#Zagreb2019

Eight Returning World Medalists Headline Loaded Zagreb Open Field

Thursday, February 7, 2019 - 18:25 By Eric Olanowski

ZAGREB, Croatia (February 7) – The Dom Sportova Arena, located in Croatia’s largest city, Zagreb, is the host site for the Zagreb Open, which is arguably the deepest Ranking Series event that United World Wrestling has ever hosted.

This weekend’s event is stockpiled with talent, boasting an Olympic champion, an Olympic bronze medalist, eight 2018 world medal winners, and nearly 40 past age-level or senior-level world medalists.

Eight Budapest World Medalists Registered
Metehan BASAR (TUR), last year’s 87kg world champion, leads a group of eight Budapest world medalists into Zagreb. He’s the lone returning world gold medalist, but the field features two runner-ups and five bronze medalists.

Furthermore, there will be at least one world medalist in seven of the ten weight classes.

Budapest World Medalists
55kg - Ekrem OZTURK (TUR) – bronze medalist
63kg - Rahman BILICI (TUR) – bronze medalist
72kg - Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL) – bronze medalist
72kg - Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL) – bronze medalist
82kg - Emrah KUS (TUR) – runner-up
87kg - Metehan BASAR (TUR) – world champion
97kg - Kiril MILOV (BUL) – runner-up
130kg - KIM Minseok (KOR) – bronze medalist

Korea's two-time Olympic medalist KIM Hyeonwoo is one of two Olympic medalists wrestling at the first Ranking Series event of the year, the Zagreb Open. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Duo of Olympic Medalists Who Will Compete This Weekend
KIM Hyeonwoo (KOR) and Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) are the two past Olympic medalists that are traveling to Croatia’s capital city to compete for the eight first-place Ranking Series points.

Kim, the 2012 Olympic champion and Rio Olympic bronze medalists, will compete in one of the deepest weight classes, 77kg, and Uzbekistan’s Rio bronze medalist Elmurat Tasmuradov is shooting for gold at 67kg.

Rio bronze medalist Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) is one of two Olympic medalists who will wrestle at the Zagreb Open (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Weight Class to Watch: 67kg
Other weight classes have a higher number of world medalists, but in my opinion, 67kg is the most compelling weight class to watch.

The reason being, it houses Elmurat Tasmuradov, RYU Hansu (KOR), and Radu MIHUT (ROU). These are three of most electrifying Greco-Roman wrestlers entered into this weekend's competition.

Keeping recent results in mind, the favorite coming into the first Greco-Roman Ranking Series event is Elmurat Tasmuradov. The Uzbek tallied five wins in Budapest before falling to Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS), 6-3 in the 63kg finals and finished with a silver medal.

It’s no secret that Tasmuradov’s weight has fluctuated over the past three seasons and he's still looking for a consistent home. Since his bronze medal finish at the Rio Olympics, he’s competed at four different weights. This weekend, he’ll be making yet another weight change, when he returns to 67kg for the first time since the 2018 Asian Games where he left with a disappointing seventh-place finish.

Korea's two-time world champion Ryu Hansu and one of the sports brightest rising stars Radu Mihut will join Tasmuradov at 67kg.

Though Ryu won that 67kg Asian Games bracket where Tasmuradov finished in seventh-place, the multiple-time world champion is trying to rebound after a lackluster 26th-place finish at the 2018 world championships, when he was knocked out after dropping his first match to Ukraine’s Denys DEMYANKOV, 4-2.

Romania's Radu Mihut rounds out the potential title-contenders at 67kg. The U23 and senior European champion is also looking to rebound after an uninspiring world championship performance. Muhut, one of the favorites coming into Budapest, finished in 13th place after losing to Hungary’s Krisztian VANCZA (HUN) in his first match.

For Mihut to begin his quest to get back to the top, there's no other place he'd rather do it than Zagreb.

Mihut joins Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) as the only two returning Zagreb Open champions entered in this year's first Greco-Roman Ranking Series event. Last season, Mihut used the Zagreb Open to kick-start his 2018 hot streak which ultimately helped him reach the top of the podium at two European championships, the Thor Masters, Kristjan Palusalu Memorial, and Ion Corneanu & Ladislau Simon Memorial.

Six Title Contenders at 77kg
The deepest weight class in terms of world medalists is 77kg. It includes at least three world champions and six world medalists from the cadet through the senior level.

Without a doubt, the two 77kg favorites are Olympic champion Kim Hyeonwoo and 2017 world champion Viktor NEMES (SRB). Both wrestlers are coming off bronze-medal finishes at the 2018 world championships.

Kim capped off his run to a third overall world medal with a 3-1 win in the bronze-medal bout against Uzbekistan’s Bilan NALGIEV, while Nemes completed his bronze-medal run with a 6-2 win over Sweden’s Michel BJURBERG KESSIDIS.

If Kim and Nemes were to meet this weekend, it would be their second overall career meeting. They also met at the 2015 world championships, where Kim knocked off Nemes 3-2 in the second round.

There are also be four age-level world medalists entered at 77kg. They are Kamal BEY (USA), Fatih CENGIZ (TUR), Ilie COJOCARI (ROU), and Per KURE (NOR).

Two dark horses to pay close attention to out of the age-level world medal winners are Cengiz and Bey.

Cengiz won the U23 world title two years ago, and also finished with a bronze medal at the Paris World Championships.

Bey, the United States' 2017 world champion and worldwide fan favorite, is coming off a title-winning performance at the Dave Schultz Memorial International where he defeated fellow American Carter NIELSEN (USA) to win his first gold medal since last January's Cerro Pelado International.

Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL) will move up to 72kg from his world bronze medal weight of 67kg. (Photo: Max Rose-Fyne)

World Bronze Medal Duo Entered at 72kg
The two championship prospects at 72kg are the pair of returning world bronze medalist, Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL) and Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL).

Mnatsakanian rallied off four wins and capped off his 72kg bronze-medal run with a 9-0 routing of Algeria’s Tarek Aziz BENAISSA, while Sahakyan, who was down at 67kg, shutout Danijel JANECIC (CRO) 7-0 and claimed his first world medal.

The former Armenian Sahakyan is competing at 72kg for only the second time in his career. He competed at 72kg at last year's European Championship and finished in fifth place. His two losses in Dagestan came to eventual world champion Adam KURAK (RUS) and 2018 world runner-up Balint KORPASI (HUN).

Turkey's two-time junior world champion Kerem KAMAL is trying to win his first senior-level tournament. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Can Young Trio at 60kg Take That Next Step?
The 60kg weight class features a trio of young wrestlers who are looking to jump levels and grab their first senior titles. They are Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB), Ilkhom BAKHROMOV, and Kerem KAMAL (TUR).

Of the three, Islomjon Bakhramov, the 2018 Asian Championship bronze medalist, is the most experienced and has the most success in the senior level. Though he reached the finals of the G. Kartozia & V. Balavadze Price and Islamic Solidarity Games, he fell short in each of his two previous finals appearances.

Uzbekistan’s 2018 world team representative Ilkhom Bakhramov is making his third senior appearance. In his two previous tournaments, he’s finished inside the top-10 but has yet to make a final. He finished in fourth place at the G. Kartozia & V. Balavadze Price and ninth place at the 2018 world championships.

Turkey’s two-time junior world champion Kerem Kamal has seen loads of success at the age-group level, but that success has not transitioned to the senior-level. In his three senior tournaments, Kamal has only medaled once. That medal, a bronze, came at last year’s Dan Kolov - Nikola Petrov Tournament.

Heavy Hitters Entered at 130kg
The gold-medal favorites at 130kg are the pair of world bronze medalists, Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ (CHI) and KIM Minseok (KOR).

Minseok won a bronze at the Budapest world championships, and Acosta Fernandez claimed his bronze at the Paris world championships.

If Minseok and Acosta Fernandez meet this weekend, it’ll be their second career meeting. The pairs first meeting came at the 2017 world championships where Acosta Fernandez demolished Kim 9-0 in the opening round en route to his history-making bronze-medal finish.

Turkish big man and three-time world champion Riza KAYAALP was on the early entry list but has since pulled out and confirmed that he'd make his season debut at the second Ranking Series event, the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Turkey will instead be sending U23 world silver medalist Osman YILDIRIM (TUR).

Basar Heavily Favored at 87kg
Turkey's Metehan BASAR (TUR) was one of four non-Russian wrestlers to win a world title in Budapest. Basar defeated 2015 world champion Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) 2-1 to claim back-to-back world titles. He comes into the Zagreb Open heavily favored to win the 87kg title.

His two biggest competitors will be a pair of Hungarian wrestlers, Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) and Erik SZILVASSY (HUN).

Lorincz is a two-time world bronze medalist. Lorincz is a Rio Olympian and has represented Hungary at every world championship since 2011.

His fellow countryman Erik Szilvassy, the 2017 U23 world champion, will use this weekend as an opportunity to try to overthrow the six-time world team representative and take country supremacy before the selection process begins for Hungary's Astana World Championship team.

Mohsen MADHANI is one of ten Iranian's making their senior international debut at the Zagreb Open. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Can the Iranian Youth Prevail?
Iran will be sending a full team to the Zagreb Open, but it surely won’t be the same team they'll be sending to Astana, Kazakhstan for the 2019 World Championships.

Every wrestler Iran registered for the first Ranking Series event of the year will be making their senior-level international debuts, and only Abolfazl SEYEDMAHDAVI, who finished in eighth place at the 2019 Takhti Cup in Tehran, Iran, has wrestled domestically on the senior-level.

Iran’s Zagreb Open Lineup
55kg - Poya DAD MARZ – 2017 junior world champion
60kg - Milad REZANEZHAD HOSSEINVAND – 2017 cadet world championships - 17th place
63kg- Mohsen MADHANI – 2017 cadet world champion
67kg - Mohammad Reza Hojatollah MOKHTARI – 2016 cadet world runner-up
72kg - Yousef Hajiali HOSSEINVAND FATHI – 2016 cadet world champion, 2018 junior world bronze
77kg - Mohammad Aziz NAGHOUSI – 2018 cadet world bronze medalist
82kg - Hosein FOROUZANDEH GHOJEHBEIGLOU – 2018 junior world championships - 8th place
87kg - Hasan FOROUZANDEH GHOJEHBEIGLOU
97kg - Abolfazl Naser SEYEDMAHDAVI – 2019 Takhti Cup - 8th place
130kg - Aliakbar Hossein YOUSOFIAHMADCHALI – 2018 U23 world bronze

Schedule
Saturday (February 9)
8:00 - 1st-day Medical examination & Weigh-in, all weight categories (No weight tolerance!) Sport Hall
10:30 - Qualification and elimination rounds, all weight categories (on 3 wrestling mats)

Sunday (February 10)
8:00 - 2nd-day weigh-in, all weight categories (No weight tolerance!) Sport Hall
10:30 - Repechage bouts and bronze medal matches (all categories)
17:30 - Opening ceremony and Final matches (all categories)

#JapanWrestling

Ozaki grabs Paris ticket at 68kg with thrilling win over Ishii

Sunday, January 28, 2024 - 02:51 By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (January 27) -- Ever since she started wrestling as a schoolgirl, the single-leg takedown has been Nonoka OZAKI's most reliable weapon. It didn't let her down when she needed it most -- with a ticket to the Paris Olympics on the line.

Ozaki launched a last-ditch single-leg in the final nine seconds and it paid off with a takedown, giving the two-time world champion a dramatic 5-4 victory over Ami ISHII in a playoff for Japan's spot in Paris at women's 68kg on Saturday at Tokyo's National Training Center.

"I'm really happy, but it still hasn't sunk in that I've taken a step closer to my dream," said a jubilant Ozaki, for whom the road to Paris has been a roller-coaster of emotions.

Ozaki was the 2022 world champion at 62kg, but missed out during the domestic qualifying process for Paris in that weight class. She then decided to take a shot at 68kg when that became her only remaining option.

Ozaki set up the playoff with Ishii by winning the 68kg title at the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships last December. Ishii, the world silver medalist in 2022, had finished fifth at last year World Championships in Belgrade -- good enough to secure a Paris berth for Japan but not enough to fill it herself.

The victory gave Ozaki her fifth win in five career meetings between the two, who are only three months apart in age. The older Ishii turned 22 in December. Ozaki threw down the gauntlet in their most recent clash, defeating Ishii 6-2 in the first round of the Emperor's Cup.

Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) Ami ISHII scores a go-ahead takedown late in the second period. (Photo by Ikuo Higuchi / Japan Wrestling Federation)

On Saturday, Ishii looked like she might have finally found an answer. Trailing 3-0 in the second period, she received a passivity point, then broke through Ozaki's defenses to score a takedown at the edge in the final seconds that was upheld in an unsuccessful challenge (the Ozaki side wanted it called a stepout) to take a 4-3 lead.

"She got the points in the last 10 seconds and I thought for a moment all was lost," Ozaki said. "During the challenge, I thought, 'I don't want the match to end this way.' Those on my side had a look on their faces of 'you can still do it.'...There was nothing left but to go for it."

During the challenge, the mat chairman also had the clock reset from four seconds and change to 9.89. Ozaki wasted none of it, lunging for the single-leg and quickly finishing it off with a few seconds to spare.

"I didn't practice that, shooting right off the whistle, but I believed in myself," Ozaki said. "It was good they put the clock back to 10 seconds, if it was four seconds, it would have been a problem. I can't say I was calm, but there was nothing else to do. The fact that I didn't have time to think, 'What should I do?' was a good thing."

Ozaki also cut it close with her first-period takedown, which she scored with six seconds left off a counter that she said she practiced in preparation for the match. Ishii likes to work an underhook, and as soon as she made a move for a leg, Ozaki dropped down and clamped on her head, then used her speed to spin behind.

Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) Nonoka OZAKI defeats Ami ISHII in the women's Olympic 68kg playoff. (Photo by Ikuo Higuchi / Japan Wrestling Federation)

For Ishii, the agony of defeat was excruciating. In disbelief, she dropped to the mat and sobbed uncontrollably, which continued even after she was escorted by teammates off the mat. Her wails of anguish reverberated throughout the room, in contrast to Ozaki's celebrations with her contingent.

The playoff was held on one of the six mats in the spacious wrestling room on the basement floor of the National Training Center. Aside from a smattering of media and federation officials, each wrestler was accompanied by a small contingent of fans or teammates.

Ishii just could not seem to process what had happened. Speaking in a barely audible voice through tears to the media, she said, "It's like someone you know has died, but you don't feel like they're gone. I don't feel like Paris is gone, but I have to accept that it is."

Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) Nonoka Ozaki finishes up a quick-fire takedown in the final seconds of the second period to clinch the victory. (Photo by Ikuo Higuchi / Japan Wrestling Federation)

Ozaki could commiserate with her vanquished opponent. She had been on the losing end in a battle for the 62kg place with Ishii's Ikuei University teammate Sakura MOTOKI, a 2022 bronze medalist at 59kg who moved up to the Olympic weight and made it hers. (Another Ikuei wrestler, world champion Tsugumi SAKURAI, will be going to Paris at 57kg.)

"This is a world of competition, and I came here to get the ticket [to Paris] also," Ozaki said. "I know how much she wanted to win, but the competition is harsh and one of us has to lose. I won in the last few seconds, but that could have gone either way. I could have just as easily lost. I am grateful to her for giving me such a high-level match."

Ishii had won the world silver at 68kg in 2022 and could have locked up her place in Paris with a repeat performance last year in Belgrade. The Japan federation had decreed that any wrestler who won a medal in an Olympic weight class would automatically fill the Paris berth themselves.

As it turned out, 68kg was the only women's weight class out of the six in which the Japanese entry did not medal.

Sadly for Ishii, an 8-8 loss in the bronze-medal match to Irina RINGACI (MDA) had dire consequences. Ishii would win the fifth-place playoff to secure the Paris berth for Japan, but it left the door open for others to poach.

Ozaki was also in Belgrade, having decided that she needed to move forward and put her failure at 62kg behind her. She won a spot on Japan's team at the non-Olympic weight of 65kg and picked up her second world gold. But her heart was hardly into it. Of more concern was seeing Motoki clinched her place in Paris by winning the 62kg silver.

"When I look back, it's enough to make me cry, it was so tough," Ozaki said. "Right now I'm happy, but up to last year's World Championships, there was no joy at all in my life. It's like the person I was up to then was lost, it was someone I didn't know like I had run into a wall. I wanted to fight hard but I couldn't make the effort.

"I thought that I don't even want to watch a Paris Olympics that I'm not in. When I won the 65kg playoff here, I had convinced myself that I had to keep moving forward. It wasn't an Olympic weight, but I thought if I could be No. 1 in the world again, it would be an opportunity to start over.

"That's how I felt going to the World Championships. But before my final, the 62kg [berth] was secured. I didn't take a victory lap and I was crying -- it makes me cry now to recall this -- because I was thinking, 'The Olympics is over for me.' I felt resentment. But as I told the media, I was the one responsible and had to accept it. 'I'm not going to retire, and I'll keep fighting,' I said. I had never thought that in the end, I would be going to the Olympics at 68kg."

Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) Ikuei University teammates try to console a devastated Ami Ishii. (Photo by Ken Marantz / United World Wrestling)

Less than two years ago, Ozaki was on top of the world at 62kg, having won 2022 world golds on the senior, U23 and U20 levels over two months. Her eyes were firmly on Paris, and the Japanese press buzzed over her budding rivalry with Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ).

But her well-laid plans began to unravel just a few months later when Motoki decided to make a challenge for the Olympic spot at 62kg in a field that included Tokyo Olympic champion Yukako KAWAI.

After Motoki won their clash at the Emperor's Cup, they never got to meet in the second qualifier -- the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships in June 2023 -- as Ozaki was handed a stunning 6-6 defeat in the quarterfinals by Yuzuku INAGAKI. Motoki won the title to clinch the ticket to Belgrade, and the rest is history.

In preparation for Paris, Ozaki plans to enter one tournament at 68kg, the Asian Championships in Bishkek in April. She is also carrying some injury concerns, having hurt her right knee at the Emperor's Cup and having problems with her left thumb for the past year which she says affects her grip.

But that is all secondary to having made it to the Olympics, even if it means facing opponents larger than she is accustomed to.

"A year ago, I would never have thought of taking the path of 68kg," Ozaki said. "I'm still only 66 kilograms, but I'll work to fill out to 68. Without being inferior in strength, I will use my speed to my advantage. I'll work on counters for underhooks and throws, and maybe even be able to hit some throws of my own. I'll continue to make progress and I'll be ready."

Ozaki, a product of the JOC Academy, took the academic route when it came to choosing a college and currently attends the prestigious Keio University. That means that outside of national team camps, she has to hit the road for training. Her preparation for the playoff took her to Kanagawa University, a club team in Kanagawa Prefecture and a high school in Yamanashi Prefecture. Several of the male wrestlers at the latter were on hand Saturday.

Whether she can win the gold will likely come down to how effective her old friend, the single-leg tackle, will be for her.

"That tackle has been a part of everything I've accomplished up to now," Ozaki said. "It's my weapon, one that I believe in completely. I've always relied on it and won with it. I owe a debt of gratitude to the technique."

Japan's Paris-bound women

50kg: Yui SUSAKI (world champion)
53kg: Akari FUJINAMI (world champion)
57kg: Tsugumi SAKURAI (world champion)
62kg: Sakura MOTOKI (world silver medalist)
68kg: Nonoka OZAKI (world champion 65kg)
76kg: Yuka KAGAMI (world champion)

Eight Returning World Medalists Headline Loaded Zagreb Open Field

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Ozaki grabs Paris ticket at 68kg with thrilling win over Ishii