winning the gold medal over Rueben.

RESULTS

Women's wrestling

50kg
GOLD: Miesinnei GENESIS (NGR)
SILVER: Cheima CHEBILA (ALG)
BRONZE: Emma WANGILA (KEN)

53kg
GOLD: Christianah OGUNSANYA (NGR) df. Nogona BAKAYOKO (CIV), 11-0

BRONZE: Ibtissem DOUDOU (ALG) df. Shaimaa ABDELZAHER (EGY), via fall
BRONZE: Abir ZARROUKI (TUN) df. Elisa NOMENJANAHARY (MAD), via inj. def.

55kg
GOLD: Jumoke ADEKOYE (NGR)
SILVER: Achouak TEKOUK (ALG)
BRONZE: Lobna ICHAOUI (TUN)

57kg
GOLD: Mercy ADEKUOROYE (NGR) df. Faten HAMMAMI (TUN), 11-0

BRONZE: Rayane HOUFAF (ALG) df. Bachir FALMATA SALI (CMR), via fall (6-8)

59kg
GOLD: Siwar BOUSETA (TUN) df. Patience OPUENE (NGR), 8-3

BRONZE: Farah HUSSEIN (EGY) df. Chaimaa AOUISSI (ALG), 5-0

62kg
GOLD: Marwa AMRI (TUN) vs. Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR), 7-1

BRONZE: Fatoumata CAMARA (GUI) df. Mastoura SOUDANI (ALG), via inj.

65kg
GOLD: Khadija JLASSI (TUN)
SILVER: Ebipatei MUGHENBOFA (NGR)
BRONZE: Eunice MBURU (KEN)

68kg
GOLD: Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR)
SILVER: Samah ABDELLATIF (EGY)
BRONZE: Nour JELJELI (TUN)

72kg
GOLD: Ebi BIOGOS (NGR)
SILVER: Menatalla BADRAN (EGY)
BRONZE: Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN)

76kg
GOLD: Samar HAMZA (EGY) df. Hannah RUEBEN (NGR), 4-2

BRONZE: Anta SAMBOU (SEN) df. Ranim SAIDI (TUN), via fall

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open: Tynybekova beats Motoki again, Zhou rules 68kg

Saturday, January 13, 2024 - 00:56 By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (January 12) -- For the last two years, Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) has begun her seasons disastrously. She suffered first-round losses in Istanbul and Zagreb in 2022 and 2023 Ranking Series events respectively.

But the world champion has begun 2024 with a gold medal at the first Ranking Series event -- winning the 62kg weight class at the Zagreb Open on Friday.

After winning her third world title in Belgrade last year, Tynybekova traveled to the Asian Games in October 2023 but finished with a bronze medal. There, she had said that a break from wrestling for some time would help her for the new season.

It appears that the break did help Tynybekova as she won five bouts on Friday albeit taking them notoriously close. After winning close bouts against Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA), Yaru WU (CHN) and Alina KASABIEVA (AIN), Tynybekova set up a World Championships rematch against Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) in the semifinal.

Unlike the World Championships final, it seemed that Motoki had a plan. She moved much quicker and remained at a distance from Tynybekova. The first point on the scoreboard came as Tynybekova was called for passivity. Motoki then added a takedown to lead 3-0 at the break.

"In the first period I wrestled passively because I was tired," Tynybekova said. "Motoki was leading 3-0 but during the break time the coach told me to wrestle actively right from the beginning to score two points and finish the match 3-3 winning on criteria."

That's what Tynybekova did. Motoki was hit with a passivity call with 50 seconds remaining. During Motoki's activity time, Tynybekova got the opportunity to hit a single-leg attack and she got exposure to lead 3-3 with 10 seconds on the clock.

"The semifinal and those six minutes seemed to be endless for me," she said. "I thought the time would never end."

Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) defeated Kayla MIRACLE (USA) in the final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

In the final, Tynybekova faced a familiar opponent in Kayla MIRACLE (USA) and won with the largest margin of victory in her five bouts, beating her 7-0.

"I wasn’t thinking about winning the gold," she said. "The main thing was to come here and try myself against international athletes. We knew that the strongest ones would come here to compete. The coach Nurbek Izabekov said that we should come here and just wrestle as if we were at home. It didn’t matter for me to win or lose, the main goal was to wrestle."

But compared to the World Championships, Tynybekova said that she is still recovering physically and will assess her future tournaments depending on the same.

"In comparison with the World Championships, this tournament in Zagreb was harder for me because I am not in good health now," she said. That’s why all the matches today were really difficult. [Next], I think we will be wrestling at all the Rankings Series as well as the Asian championships that will be held in our country in Kyrgyzstan."

Feng ZHOU (CHN) dominated the 68kg weight class in Zagreb. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

In the other Women's Wrestling weight class, veteran Feng ZHOU (CHN) clinched the 68kg gold medal after a close 2-0 win over Forrest MOLINARI (USA).

But it was total domination from Zhou in the morning session as she took out world champion Buse TOSUN (TUR) in the opening match and world silver medalist Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (MGL) in the semifinals.

Rolling back the years, Zhou showed that strong gut wrench that the Chinese wrestlers are famous for. Tosun had no answers to Zhou's grip and suffered a 10-0 loss.

Zhou was in trouble in the second bout against Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL) when the Polish wrestler scored a takedown with 10 seconds remaining to lead 3-1. But Zhou hit exposure with three seconds on the clock to win 3-3. A lost challenge gave her an extra point.

After beating RADHIKA (UWW) 13-0 in the quarterfinal, Zhou used the gut wrench to build a 9-0 lead against Enkhsaikhan in the semifinal before the Mongolian close the gap to 9-5. However, it did not give her the win.

Molinari was hit with two passivity calls on either side of the break which gave Zhou a 2-0 lead which was enough, along with her defense, to get her the gold medal.

In the non-Olympic weight classes, Ukraine won two gold medals with Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR) clinching the gold medal at 59kg and Alla BELINSKA (UKR) winning the 65kg gold after dominating the round-robin.

Milad ALIRZAEV (AIN) completes a throw on Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB). (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Alirzaev shines

In a bracket that had five World Championships medalists including world champion David LOSONCZI (HUN), Milad ALIRZAEV (AIN) emerged as the best at 87kg, winning the gold after beating Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI), 4-2, in the final.

After a few easy matches early on, Alirzaev was tested by Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB) in the quarterfinals. Alirzaev hit a big throw from par terre to lead 5-1 but Komarov got two turns from par terre in the second period to make it 5-5. Alirzaev led 5-5 on criteria thanks to the four-point technique which helped him win as well.

In the semifinal, Daniel GREGORICH (CUB) mounted a comeback from 7-0 to make it 7-7 and lead on criteria. However, Alirzaev scored a reversal with 30 seconds remaining to win 8-7.

The final saw Mohmadipiani get the par terre advantage and he managed to throw Alirzaev but failed to get a correct throw. Alirzaev blocked him during the throw to score two points, a decision which Iran challenged and lost, giving Alirzaev a 3-1 lead.

Mohmadipiani scored a stepoutn in the stepout but that was after Alirzaev was awarded a point for par terre. The final score remained 4-2 as Alirzaev won the gold.

The bronze medals were won by Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB) who beat Daniel GREGORICH (CUB), 9-0, while Alan OSTAEV (AIN) beat Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO) via fall. Ostaev had earlier knocked out world champion Losonczi in the opening bout.

At 77kg, world silver medalist Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) won the gold after Zoltan LEVAI (HUN), a world silver medalist from 2022, pulled out injured during the match.

RESULTS

Women's Wrestling

59kg
GOLD: Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR)
SILVER: Mariana CHERDIVARA ESANU (MDA)
BRONZE: Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE)

62kg
GOLD: Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) df. Kayla MIRACLE (USA), 7-0

BRONZE: Veranika IVANOVA (AIN) df. Ana GODINEZ (CAN), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Alina KASABIEVA (AIN) df. Sakura MOTOKI (JPN), via inj. def.

65kg
GOLD: Alla BELINSKA (UKR)
SILVER: Kadriye AKSOY (TUR)
BRONZE: Anne NUERNBERGER (GER)

68kg
GOLD: Feng ZHOU (CHN) df. Forrest MOLINARI (USA), 2-0

BRONZE: Buse TOSUN (TUR) df. Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (TUR), 5-1
BRONZE: Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR) df. Qian JIANG (CHN), 11-6

Greco-Roman

77kg
GOLD: Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) df. Zoltan LEVAI (HUN), via injury (5-0)

BRONZE: Yunus BASAR (TUR) df. Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR), 2-1
BRONZE: Nao KUSAKA (JPN) df. Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR), 8-7

87kg
GOLD: Milad ALIRZAEV (AIN) df. Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI), 4-2

BRONZE: Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB) df. Daniel GREGORICH (CUB), 9-0
BRONZE: Alan OSTAEV (AIN) df. Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO), via fall

Oborududu leads Nigeria to six golds at African Championships

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Zagreb Open: Tynybekova beats Motoki again, Zhou rules 68kg