Larrouque, Vinesh Warm-Up for Tokyo with Poland Open titles

Friday, June 11, 2021 - 21:39 By Vinay Siwach

WARSAW, Poland (June 11) --- Wrestling at Tokyo Olympics may be 50 days away but Warsaw witnessed a mini-Olympics at the Poland Open as eight out of the 16 qualified women's wrestlers were in action at the 68kg on Friday.

The final ranking series event saw wrestlers eyeing to earn the points to improve their seeds for the Tokyo Games. But with 50 percent wrestling, there was no change in the seeding at the end.

Koumba LARROUQUE (FRA) claimed the gold medal at 68kg with a defensive masterclass throughout the day but her 16 points were not enough to earn her a place in the top four.

Wrestling second seeded Tokyo Olympian Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR), the French was skeptical of injuring her heavily padded knee.

“The opponents are very strong here and I did not want to take any chance,” Larrouque said.

All her bouts were against qualified wrestlers and after shutting off Anna SCHELL (GER) 3-1, she defeated Danielle LAPPAGE (CAN) 4-0 in the quarterfinals. Against Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ), she looked a lot uncomfortable but managed to keep her away with a 3-1 win.

In the final, while on the clock in the first period, she used Oborududu’s over hook to pick up a pair of exposure points, then scored a stepout in the second to secure her first Ranking Series title, 3-0.

That’s three consecutive gold medals heading into the Tokyo Olympic Games for the two-time world medalist. She’s reached the top of the podium at the European Championships, European Olympic Qualifier and the Poland Open.

If Larrouque's defensive display was epic, Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) at 57kg showed offense was her style as she won the gold medal in Warsaw. Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) forfeited her final against the Nigerian.

But it was the morning session where Adekuoroye was absolutely phenomenal, taking out Rio Olympic champ Helen MAROULIS (USA) and silver medalist Valeria KOBLOVA ZHOLOBOVA (RUS) with zero points scored on her.

“I had been waiting to wrestle Helen and I was planning a lot for this,” Adekuoroye said.

In a dash of explosive power, she scored two four-point throws and two takedowns combined with a point for Helen's passivity to win the bout 13-0.

She had lost to the American twice before, 6-6 in 2015 and 4-1 in 2018, but on Thursday, Helen had no answer to her attacks.

Vinesh Phogat Poland

At 53kg, Vinesh PHOGAT (IND) passed Mayu MUKAIDA (JPN) and Yong Mi PAK (PRK) for the top seed in Tokyo after winning her fourth consecutive Ranking Series title. The world bronze medalist collected 14 points to move up to the first place.

Vinesh quickly dialed in and found her distance in the gold medal match against Khrystyna BEREZA (UKR). She struck twice on open double legs and commanded the comfortable 4-0 opening-period lead. In the closing frame, she used a counter-offensive quarter nelson to expose Bereza before adding one last takedown for good measures for the 8-0 win.

The win takes her to 69 points in the seeding while Pak will be at 60. Mukaida will be at third with 55 points. Luisa Elizabeth VALVERDE MELENDRES (ECU) will claim the fourth spot with 50 points.

The home country also had a lot to cheer about as Anhelina LYSAK (POL) gave it a gold medal after whipping over Yuliia LISOVSKA (UKR) in the finals for the fall. Lysak’s Ukrainian opponent shot a head outside single when she was put on the activity clock.

Anhelina LYSAK Poland Open

Lysak got Lisovska's head to put her down on the mat. She held on to that until the pin was called in a minute and 51 seconds.

The Pole was in destructive mood on Thursday as she gave up only one point in the four matches she wrestled.

Ukraine did manage to take the gold medal from Warsaw as Alla BELINSKA (UKR) won all her four bouts in the nelson bracket to claim the gold at 72kg.

Throughout the day, the Ukrainian beat Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ) 6-5, Catalina AXENTE (ROU) via fall, Evgeniia ZAKHARCHENKO (RUS) via fall and Buse TOSUN (TUR) 5-4.

RESULTS

53kg
GOLD - Vinesh VINESH (IND) df. Khrystyna BEREZA (UKR), 8-0
BRONZE - Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL) df. Milana DADASHEVA (RUS), via cautions
BRONZE - Amy Ann FEARNSIDE (USA) df. Ekaterina POLESHCHUK (RUS), 2-1

57kg
GOLD - Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) df. Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR), via forfeit
BRONZE - Jowita WRZESIEN (POL) df Magdalena GLODEK (POL), 8-0
BRONZE - Tetyana KIT (UKR) df. Valeria KOBLOVA ZHOLOBOVA (RUS), 8-7

59kg
GOLD - Anhelina LYSAK (POL) df. Yuliia LISOVSKA (UKR), via fall
BRONZE - Diana KAYUMOVA (KAZ) df. Elif YANIK (TUR), 14-4

68kg
GOLD - Koumba LARROQUE (FRA) df. Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR), 3-0
BRONZE - Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ) df. Danielle LAPPAGE (CAN), 3-1
BRONZE - Forrest MOLINARI (USA) df. Khanum VELIEVA (RUS), via fall

72kg
GOLD – Alla BELINSKA (UKR) (4-0)
SILVER - Buse TOSUN (TUR) (3-1)
BRONZE - Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ) (2-2)

#WrestleZagreb

Saravi returns to final; Ganizade, Ghanem rematch for 72kg gold

Friday, September 19, 2025 - 16:52 By Ken Marantz

ZAGREB, Croatia (September 19) -- Paris Olympic champion Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) safely negotiated the minefield that was the draw of the stacked 97kg division, advancing to the final to earn a shot at capturing a second world title.

Saravi defeated Kiryl MASKEVICH (UWW) 3-1 in the semifinals Friday at the World Championships in Zagreb, putting him in Saturday's gold-medal match against Artur SARGSIAN (UWW) as the finals were set in three Greco weight classes.

In other finals, Aidos SULTANGALI (KAZ) and Alisher GANIEV (UZB) will battle it out at 60kg, while the 72kg match will be a rematch of last year's final between defending champion Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE) and Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA).

Saravi, who avoided the upset bug that hit the legendary Artur ALEKSANYAN (AZE) and 2023 world champion Gabriel ROSILLO (CUB) earlier in the day, executed a gut wrench from par terre against Maskevich, then hardly budged when he was put on the bottom in the second period.

The victory gives Saravi, who won his third straight Asian title and fourth overall this year, a shot at regaining the world title he won in 2021. He also has an Olympic bronze and world silver and bronze medals to his credit.

Sargsian, a 2021 bronze medalist, earned his place in the final with a 1-1 victory over Murad AHMADIYEV (AZE), prevailing on the criteria of receiving the first of two passivity points.

Following an opening victory by technical superiority, it was Sargsian's third straight victory by a 1-1 scoreline, an aspect that is totally irrelevant to him.

"I don’t care about the score, the important thing is that they raised my hand," Sargsian said. "All my life I tried to win ahead of time, to get 8-0 in every match -- and for what? It didn’t lead to anything good. I’m 27 years old and I still have only world championship medal. So for me, three times 1-1 is the same as three times 8-0."

For Sargsian, the final gives him a chance to avenge a loss to Saravi from the 2021 World Championships, when the Iranian defeated him 6-4 in the first round in Oslo.

"I’m very glad that tomorrow I’ll finally have my long-awaited rematch with Saravi," Sargsian said. "It adds extra excitement that now he is not only a world champion, but also an Olympic champion."

At 60kg, Asian silver medalist Ganiev will get a chance to become just the second Uzbekistan wrestler to win a world Greco title after holding on to win a 5-5 thriller
over European silver medalist Georgij TIBILOV (SRB).

Ganiev was on top in par terre, trailing on criteria because he received the second passivity point, when he lifted Tibilov and executed a nifty cartwheel for a 4-pointer and a 5-4 lead.

But Tibilov, a world bronze medalist at 63kg in 2023, was not going down easily, and he pressured Ganiev at the edge for a takedown, then added a second one. But
that was all he could get, and Ganiev won on big-point criteria.

The victory avenged a 6-4 loss to Tibilov in the final of the Zagreb Open in the same arena back in February.

Uzbekistan's lone title in Greco came back in 2001, when Dilshod ARIPOV (UZB) won the 58kg gold in Patras, Greece.

Sultangali, who has world bronze medals from 2018 and 2022, will get a shot at his first gold after putting on a late surge and defeating Amiran SHAVADZE (GEO)
10-2 in the other semifinal.

Sultangali trailed 2-1 when he bulled Shavadze over for a 4-point takedown with :30 left, then added a gut wrench. An unsuccessful challenge made it 8-2 before Shavadze gave up the fight and allowed a stepout with fleeing penalty point with :03 left.

Kazakhstan has won five Greco world golds through three wrestlers, but hasn't had put one on the top of the medal podium since 1999, when Mkhtar MANUKYAN
(KAZ) won the second of his back-to-back titles at 63kg in Athens.

At 72kg, a second potential Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan match-up failed to come to fruition when both countries' wrestlers lost in the semifinals. Instead, it will be
Ganizade and Ghanem going at it for the second consecutive year.

Ganizade scored all of his points in the first period in a 5-0 victory over Asian silver medalist Abdullo ALIEV (UZB). He slipped behind for a takedown, then added a gut wrench before getting the lone passivity point to cap the first period.

In the other semifinal, Ghanem was leading a close match 3-2 as it was winding down when he countered Merey MAULITKANOV (KAZ) for 4-point throw.

Maulitkanov just remained lying on the mat, officially giving Ghanem a victory by fall in 5:49.

RESULTS

Greco-Roman

60kg (25 entries)
SF 1: Aidos SULTANGALI (KAZ) df. Amiran SHAVADZE (GEO) by TF, 10-2, 5:57
SF 2: Alisher GANIEV (UZB) df. Georgij TIBILOV (SRB), 5-5

72kg (30 entries)
SF 1: Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE) df. Abdullo ALIEV (UZB), 5-0
SF 2: Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA) df. Merey MAULITKANOV (KAZ) by Fall, 5:49 (7-2)

97kg (29 entries)
SF 1: Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) df. Kiryl MASKEVICH (UWW), 3-1
SF 2: Artur SARGSIAN (UWW) df. Murad AHMADIYEV (AZE), 1-1

Larrouque, Vinesh Warm-Up for Tokyo with Poland Open titles

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Saravi returns to final; Ganizade, Ghanem rematch for 72kg gold