#Zagreb2019

Five "Must Watch" Matches from the Zagreb Open

Wednesday, February 13, 2019 - 14:23 By Eric Olanowski

Share this article

There were countless great matches that took place over the two days of wrestling at the first Greco-Roman Ranking Series event of the year, the Zageb Open, and we took the time to compile a list of the ten best matches with the most action and biggest storylines. 

82kg FINALS - Bulgaria's Daniel ALEKSANDROV erased a 7-0 opening-period deficit and scored eight unanswered points in the final period to upend returning world runner-up Emrah KUS (TUR), 8-7 in the 82kg Zagreb Open gold-medal bout. 

Aleksandrov trailed 7-0 after the first two minutes of action. He was dinged for passivity and thrown in the par terre position, where Kus grabbed four-points from a reverse lift and controlled the 5-0 advantage. Aleksandrov found himself down 7-0 after Kus grabbed another two for exposure, but got on the board with a step out point and trailed 7-1 heading into the second period. 

The Bulgarian exploded for seven unanswered points in the closing three minutes and hung on to the one-point lead, knocking off the noticeably deflated returning world runner-up, 8-7.

97kg FINALS - Ilia BORISOV (RUS) knocked off returning Budapest world runner-up Kiril MILOV (BUL) to win the 97kg Zagreb Open title. Borisov, the lone Russian finalist, tossed around the returning world finalist with ease and scored the 9-0 technical superiority victory in the opening period. 

Borisov grabbed the 1-0 lead after Milov was hit for passivity, then went to work in par terre, throwing Milov for four points and used a pair of gut wrenches to close out the 97kg gold-medal match with a 9-0 technical superiority victory. 

77kg QUARTERFINALS - Croatia's Bozo STARCEVIC stunned Olympic champion KIM Hyeonwoo (KOR), 8-2, in the quarterfinals, before ultimately winning his fifth consecutive Zagreb Open title. 

Starcevic avenged his 6-4 2016 Olympic bronze-medal bout loss to Kim, where the Korean wrestler claimed his second overall Olympic medal.

In their quarterfinals meeting on Saturday, Starcevic built a commanding 6-0 lead before Kim used an arm-spin to pick up his lone takedown, closing the deficit to 6-2. Starcevic somehow came away from Kim's arm-spin attempt with an exposure of his own and locked up his semifinals win with an 8-2 victory. 

130kg SEMIFINALS - Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) blasted U23 world silver medalist Osman YILDIRIM (TUR), 9-0, in the semifinals, picking up his second consecutive victory over a world medalist. Abdullaev's first win over a world medalist came in the quarterfinals when he knocked off 2017 world bronze medalist Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ (CHI), 2-2.

The Uzbek nearly finished the job off and captured the 130kg gold medal but lost to Norway's Oskar MARVIK in the finals, 1-0. 

87kg SEMIFINALS - This all-Hungary semifinals bout was one of the Zagreb Open's most important matches. The reason being, Viktor LORINCZ and Erik SZILVASSY are battling for Hungary's 2019 Astana World Championship spot.

In their Zagreb Open semifinal's meeting, Lorincz scored the critical 3-0 win over the U23 world champion and grabbed a leg up on his fellow Hungarian heading into the second Greco-Roman Ranking Series event, the Hungarian Grand Prix.  

Lorincz went on to beat Sweden's Kristoffer BERG, 3-1 in the 87kg finals.

#development

Jordan hosts coaching and referee courses

Tuesday, August 30, 2022 - 17:19 By United World Wrestling Press

Share this article

AMMAN, Jordan (August 29) -- Jordan Wrestling Federation hosted a series of education courses for their coaches and referees between August 5-17 in Amman. These courses were conducted in conjunction with United World Wrestling, Olympic Solidarity, and the Jordan Wrestling Federation.

The coaching courses were led by Ahmed KHEDHRI (TUN) while the referee course was led by UWW Referee Commission vice-president Kamel BOUAZIZ (TUN).

The first course conducted was the Introduction to Referee Course from August 5-7. Forty participants participated in the course which included six women referees. The participants learned the foundations of what it takes to be a successful referee.

The areas covered during the course included: the safety of the athletes, evaluation of holds, referee mechanics, positioning, and controlling the bout. The participants were active during the course and were able to practice their skills through practical evaluations.

JordanThe coach's course in Amman. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

“It was an excellent training course as all the participants are happy with it and wish to repeat such courses," Bouaziz said. "Members of the Jordan Federation and Olympic Committee expressed their thanks to the International Olympic Committee, UWW and the IF's development department for their great contribution and keenness to develop wrestling in the Kingdom of Jordan.”

Following the referee course, Khedri led 40 participants in the Introduction to Coaching and Safety Course (Level 1). The course included nine women [coaches and athletes] and 31 men [coaches, PE teachers, and athletes].

All participants learned the foundations of being a successful coach. They focused on the following areas: discovery games, introducing a new technique, coaching skills, giving feedback, risk management, age and developmental stage characteristics. During the course, the coaches actively practiced and developed their skills through practical evaluations.

“The atmosphere was distinguished, based mainly on teamwork, involvement and practice of all participants individually and by group system,” Khedhri said.

JordanA competition was held after the completition of both the courses. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

Following the completion of the two courses, the Jordan Wrestling Federation hosted a competition that allowed the referees and coaches to practice the skills that they learned. This competition had 80 boys and 16 girls participating which allowed 87 bouts to be wrestled.

After the competition, Khedhri conducted the Introduction to Practice Planning Course (Level 2). This course had 45 coaches participating [nine women and 36 men].

During this course, the participants learned the foundations of planning effective training sessions. They discussed the general framework for practice plans, risk management strategies in planning, creating activities during practice, video analysis, and effective time management. The participants were able to create practice plans that they could use in upcoming training.

“They were outstanding courses and a convincing performance from all the participants," Khedhri said. "The participants expressed the improvement of their knowledge and their desire to continue to participate in such courses and along with a commitment of the Jordan Federation, which expressed their complete satisfaction and thanks to Olympic Solidarity, the Jordanian Olympic Committee, and the UWW Development department, confirming their continued hard work for the benefit of Jordanian wrestling."