Abuladze falls short against Dalkhani, yet again

Thursday, February 23, 2023 - 19:24 By Eric Olanowski & Vinay Siwach

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (February 23) -- Leri ABULADZE (GEO)'s quest to find a win against Meysam DALKHANI (IRI) will have to continue for now. In the space of 16 months, he has faced Dalkhani twice and lost both bouts. Both are ever so dramatic.

Back in 2021, Abuladze led 4-3 when Dalkhani forced a stepout and a failed challenge from Abuladze gave him a 5-4 win in the final of the 63kg at the World Championships in Oslo. The bout in Alexandria on Thursday, a 63kg final, albeit not of a World Championships, saw Dalkhani pull off a victory by the thinnest of margins once again.

No doubt Dalkhani had to dig deep to pick up the win but it was the Iranian’s conditioning late in the second period that helped him win.

Dalkhani made the early inroads with a 5-0 lead at the break, but after giving up an inactivity point and three consecutive guts, he watched his lead evaporate and turn into a two-point advantage for Abuladze who came out firing in the second period.

As the referee called both wrestlers to the center after that exchange, Abuladze looked a relieved man.

In Oslo, Abuladze had one minute to score for a win. Now, he had to defend for a minute. But like that final, he failed.

Dalkhani scored a stepout to cut the lead to just one point and needing a takedown at 7-6 with a minute to go, he put on the burners. The pair traded heavy exchanges in the 60-second sprint, but it was a re-drag with ten seconds left that pushed Abuladze to give up a takedown and Dalkhani to the 63kg gold.

Not only in the final, the 2021 world champion, making a comeback since that freak elbow injury at the Bolat Turlykhanov Cup in Almaty last year, looked composed throughout the day.

Using his strong gut wrench, he defeated Syimyk MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) 7-0 in the opening bout and kept fellow world champion from Oslo, Victor CIOBANU (MDA), quiet in a 4-0 win using an aggressive approach in the second period. The semifinal was a quieter affair as Madiyar MALTEKBAYEV (KAZ) thought he had it until Dalkhani won 2-1.

Another Oslo world champion, Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) joined Dalkhani at the top of the podium on Thursday as he captured the gold medal at 97kg after beating Roberti KOBLIASHVILI (GEO).

The gold medal winners at the four Ranking Series events this year will receive 1500 Swiss Francs while the silver medalists will get 750 Swiss Francs. The two bronze medalists in each weight class will receive 500 Swiss Francs each.

Saravi won the gold after Kobliashvili pulled out injured in the final. But the day was nothing short of testing for the world bronze medalist from Belgrade.

Earlier in the morning, Saravi began with a 2-0 win over Giorgi MELIA (GEO), followed that with a 5-2 victory over Tamas LEVAI (HUN) who won silver in Zagreb and Artur OMAROV (CZE) 5-2 in the semifinal.

Amangali BEKBOLATOV (KAZ), right, wrestles Marlan MUKASHEV (KAZ) in the 55kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Apart from Iran, Kazakhstan and Georgia were the most successful nations on the first day of the Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series, the second of the year after the Zagreb Open, with four finalists each.

At 55kg, Amangali BEKBULATOV (KAZ) won the gold over compatriot Marlan MUKASHEV (KAZ), who had defeated two-time world silver medalist Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO) in a wild 13-4 victory. But he failed to go past Bekbolatov who won 6-1 in the final.

In an early exchange to kick off the gold medal match, Bekbolatov used an aggressive left-side arm drag and picked up the first takedown of the match. In one continuous swopping motion, he linked together a back arching throw on the edge of the circle and controlled the bout with a six-point cushion.

Bekbolatov stayed technically sound in the final four minutes focusing on shutting down Mukashev’s offense by controlling the left side of the body. This game plan worked to perfection, as the only point he surrendered in the gold-medal bout was a failed challenge, which in fact was the only point he gave up in his three bouts.

After he closed out the scoreless second period, Bekbolatov won his first Ranking Series title as he finished with a silver medal in Istanbul last year. But he went a step further by winning the gold in his season-opening international tournament.

Merey BEKENOV (KAZ) lifts Sailike WALIHAN (CHN) for a throw. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Merey BEKENOV (KAZ) was the second wrestler from Kazakhstan to win the gold medal as he stole the gold from Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO) in the 67kg final.

The two matched each other move-to-move with the Kazah giving up aninactivity point and a gut wrench in the first period but scored on the same sequence and grabbed the criteria win against his Georgian opponent.

Bekenov would be proud of his campaign in Alexandria as he scored a 7-1 win over Olympic bronze medalist Sailike WALIHAN (CHN) followed by a massive 9-7 win over HUSIYUETU (CHN) in the semifinal. Hasiyuetu was fresh off a gold-medal-winning performance in Zagreb including a win over Olympic champion Luis ORTA (CUB)

Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) launches Ali CENGIZ (TUR) for a four-point throw in the 87kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliksan)

While other Georgians failed to win the gold, Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) at 87kg saved the day for his country with a classic performance in the final to beat Ali CENGIZ (TUR) 10-1.

Gobadze was clear in his intentions, and those were to close out the bout early. He quickly jumped out to an 5-0 lead, scoring a four-point throw and an inactivity point. Despite giving up a point after his leg-foul challenge was wrong, Gobadze got a second shot on top and again tossed Cengiz for four to close out the match, 10-1.

Kerem KAMAL (TUR) won his 60kg final against Yernar FIDAKHMETOV (KAZ) 9-0. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Showman Kamal

There is very little someone can dislike about Kerem KAMAL (TUR) on the mat. He has the utmost respect for his opponent, wrestles squeaky clean, and wins with a lot of class. This was on display on Thursday as Kamal raced to a season-opening gold medal which sets the tone for the defending European champion.

Wrestling against Yernar FIDAKHMETOV (KAZ) in the 60kg final, Kamal earned an early shot in par terre and took full advantage of it. He quickly jumped out to a 7-0 lead against his Kazakh opponent, scoring the inactivity point, a pair of two-point correct throws, and a two-point leg foul.

After a 90-second break to adjust Kamal’s scoring sequence due to a challenge, he then jumped out to the left side of Fidakhmetov and ended the bout with a third correct throw of the match.

His power was on display all through the day be it the 9-0 opening win against Razvan ARNAUT (ROU) or the calm 5-2 win over Liguo CAO (CHN) in the quarterfinals. The young Nurmukhammet ABDULLAEV (KGZ) suffered an 8-0 beating at the hands of Kamal in the semifinals.

Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY) won the 130kg gold in front of his home crowd. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Hero at home

Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY) has already set a benchmark for the local Egypt wrestlers at the tournament by winning the gold medal at 130kg in the final bout of the evening. He defeated Tokyo Olympian Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU), 3-0, to take the gold medal.

While the field missed Riza KAYAALP (TUR) and Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) from the original entries, Mohamed made sure he makes the most of this opportunity that too in front of his home crowd.

Nothing seemed to work for Ciurariu who was blanked by a solid defensive performance by Mohamed who scored the two activity points and a pushout.

With a big women's squad entered for Egypt, the girls will like to keep the trend of winning the medal at home going for the rest of the tournament.

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD - Amangali BEKBOLATOV (KAZ) df. Marlan MUKASHEV (KAZ), 6-1

BRONZE - Iskhar KURBAYEV (KAZ) df. Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO), 7-3
BRONZE - Denis MIHAI (ROU) df. Sardarbek KONUSHBAEV (KGZ), via fall

60kg
GOLD - Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Yernar FIDAKHMETOV (KAZ), 9-0

BRONZE - Haithem MAHMOUD (EGY) df. Haodong TAN (CHN), 7-3
BRONZE - Razvan ARNAUT (ROU) df. Nurmukhammet ABDULLAEV (KGZ), 3-1

63kg
GOLD - Meysam DALKHANI (IRI) df. Leri ABULADZE (GEO), 8-7

BRONZE - Dastan ZARLYKHANOV (KAZ) df. Mukhamedali MAMURBEK (KAZ), 14-4
BRONZE - Syimyk MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) df. Madiyar MALTEKBAYEV (KAZ), 9-0

67kg
GOLD - Merey BEKENOV (KAZ) df. Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO), 3-3

BRONZE - Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) df. ASHU (IND), 8-0
BRONZE - HUSIYUETU (CHN) df. Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY), 3-2

87kg
GOLD - Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) df. Ali CENGIZ (TUR), 10-1

BRONZE - Gurami KHETSURIANI (GEO) df. A. AZISBEKOV (KGZ), 6-5
BRONZE - Alex KESSIDIS (SWE) df. Sunil KUMAR (IND), 9-0

97kg
GOLD - Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) df. Roberti KOBLIASHVILI (GEO), via inj. def.

BRONZE - Artur OMAROV (CZE) df. Giorgi MELIA (GEO), 9-4
BRONZE - Markus RAGGINGER (AUT) df. Olzhas SYRLYBAY (KAZ), 5-1

130kg
GOLD - Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY) df. Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU), 3-0

BRONZE - Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO) df. Salaheldin ABBAS (EGY), 8-0
BRONZE - Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ) df. Roman KIM (KGZ), 5-1

#WrestleBucharest

Bullen brims with confidence after third European gold

Saturday, February 17, 2024 - 00:48 By Vinay Siwach

BUCHAREST, Romania (February 17) -- "Desperation."

Grace BULLEN (NOR) doesn't mince her words when asked about what forced her to switch training base from Norway to Georgia. For the past two years, Bullen has been training in Georgia and former world champion Zurabi IAKOBASHVILI (GEO) has been training her.

"I wanted to be great in wrestling," Bullen said. "I wanted to do good and not quit without knowing that I've done my full potential. And knowing that, it was not hard for me to pack my bag and move to another country."

Since that move, Bullen has changed weight classes, won two World Championships medals and now a European gold medal after four years.

In Bucharest for the European Championships, Bullen claimed her third European Championships gold medal and first since 2020 to continue her impressive return to the mat. Bullen had failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, lost in the first round in the Oslo World Championships and was slowly fading away.

"I needed to be surrounded by people who love what I do as much as I do and see the potential in me as well that I know that I have. Today was the place that you can see that I can do good even though I am not at my 100 [percent]," she said.

Grace BULLEN (NOR) takes down Luisa NIEMESCH (GER) in the 62kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

On Thursday, Bullen destroyed her opponents with three falls in as many matches. Though there was no fall in the final on Wednesday, she held on to a 5-4 win over Luisa NIEMESCH (GER).

"Luisa is a tough opponent. She wrestled good," she said. "I see how she wrestled in her bracket with good wrestlers. Everyone knows that I love to attack and love my double legs. So she was very low. It was just for me to be patient with my attacks and just take the easy point instead of doing the risky and big one. Because those can be easy for her to counter and just being on my offense but still not being too passive with my wrestling."

The 62kg final was sort of similar to how Bullen had planned it. She kept her attacks going and even got a stepout. She used her double-leg attacks to score a takedown. It was only towards the end of the match that Neimesch caught her off guard and scored a takedown, exposure and tried a pin. However, it was too little too late.

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"All worth it at the end," Bullen said. "It's good to get this type of competition, especially in this important year that we have ahead of us. This is my first competition back after the World Championship last year. So just getting the feeling of being back on the mat and especially in a big competition like this."

Bullen decided to wrestle at the Olympic weight class of 62kg at the World Championships and won a bronze medal which also gave her the Olympic quota for Paris. Now, she has a European title in the same weight class. She now hopes to become an Olympic medalist for Norway in Paris.

"It will be some tough six months," she said. "It's already been tough four years for me just getting to the spot of having a ticket to the Olympics. I'm looking forward to enjoying every moment that I have on the training mat. Then I want to work on the small stuff because I just changed weight class. It's been one year and I've done great things in a new place with new athletes that I haven't wrestled when I'm in this weight class. Just getting the opportunity to feel myself and being the Grace that I know I can be and my coaches have the confidence in me to be. Having that in mind, I think we will do good stuff this year just wrestling-wise."

Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (AIN) denied Jonna MALMGREN (SWE) her third Euro title by winning the 53kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

World silver medalist Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (AIN) earned her third European title as she won the gold medal at 53kg, denying Jonna MALMGREN (SWE) her third straight European title.

Kaladzinskaya defeated Malmgren 9-6 at the World Championships but was more dominant in Bucharest, beating her 10-2. Malmgren attempted her big throws and caught Kaladzinskaya in an arm spin twice but failed to score any points.

As soon as Kaladzinskaya was put on the activity clock in the first period, she scored a stepout and scored a takedown to lead 3-0 at the break. Malmgren tried hitting an arm spin but Kaladzinskaya blocked it and went behind to get two points. She hit a double-leg takedown to finally score and cut the lead to 5-2.

With 19 seconds left in the bout, Malmgren tried going deep on Kaladzinskaya's leg but she blocked Malmgren middle of the attack and flung Malmgren to her back for four points. While the pin was not secured as the time ran out, Kaladzinskaya won 10-2, securing her third European title.

Iryna KURACHKINA (AIN) celebrates after beating Evelina NIKOLOVA (BUL) for the 57kg gold medal. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

In a battle of two Tokyo Olympic medalists, Iryna KURACHKINA (AIN) defeated Evelina NIKOLOVA (BUL) 7-2 to claim her third European title as well.

The final was off to a slow start to the final, there was only an activity point awarded to Kurachkina who scored a takedown in the second period. Her powerful snaps would trouble Nikolova as she scored her second takedown, and added a third with an ankle pick to lead 7-0. Kurachkina went a little inactive in the final minute of the final which cost her a stepout and a point for fleeing. But it was not enough to stop her from winning the gold medal at 57kg.

Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) won her second straight European title and third overall. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

At 65kg, Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR), who was wrestling a weight class up than last year, also won her third European Championships after she defeated Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU), a former Ukrainian wrestler in the final.

After a few scrambles in the opening minute, Zelenykh was put on the activity clock and as she tried to a big move on Koliadenko, the Ukrainian blocked the move and scored exposure, getting two points. As the activity period expired, her lead extended to 3-0.

Koliadenko added another takedown to make it 5-0 at the break and a stepout in the second period gave her another point. No more points were scored as Koliadenko won 6-0.

Nesrin BAS (TUR) stepped up and won the 72kg gold medal for Turkiye. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Nesrin BAS (TUR) earned her first senior European gold medal, defeating defending champion and home favorite Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU) in a dramatic 72kg final.

Bas blocked Anghel when the Romanian was trying a front roll and then put her back on the mat. The fall was confirmed but Romania challenged as it appeared that the time had expired. A pin can be challenged only for technical reasons such as expiration of time or a foul. The jury confirmed that the fall was called after the time expired. But that delayed the final result as Bas would go on to beat Anghel 5-1.

RESULTS

53kg
GOLD: Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (AIN) df. Jonna MALMGREN (SWE), 10-2

BRONZE: Zeynep YETGIL (TUR) df. Sztalvira ORSUS (HUN), 3-1
BRONZE: Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE) df. Natalia MALYSHEVA (AIN), via fall (6-11)

57kg
GOLD: Iryna KURACHKINA (AIN) df. Evelina NIKOLOVA (BUL), 7-2

BRONZE: Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR) df. Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR), 10-6
BRONZE: Anhelina LYSAK (POL) df. Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA), via fall

62kg
GOLD: Grace BULLEN (NOR) df. Luisa NIEMESCH (GER), 5-4

BRONZE: Yuliia TKACH (UKR) df. Johanna LINDBORG (SWE), 8-6
BRONZE: Veranika IVANOVA (AIN) df. Birgul SOLTANOVA (AZE), 9-6

65kg
GOLD: Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) df. Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU), 6-0

BRONZE: Elis MANOLOVA (AZE) df. Anne NUERNBERGER (GER), 2-1
BRONZE: Irina RINGACI (MDA) df. Kadriye AKSOY (TUR), 10-4

72kg
GOLD: Nesrin BAS (TUR) df. Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU), 5-1

BRONZE: Yuliana YANEVA (BUL) df. Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL) df. Viktoryia RADZKOVA (AIN), 6-2

Abuladze falls short against Dalkhani, yet again

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Bullen brims with confidence after third European gold