China Hoping Rong Shift Turns Out to be Right Move to Upend Host Japan

Friday, November 15, 2019 - 13:52 By Ken Marantz

NARITA, Japan (Nov. 15)---A strategic move may have deprived the Women’s World Cup of a classic clash of titans, but in the end, could pay off with a more exciting competition overall.

The Chinese team said Friday that RONG Ningning (CHN) will compete at 59kg for the two-day team competition in Narita, east of Tokyo, instead of 57kg---preventing a rematch with Risako KAWAI (JPN) of this year’s final from the World Championships in Nur-Sultan, which the Japanese won for her third world gold.

“I just follow what the coach wants,” Rong, who was the 2018 world champion at 57kg, said through an interpreter.

Host Japan, aiming for its fifth straight title and 11th overall, and China will face each other in the third session on the opening day Saturday at Narita’s Nakadai Sports Park Gym. Ukraine, the other entry in the three-nation group, will face both over the first two sessions.

China, which won the last of its six titles in 2013, will send out a formidable lineup that includes, in addition to silver medalist Rong, four bronze medalists from Nur-Sultan. Not to be overlooked is Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medalist SUN Yanan (CHN), who finished fifth at 50kg this year.

Rong’s shift to 59kg will likely pit her against high schooler Yuzuka INAGAKI (JPN), one of seven recently crowned world U-23 champions on the relatively young Japanese squad.

China’s strategy appears to be to go with its strengths and play for a split of 57kg and 59kg, rather than opt for a lineup that increases the possible risk of losing both.

“I’m really confident for this World Cup, because I could see everyone on our team is already prepared and they will perform at their best,” Rong said.

As for avenging the loss to Kawai, Rong said that can wait. She anticipates their paths crossing again, perhaps back in Japan at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

“I’m really looking forward to facing her and getting revenge,” Rong said. “So next year I will wait and prepare.”

SUN Yanan (CHN) could meet rival Yui SUSAKI (JPN) when China wrestles Japan on Saturday at 17:00 (Photo: Tony Rotundo).

Another Chinese wrestler looking for revenge will be Sun. She will likely get another shot at young star Yui SUSAKI (JPN), who missed out on a shot at a third senior world title in Nur-Sultan at 50kg when she lost a national team playoff to Yuki IRIE (JPN).

In 2017, Susaki defeated Sun 9-4 in the quarterfinals at the Asian Championships, then again 4-2 at the Women’s World Cup in the championship round.

“I’m really looking forward to competing with Yui,” said Sun, who edged Irie in a wild 13-12 quarterfinal win in Nur-Sultan. “I think she is a very talented and excellent wrestler.”

A year ago at the Women’s World Cup in Takasaki, Japan, Sun lost by fall to Irie as Japan went on to win 6-4 in the final. This time, Sun will be looking to give China the early momentum.

“Because it is a team competition, each of us has to do our best to protect our zone and give the advantage to our teammates,” Sun said. “Everyone has this responsibility.”

In other weight classes, Masako FURUICHI (JPN) moved down to 68kg, leaving fellow 72kg world bronze medalist Paliha PALIHA (CHN) at the weight class, which could mean to likely clash with high schooler and world junior champion Yuka KAGAMI (JPN) at that division.

If the match comes down to the final bout at 76kg, it’s anybody’s guess which team will come out on top should it looks to shape up as a showdown between familiar foes Hiroe MINAGAWA (JPN) and ZHOU Qian (CHN).

Zhou defeated Minagawa 7-1 at last year’s World Cup, but the Japanese reversed that outcome in the quarterfinals in Nur-Sultan, winning 3-1 en route to capturing the silver medal for her third career world medal.

Ukraine, which finished fifth in the team standings in Nur-Sultan to earn its place in the field in Narita, has opted for a young squad, leaving out its two world silver medalists, Iryna KOLIANDENKO (65kg) and Alina MAKHYNIA (72kg).

Tamyra MENSAH-STOCK (USA) is one of three American world champions that'll wrestle at the Women's World Cup. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

U.S. Relying on Triple-Threat of World Champions
Outside of Japan and China, the only nation to have won a Women’s World Cup title in its 17-year history is the United States.

That was back in 2003, but with three reigning world champions in its lineup, the Americans are hoping to make a run at finally breaking up the Asian stranglehold.

“We feel confident in who we are,” USA coach Terry STEINER said. “We also know that every team here has some great athletes on their team. It’s about performing when we’re supposed to perform.”

The group is a tossup between three evenly matches countries, with Russia and Mongolia also in the pool. Russia finished second in the team standings behind Japan in Nur-Sultan with two champions and five medals overall, three points ahead of the United States. Mongolia was seventh.

“We just have to be ready tomorrow to compete hard,” Steiner said. “If we compete hard, I think we’ll end up where we want to be. But Russia and Mongolia aren’t going to lay down either. So, one match at a time, and we just have to focus on wrestling our style of wrestling.”

For newly crowned 68kg world champion Tamyra MENSAH-STOCK (USA), the team aspect and representing her country adds excitement to an already blood-pumping sport.

“I love wrestling for my country,” she said. “Since I’m not in the army, I try to figure out some way to represent my country, and I feel like this is the next best thing.

“It’s very exhilarating and exciting, and I love going out there, showing that I’m USA, and showing people that, hey, a lot of USA people are not that bad---look at Tamyra Mensah-Stock, she’s such a sweetheart, but when she gets on the mat, whoa, can she go!”

Mensah-Stock, who will be competing in her third World Cup, said she doesn’t feel added pressure by coming in this time as a world champion.

“Not pressure on myself, or even a little bit more pressure, but more ‘expectation,’” she said. “For me, that’s not really pressure. That’s just going out there and saying, hey, Tamyra, [in September] you proved yourself by winning a world title.

“It felt absolutely amazing. And people were already gunning after me to begin with. It’s not any different. I’m just going to go out there and prove I can work harder than ever. I just have to bring out the ‘other’ Tamyra Mensah-Stock.”

Newly crowned world champion Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) will wrestle at 55kg at this weekend's World Cup. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA), who won her first major medal when she took the gold in Nur-Sultan at 55kg, could face a showdown with bronze medalist Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS). The Russian lost in the quarterfinals to Nanami IRIE (JPN), whom Winchester beat 5-3 in the final.

Another intriguing matchup could come at 76kg between Adeline GRAY (USA), who won her fifth world gold in Nur-Sultan, and Ekaterina BUKINA (RUS), the Rio 2016 bronze medalist who suffered a heartbreaking 6-6 loss in the first round to Epp MAEE (EST).

The effervescent Mensah-Stock also seems to serve as mood-maker for the U.S. team, and she sees it as her role of keeping the team on a even keel.

“I’m just going to cheer for my team and make sure they have the right mindset,” she said. “Because I feel I bring calmness and I help make it a little less stressful. I know some of the girls are feeling that stress, because for some of them, this is their first World Cup.

“I want to help them out the best I can. I don’t know what they’re going to bring to the table---I don’t know what I’m going to bring to the table---but I’m hoping I can bring my A-game.”

#WrestleTirana

World Championships: Sadulaev caps golden return with 92kg title

Friday, November 1, 2024 - 00:20 By Ken Marantz

TIRANA, Albania (October 31)--After a long absence from the mat forced by a combination of injuries and extenuating circumstances beyond his control, two-time Olympic champion Abdulrashid SADULAEV (AIN) returned in triumph.

It wasn't at his usual weight class and he has no plans to remain there, but for now the Russian great can be satisfied with adding yet another global gold medal to his formidable collection.

Sadulaev won his sixth world title in a third different weight class when he defeated Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) 6-0 in the final at freestyle 92kg on Thursday, the final day of the Non-Olympic Weight Categories in Tirana.

"I can’t express what I feel yet," Sadulaev said. "I am very happy to be back on the top place of the podium of the world championships. This time it was a bit more difficult than the previous ones. There were many things that didn’t depend on me. I am glad."

Meanwhile, up-and-coming Masanosuke ONO (JPN), following up on Japan's success in the lightest weights at the Paris Olympics, completed a dominant run to the 61kg gold, while Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ) and Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO) ended long waits to return to the medal podium by making it to the top step at 70kg and 79kg, respectively.

Sadulaev, wrestling at 92kg for the first time in his career and down from 97kg for the first time since winning the 86kg gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics, put up his usual granite wall of defense, while also showing the combination of speed, power and agility on the attack that sets him apart from his peers.

"I was about 98kg when I started the preparation," Sadulaev said. "The weight cut was not so difficult. I stopped eating flour and sweets, and the weight started to go down. Only the last two kilograms were a bit difficult to cut.

"The only problem was that I had the weigh-ins at 8 a.m. in the morning, then we arrived at the venue and I started wrestling in 30 minutes, I didn’t even have any time to rest. All the matches were just happening one by one with no rest. That’s why I got a bit tired in the semifinal match."

In the final, Sadulaev was on the activity clock in the first period when he scored a takedown, then added a pair of gut wrenches to build a 6-0 lead. From there, he held off everything that Maisuradze threw at him to add to the five world titles he won starting in 2014.

The last time the world saw Sadulaev, he suffered a serious neck injury and was beaten in the semifinals at the 2023 World Championships in Belgrade by Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN), a former member of Sadulaev's wrestling school in Dagestan now competing for Bahrain who won the gold in Paris.

Sadulaev was declared ineligible to defend his Olympic 97kg title in Paris as part of sanctions on Russia and Belarus, and skipped what would have been his return at this year's European Championships in February due to injury.

"I found out that I will be wrestling at 92kg at the worlds only at the end of September," Sadulaev said. "I talked to the president of the federation. I was preparing to compete at the Olympic Games, but unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to enter, that’s why I decided to give it a try here...One and a half months was enough for me to prepare."

But as he showed over the two days in Tirana, he could be as competitive as ever. He started by handily defeating fellow superstar David TAYLOR (USA) in a classic matchup in the first round, then showed that his fire for success still burned bright within him when he scraped together a 4-point takedown in the final seconds to edge Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) 5-3 in the semifinals.

"It didn’t really matter if I had to wrestle Taylor in the final match or in the qualification round," Sadulaev said. "It would have been more interesting if it was a final match. It would have been very spectacular if we wrestled in the final.

"In the semifinal match, I missed an attack, and in the end, I had to get a last-second score. I think it made the match even more interesting."

Looking ahead, Sadulaev said he will be heading back up to 97kg. "This was the only one time for me wrestling at 92kg. This is not my weight class, I will be back at 97kg again. I just used this opportunity not to lose another year. I had to make history to win the world championships in three different weight classes."

The dynamic Ono, who won the world U20 gold in September, never let up on the gas in storming to a quick 10-0 victory in the 61kg final over Ahmet DUMAN (TUR).

As he did throughout the tournament, Ono transitioned immediately to a gut wrench from a takedown, scoring six quick points before Duman knew what hit him. Ono then used a snap-down to a low ankle for another takedown, then a gut wrench to finish the rout in 1:22.

Ono, who started his golden run with a 10-2 win over Tokyo Olympic and former two-time world champion Zavur UGUEV (AIN), reeled off 12-0, 11-0 and 12-0 victories to advance to the final.

The senior Asian bronze medalist this year at 65kg, he later revealed that an injury had hampered his preparations. "One month ago, I broke my ankle and I couldn't practice at all," Ono said. "The Uguev match was my first live wrestling after the fracture, and I was very unsure how I would do."

For Ono, currently a student at Yamanashi Gakuin University, the school that produced Tokyo Olympic champion Takuto OTOGURO (JPN), the question is where does he go from here?

Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN), who followed Otoguro by winning the 65kg gold in Paris, beat Ono in the final at the 2023 All-Japan Championships during the Olympic qualifying process. Going down to 57kg, where Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) won the Paris gold, seems unlikely.

Wherever he ends up, he will go with confidence. "I don't know if I'll go to 65kg and face him [Kiyooka]," Ono said. "If I do, I'm definitely going to win."

As for celebrating his triumph in Tirana, that will have to wait. "In five days, I have the Japan University championships," he said.

In the 70kg final, Kaipanov scored all of his points in the second period to defeat Asian silver medalist Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) 5-3 and add the gold to the world silver he won in 2019 and become just the second world freestyle champion in Kazakhstan history -- and second in two years.

Kaipanov, a two-time former Asian champion, twice scored 2-point exposures by stopping body-lock throw attempts by Aoyagi, a former teammate of Ono's at Yamanashi Gakuin who was coming off a bronze-medal finish at the World U23 Championships held a week ago in the same venue.

Kaipanov's victory came a year after Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) captured the 92kg title in Belgrade to become their country's first-ever freestyle gold medalist.

Kentchadze, a four-time European bronze medalist whose only previous world medal was a 74kg silver won in 2015, scored six takedowns in a 13-4 victory over 2023 world U23 champion Magomed MAGOMAEV (AIN) to take the 79kg gold.

Kentchadze, who was fifth at the 74kg at last year's worlds in Belgrade, gave up an opening takedown, but responded by scoring two himself to go ahead. After the second, however, he got stuffed attempting a roll to go behind 4-4, but righted the ship and added two more takedowns before the break to lead 8-4.

In the second period, Kentchadze sandwiched two more takedowns around a stepout to pull away and emerge victorious in the tournament's most crowded weight class with 33 entries.

Taylor claims emotional bronze

Taylor didn't get the gold that he came out of retirement to get in Tirana, but he did show a bit of his old magic in claiming a bronze medal at 92kg with an impressive 6-2 comeback victory over Ghasempour.

"When you're good for so long, you never know when it's time to be done," said an emotional Taylor, the Tokyo Olympic and three-time world champion at 86kg. "I just got an opportunity to go out the way I wanted to."

Ghasempour, the 2021 and 2022 world champion at 92kg, opened the scoring with a takedown while on the activity clock to lead 2-0 at the break. In the second period, Taylor went on the offensive and scored three takedowns against the tough Iranian, the last coming with two seconds left to preserve the victory.

After the match, Taylor remained on the mat for a short while, drinking in the atmosphere and the applause of the crowd. Later, he smile broadly on the medal podium and posed for photo together with Sadulaev.

The 33-year-old had retired after failing to make the U.S. team to the Paris Olympics and took the head coaching job at powerhouse Oklahoma State University. But the chance to face Sadulaev for the first time and possibly add to his gold medal collection was incentive enough to bring him back to the mat. The luck of the draw saw him face Sadulaev in the first round, where he lost 7-0.

"It was a tough decision to wrestle, but I didn't want it to end the way it did in April," Taylor said. "Going into this, I was hyperfocused on wrestling Sadulaev. The game script didn't go as I thought. I should have wrestled [him] like I did [against Ghasempour]. [The bronze-medal match] was a match of redemption. It was a world-final caliber match."

Although they met just that one time, Sadulaev had kind parting words for Taylor. "I want to congratulate Taylor on an amazing career," he said. "He was one of the best wrestlers of the modern time. I wish him good luck. Sooner or later, I will retire as well. But not now."

In the other 92kg bronze-medal match, Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK) gave Slovakia a second bronze of the night when he rode a six-point lead to an 8-6 victory over a spirited Benjamin HONIS (ITA), who had been aiming to become Italy's first world medalist not named Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) since 2018.

Vito ARUJAU (USA), denied the chance to defend his world 61kg title by Ono in the semifinals, came away with a bronze medal by taking one of the biggest scalps of his career, beating Ugaev 8-3.

Arujau, shaking off a painful finger injury that caused him to need treatment during the second period, scored four takedowns in toppling the normally 57kg Uguev, who had obvious trouble handling the extra weight.

The other 61kg bronze went to Tsogbadrakh TSEVEENSUREN (MGL), who came up with a big move to defeat Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE) by fall. Tseveensuren started with a 4-point pancake that Norvuzov reversed for 2, then countered a takedown attempt by locking the Azeri in a cradle and securing the fall at 2:30.

Russian-born Abdulmazhid KUDIEV (TJK) ended Tajikistan's 17-wait for a second world medal when he broke open a tight match with a 10-point flurry in the second period to defeat Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO) 13-2 in a 70kg bronze-medal match.

Kudiev, a bronze medalist at this year's Antalya Ranking Series at 65kg, followed in the footsteps of another native Russian, Yusup ABDUSALOMOV (TJK), who won a silver at freestyle 84kg in 2007.

European U23 champion Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN), last year's world U23 gold medalist, claimed his first senior world medal with a 10-0 victory in the other 70kg bronze-medal match over Vasyl SHUPTAR (UKR). Sheriev scored three takedowns in the second period to end the match with :08 left.

At 79kg, Asian champion Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI), who knocked off six-time world champion Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) before losing to Kentchadze in the semifinals, overwhelmed young Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) 10-0 to take home a world medal for the third consecutive year.

Takahashi, the world U23 champion at 74kg a week ago in Tirana, did a remarkable job of making it to the bronze-medal match, having come back from massive deficits in both of his repechage matches just a few hours earlier.

Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK), the 2021 European champion, scored a 2-point exposure on a counter in the second period to edge Suldkhuu OLONBAYAR (MGL) 2-1 for the other 79kg bronze.

Freestyle Results

61kg (27 entries)
GOLD: Masanosuke ONO (JPN) df. Ahmet DUMAN (TUR) by TF, 10-0, 1:22

BRONZE: Tsogbadrakh TSEVEENSUREN (MGL) df Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE) by Fall, 2:30 (8-2)
BRONZE: Vito ARUJAU (USA) df. Zavur UGUEV (AIN), 8-3

70kg (25 entries)
GOLD: Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ) df. Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN), 5-3

BRONZE: Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN) df. Vasyl SHUPTAR (UKR) by TF, 10-0, 5:52
BRONZE: Abdulmazhid KUDIEV (TJK) df. Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO) by TF, 13-2, 4:39

79kg (33 entries)
GOLD: Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO) df. Magomed MAGOMAEV (AIN), 13-4

BRONZE: Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI) df. Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) by TF, 10-0, 3:49
BRONZE: Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK) df. Suldkhuu OLONBAYAR (MGL), 2-1

92kg (29 entries)
GOLD: Abdulrashid SADULAEV (AIN) df. Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO), 6-0

BRONZE: David TAYLOR (USA) df. Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI), 6-2
BRONZE: Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK) df. Benjamin HONIS (ITA), 8-6

China Hoping Rong Shift Turns Out to be Right Move to Upend Host Japan

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World Championships: Sadulaev caps golden return with 92kg title