Adekuoroye Chasing Fourth African Crown

Friday, February 9, 2018 - 21:51 By Eric Olanowski

The 2018 African Senior Championships kick off tomorrow morning in Port Harcourt, Nigeria with over 150 wrestlers from 20 nations set to compete.

Freestyle (Saturday)
Three of the top-four 57kg placers from a year ago will head to Port Harcourt. Last year's champion Chakir ANSARI (MAR) and Abdelhak KHERBACHE (ALG), last year’s runner-up are set to compete at the same weight class again. Also competing at 57kg is fourth-place finisher from a year ago, Ebikewenimo WELSON (NGR) who is looking to stop a back-to-back finals party.

PICTURED: Adama DIATTA (SEN)

Leading the charge for the 61kg and 65kg gold medals are a duo of multiple-time Olympians in Augusto MIDANA (GBS) and Adama DIATTA (SEN). Midana has wrestled in three Olympic Games and is looking to win the African championships for the seventh time. Diatta is a two-time Olympian and is looking for his eighth title.

At 70kg, Jean Bernard DIADIA (SEN), the three-time champion and last year's runner-up wants to get back to his winning ways and block the probable finals rematch between Ogbonna Emmanuel JOHN (NGR) and Maher GHANMI (TUN).

A couple of young studs in Ayoub BARRAJ (TUN) and Fredylan MARAIS (RSA) are looking to capture titles at 74kg and 79kg.

Barraj is coming up to the senior-level to look for gold after winning the African junior championship a year ago. If he wants to win 74kg title, he'll have to go through defending champion, Mustafa ALI (SUD).

Down to 79kg, Fredylan Marais brought home a silver medal at last year's African Junior Championships. The 2018 African Championships will be Marais' first senior-level African Championship and only his second senior-level event ever.

At 86kg it’ll be a pair of third-place finishers will be vying for African gold. Melvin BIBO (NGR) was a third-place finisher at 74kg in 2016 while Imed KADDIDI (TUN) was the bronze medalist last year at 97kg.

After placing twice in Greco-Roman, Reda MOUENISS (MAR) will make the jump from Greco-Roman to Freestyle and try to win gold at 92kg.

PICTURED: Soso TAMARAU (NGR)

The 97kg weight category has been owned by Soso TAMARAU (NGR) for the past few years. Tamaru, the Olympian and returning champion is looking to win his third title. The two wrestlers who will be responsible for slowing Tamarau down will be Mohammed FARDJ (ALG) and Martin ERASMUS (RSA).

Fardj was last year's African junior champion, and Erasmus completed the African Championships last year with a silver medal.

Rounding out the battle for freestyle titles will be Sinivie BOLTIC (NGR) and African junior champion, Khaled Omr Zaki Mohamed ABDALLA (EGY) at 125kg. If the Olympian Boltic can capture gold this weekend, that would be his fourth gold medal but only his first since 2012.

Women's Freestyle (Sunday)
Women's freestyle has an opportunity to open up with back-to-back rematches of last year's finals.

At 50kg, 2016 Olympian Mercy GENESIS (NGR) will look to defend her title from a year ago where she defeated two-time African cadet champion, Sarra HAMDI (TUN) to take the title.

PICTURED: Maroi MEZIEN (TUN)

Moving to 53kg,Maroi MEZIEN (TUN), a 2012 Olympian, is on a quest to capture her fifth African championship gold medal. Bose SAMUEL (NGR) will be looking to even the score as last year Mezien got the best of her on her way to her fourth crown.

Christiana NWOYE (NGR) has an opportunity to better her second-place finish from last year. Looking to snatch the 55kg gold medal from Nwoye will be Faten HAMMAMI (TUN), the 2015 African cadet gold medalist.

The clear-cut favorite at 57kg is United World Wrestling's History Maker of 2017, Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR). If Adekuoroye, the 2017 world silver medal and 2016 Olympian can win this weekend, that’d give her four African championship gold medals to her name.

Bisola MAKANJUOLA (NGR), a runner-up last season will have to get through the experienced Safietou GOUDIABY(SEN) who is wrestling in her seventh African championship if she's going to want to win the 59kg title.

Tussling for the 62kg title will be Aminat ADENIYI (NGR) and Lilia MEJRI (TUN). Adeniyi is an Olympian and two-time African champion. Mejri, who won the African Championship bronze medal is no stranger to the big stage, as she was a world representative for Tunisia at the 2017 Junior World Championships.

African junior Champion Nour JELJELI (TUN) will have an opportunity to see how she stacks up against Olympian Amuchechi RUEBEN (NGR) for the 65kg title. Jeljeli's will be competing for the first time at a senior-level, while this will be Ruben’s (NGR) first time wrestling since the 2016 Olympic Games.

PICTURED: Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR)

Leading the race at 68kg is two-time Olympian Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR). The Nigerian team captain hasn’t suffered a loss at the African Championships since 2009 is on a mission to win her eighth African Championship.

Previous champions Winnie GOFIT (NGR) and Samar Amer Ibrahim (EGY) are the front-runners win crowns at 72kg and 76kg.

Gofit is down from 75kg where she won her first African championship a season ago and Ibrahim, the 2016 Olympian, is coming back to compete for the first time since 2016 where she won the 75kg title.

Greco-Roman (Sunday)
Two African powerhouses in Zied AITOUAGRAM (MAR) and Radhouane CHEBBI (TUN) lead the Greco-Roman entries.

Ait Ouagram, the two-time Olympian and last year's champion is the favorite to take home the 77kg crown. He is looking to bring his gold medal total into the double-digit mark, as he currently owns nine titles. The last time Ait Ouagram lost at the African championship was ten years ago when he walked away with the bronze medal.

Radhouane CHEBBI (TUN), the two-time Olympian and the three-time champion is favored to take home the 130kg title.

Two of the top-three finishers from a year ago return to 60kg in returning champion Anwar TANGO (MAR) and third-place finisher Abdennour LAOUNI (ALG).

At 63kg, one of the favorites will be Fouad FAJARI (MAR). The 2012 Olympian usually wrestles both styles, but this year he'll only be wrestling Greco. Another favorite at this weight will be Souleymen NASR (TUN) who was an African junior champion last year.

Ayoub HANINE (MAR), the two-time African Championships runner-up at the junior-level is looking to make a smooth transition to the senior-level. The 2018 African Championships will be Hanine's third time competing at the senior-level.

The two wrestlers competing for gold at 72kg are Aziz BOUALEM (MAR) and Emmanuel Chinonso NWORIE (NGR). A three-time world team member, Boulaem is wrestling in his eighth African championships. For Nworie, this will be his first time competing since 2016 when he was down at 66kg.

The three-headed race at 82kg is between Bachir SID AZARA (ALG), Ahmed Hassan Aly Mahmoud AHMED (EGY) and Tochukwu Micheal OKEKE (NGR). Azara won a junior world bronze medal and is the returning champion, Ahmed is an African junior champion, and Okeke took third place last year.

The battle at 87kg will be between two guys who are fighting to win their first African titles. Adem BOUDJEMLINE (ALG) was a finalist from a year ago, and Mohamed Skander MISSAOUI (TUN) who finished in third place.

Two Olympians in Hemza HALOUI (ALG) and Choucri ATAFI (MAR) are expected to meet in the 97kg finals. Haloui is a four-time finalist with three of those being in Greco-Roman and one in Freestyle. Atafi will look to make the finals and best his trio of third place finishes.

ENTRIES
Men's Freestyle (Saturday)
57kg (6 Participants)
61kg (7 Participants)
65kg (8 Participants)
70kg (10 Participants)
74kg (8 Participants)
79kg (6 Participants)
86kg (8 Participants)
92kg (5 Participants)
97kg (6 Participants)
125kg (3 Participants)

Women's Wrestling (Sunday)
50kg (6 Participants)
53kg (3 Participants)
55kg (2 Participants)
57kg (2 Participants)
59kg (7 Participants)
62kg (2 Participants)
65kg (2 Participants)
68kg (6 Participants)
72kg (3 Participants)
76kg (3 Participants)

Greco-Roman (Sunday)
55kg (5 Participants)
60kg (5 Participants)
63kg (3 Participants)
65kg (3 Participants)
67kg (7 Participants)
72kg (2 Participants)
77kg (5 Participants)
82kg (6 Participants)
87kg (5 Participants)
97kg (6 Participants)
130kg (4 Participants)

#WrestleBudapest

Losonczi annihilates 87kg field to book Belgrade spot

Monday, July 17, 2023 - 00:05 By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 16) -- By Ranking Series standards, the celebrations by David LOSONCZI (HUN) after winning the 87kg final was a little overboard.

Winning a gold medal at home deserved a celebration and Losonczi did not sober down. He backflipped after making a mockery of Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) in the final.

Losonczi would later explain that by winning the gold medal at the Budapest Ranking Series on Sunday, he confirmed his spot on the Hungary team for the World Championships in the 87kg weight class.

He was one of the two Hungary wrestlers to confirm the spot with Tamas LEVAI (HUN) also booking a spot by winning the 97kg gold medal at home.

Out of the seven Greco-Roman weight classes in action on Sunday in Budapest, five were Olympic weights. Apart from 87kg and 97kg, wrestlers at 67kg, 77kg and 130kg categories were also in action.

Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) won the 67kg gold medal and compatriot Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) won the gold medal at 77kg. Iran's Amir GHASEMI (IRI) won the gold medal at 130kg.

Losonczi's win was one of the highlights of the tournament as he scored 41 points in five bouts while not giving up a single point. He won four of his five bouts, including the final, via technical superiority.

Wrestling Novikov in the final, Losonczi scored a takedown 30 seconds into the bout. A stepout made it 3-0 and a failed front headlock-to-throw attempt from Novikov added two more points to his score.

With a 5-0 lead, Losonczi remained relentless and continued his attacks. Novikov seemed to be figuring out what was going on in the bout when Losonczi scored another stepout to lead 6-0 in a minute and 33 seconds.

The referee called Novikov for inactivity and Losonczi got a point and par terre advantage. All he had to do to win the match was turn Novikov for two points. Losonczi got a roll from par terre with ease and jumped around celebrating the win.

In his earlier bouts, Losonczi had beaten Sanghyeok PARK (KOR) and Bachir SID AZARA (ALG) 9-0, Fei PENG (CHN), 8-0, in the quarterfinal, and Alex KESSIDIS (SWE) 6-0 in the semifinal.

Levai too broke out in a small dance after he defeated Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA) to win the gold medal at 97kg.

The 24-year-old won the U23 World Championships in 2021 at 77kg and has been jumping weight classes since. He won bronze medals at the 2022 World and European Championships at 82kg and debuted at 97kg at the 2023 Zagreb Open.

At the European Championships in Zagreb in April, Levai competed at 97kg and finished seventh. However, gold in Budapest has made him a dark horse at this weight class.

In front of his home crowd, Levai defeated Mathias BAK (DEN) 5-0 in his opening bout and won 4-1 against Lasha TVILDIANI (GEO) to move into the quarterfinals in which he defeated Seyeol LEE (KOR) 8-0. Daniel GASTL (AUT) was the next to fall as Levai won the semifinal 7-1.

Kakhelashvili got the first par terre advantage but he failed to score any points from there. Just before the break, Kakhelashvili was penalized for blocking Levai's face with open hands. Levai went into the break leading 2-1.

The lead extended to 3-1 when Kakhelashvili was called passive but Levai failed to inflict further damage.

However, the gold was enough for Levai to book a spot for the World Championships where he will hope to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

At 67kg, Jafarov was at his absolute best and won the gold medal, putting behind his 20th-place finish at the Zagreb Open in February.

The bronze medalist from the 2022 World Championships, defeated Din KOSHKAR (KAZ) 12-3 before a 3-1 win over Mihai MIHUT (ROU) helped him reach the semifinal against Hansu RYU (KOR).

A reverse lift for four after par terre and solid defense, when he was put in par terre, helped him beat Ryu 5-1 and book his place in the final against Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO).

Jafarov had no trouble in beating Khetsuriani 6-1 in the final to win the gold medal.

“I prepared a lot for this tournament because the World Championships is approaching and we need to prepare for it,” Jafarov said. “This tournament is perfect to prepare for the World Championships which will offer the Paris Olympics quotas.”

While he was satisfied with his performance, Jafarov thought he could have added more attacks during his bouts.

“I would have liked to attack more in this tournament but I was a little tired here. But I'll be better at the World Championships,” he said.

The former U20 and U23 world champion was wearing a new “buzzcut” and had a heavily strapped neck and shoulder. He, however, said that there was nothing to worry about.

“No injuries,” he said. “This is my new [hair] style. I have a new haircut because I was outside Baku so I thought I can change a little.”

RESULTS

67kg
GOLD: Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) df. Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO), 6-1

BRONZE: Hansu RYU (KOR) df. Mihai MIHUT (ROU), 4-1
BRONZE: Lei LI (CHN) df. Alejandro SANCHO (USA), 1-1

72kg
GOLD: Danial SOHRABI (IRI) df. Ulvi GANIZADE (AZE), via inj. def.

BRONZE: Otar ABULADZE (GEO) df. Levente LEVAI (HUN), 8-3
BRONZE: Selcuk CAN (TUR) df. Daniyar KALENOV (KAZ), 6-1

77kg
GOLD: Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) df. Kamal BEY (USA), 4-1

BRONZE: Mohammad NAGHOUSI (IRI) df. Zoltan LEVAI (HUN), 1-1
BRONZE: Iuri LOMADZE (GEO) df. Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN), 7-0

82kg
GOLD: Erik SZILVASSY (HUN) df. Mihail BRADU (MDA), 3-1

BRONZE: Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO) df. Spencer WOODS (USA), via fall
BRONZE: Kristoffer BERG (SWE) df. Peter DOEMOEK (HUN), 7-1

87kg
GOLD: David LOSONCZI (HUN) df. Semen NOVIKOV (BUL), 9-0

BRONZE: Alex KESSIDIS (SWE) df. Bachir SID AZARA (ALG), 3-1
BRONZE: Gurami KHETSURIANI (GEO) df. Islam ABBASOV (AZE), 3-2

97kg
GOLD: Tamas LEVAI (HUN) df. Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA), 3-1

BRONZE: Daniel GASTL (AUT) df. Mathias BAK (DEN), 6-1
BRONZE: Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN) df. Felix BALDAUF (NOR), 6-1

130kg
GOLD: Amir GHASEMI (IRI) df. Beka KANDELAKI (AZE), 3-1

BRONZE: Elias KUOSMANEN (FIN) df. Konsta MAEENPAEAE (FIN), 2-0
BRONZE: Aliakbar YOUSOFI (IRI) df. Dariusz VITEK (HUN), 3-0

Adekuoroye Chasing Fourth African Crown

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Losonczi annihilates 87kg field to book Belgrade spot