#WrestleBudapest

Live Blog: #WrestleBudapest European Championships Day 1

By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (March 28) -- The European Championships return to the historic city of Budapest, Hungary and we kick off the tournament with freestyle wrestling.

The five weight classes that will be in action Monday are 57kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg, and 97kg and some of the big names in wrestling are competing including some Tokyo Olympics and Oslo World Championships medalists.

MATCH ORDER | WATCH LIVE

2:00: Azerbaijan with a successful morning session. They get all five wrestlers into the semifinals. Huge evening session coming up

1:42: Zurabi IAKOBASHVILI (GEO) moves into the 70kg semifinal. A win by technical superiority for him over Ramazan RAMAZANOV (BUL) in the quarterfinal 

1:37: Vladislav BAITSAEV (HUN) scores six points in the second period to Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD)'s two and wins the 97kg quarterfinal 6-4.

1:32: Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD) and Vladislav BAITSAEV (HUN) are wrestling in the other 97kg quarterfinal. Nurov leads Baitsaev 2-0 at the break 

1:30 Odikadze made the lead 8-6 but cannot finish the bout. He goes down 14-7 against Magomedov in the 97kg quarterfinals. Big result for the former junior world silver medalist.

1:24: Elizbar ODIKADZE (GEO) wrestling Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE) in the 97kg quarterfinal. The Azerbaijan wrestler has scored three takedowns to take a 6-0 lead. Odikadze struggling to get going here

1:14: Sacultan and Lomtadze were in a close match over on Mat C but the Moldovan just snatched 11 consecutive points to move into the semifinals, 13-5. He'll wrestle two-time Olympic medalist Haji Aliyev for a spot in the 65kg finals.

1:11: Aliyev picked up a 12-6 quarterfinals win over Munir Recep AKTAS (TUR) and will wrestle the winner of Maxim SACULTAN (MDA) and  Beka LOMTADZE (GEO) for a spot in tonight's finals.

12:52: The quarterfinals on day one of the European Championships are beginning now. Haji ALIYEV (AZE), Elizbar ODIKADZE (GEO) and other stars will wrestle now

12:45: Ziraddin BAYRAMOV (AZE) was thrown for four points by Daniel ANTAL (HUN) and trailed by 6-4 at the break but the U23 European champion comes back to win 10-6 

12:20: Vladislav BAITSAEV (HUN) with a takedown and one stepout point to beat Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK) 3-1 at 97kg. He will wrestle Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD) in the quarterfinals

12:17: U23 world champion Aliabbas RZAZADE (AZE) has three takedowns in a 7-0 win over Levan METREVELI VARTANOV (ESP) in the opening round of 57kg

12:10: Gevorg TADEVOSYAN (ARM) scores a takedown with five seconds remaining to win 5-4 against Stevan MICIC (SRB). The Serbian team challenged the call as Micic had locked Tadevosyan's knee from inside but the jury thinks the Armenian had full control. He wins 6-4 

12:03: Former 61kg world champion Beka LOMTADZE (GEO) begins his tournament with a 10-0 win Stefan COMAN (ROU) at 65kg. 

12:00: Tokyo Olympian Stevan MICIC (SRB) is up at 65kg for the European Championships. He is a two-time European bronze medalist. He leads 2-1 at the break. But both Gevorg TADEVOSYAN (ARM) and Micic trade takedown and the Serbian leads 4-3 with a minute remaining.

11:48:  Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL) will make his debut up at 97kg against  Alejandro CANADA PANCORBO (ESP) (Mat A / Bout 6). The Polish wrestler was a European runner-up at 92kg in 2019.

11:45: Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) gets the first win of the day. He beats local wrestler Csaba VIDA (HUN) in a thrilling 9-8 bout. 

11:30: The three mats have wrestlers ready for their bouts. The officials are ready and so are the fans. Wrestling begins now

11:00: Welcome to the European Championships. The first-ever edition of the tournament was held 111 years ago in the same city. Wrestling begins in 30 minutes.

#WrestleAmman

U17 Worlds: India claims four WW golds after unbeaten run

By Vinay Siwach

AMMAN, Jordan (August 22) -- China's Na HU (CHN) stole a match in the dying seconds but it was India that stole the show at the U17 World Championships in Amman on Thursday. India had four wrestlers in the final in Women's Wrestling and all four won gold medals.

Last year, India had won only one gold, coming at 61kg. But with four golds and five more weight classes remaining, the country is set to register its best at the U17 World Championships.

Hu was the other champion of the day at 49kg, a weight class in which India had no participation as it sent only nine wrestlers in Women's Wrestling to the U17 Asian Championships in June.

NEHA (IND)NEHA (IND) scores a takedown against So TSUTSUI (JPN) during the 57kg final at the U17 World Championships in Amman. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Leading the Indian team was returning bronze medalist NEHA (IND) at 57kg. A day before heading to Amman, Neha met VINESH (IND) who had returned from the Paris Olympics. Vinesh had become the first wrestler to beat Yui SUSAKI (JPN) internationally and reach the final at 50kg. She was later disqualified for failing her weigh-in on the second day.

Hailing from the same village -- Balali in Haryana -- as Vinesh, Neha did not take long to announce herself, winning the gold medal by beating So TSUTSUI (JPN) in a show of brute power. In her earlier bouts on Wednesday, Neha won one via fall, one via technical superiority and the semifinal 8-4.

The 16-year-old will have to quickly refocus as she is scheduled to compete at her first U20 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain from September 2.

Mansi LATHER (IND)Mansi LATHER (IND) works for the pin against Hanna PIRSKAYA (AIN) during the 73kg final at the U17 World Championships in Amman. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

At 73kg, Mansi LATHER (IND) capped off her dominant run with a gold medal by pinning Hanna PIRSKAYA (AIN) in the final. This was her third fall in four bouts while one was a 6-0 win over returning champion Piper FOWLER (USA).

Lather built a 3-0 lead over Pirskaya at the break and continued her attacks in the second period. She had Pirskaya's back on the mat after a takedown and secured the fall with 1:23 remaining in the four-minute bout. The gold is an addition to her gold at the U17 Asian Championships in 69kg in June.

PULKIT (IND)PULKIT (IND) and Daria FROLOVA (AIN) in a scramble during the 65kg final at the U17 World Championships in Amman. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

PULKIT (IND) did not dominate her final but did enough to beat Daria FROLOVA (AIN), 6-3, and win the gold medal at 65kg. She got the first points on board when Frolova tried to score a pushout but Pulkit defended and pushed Frolova out. Frolova fell with Pulkit scoring a takedown to take a 2-0 lead. It became 3-0 when Frolova was called passive.

A missed leg-attack from Frolova gave another takedown to Pulkit who extended her lead to 5-0. Frolova cut the lead to 5-3 when she scored a takedown and Pulkit was cautioned. The next attempt gave her hope but Pulkit defended the attack and came out unscathed. A lost challenge added one point to Pulkit's score.

Aditi KUMARI (IND)Aditi KUMARI (IND) celebrates after winning the 43kg gold medal at the U17 World Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Aditi KUMARI (IND) was the fourth gold medalist for India as she defeated Maria GKIKA (GRE) 7-0 in the 43kg final. Gkika was hoping to become Greece's first world champion in Women's Wrestling in 22 years.

Kumari got the first point when Gkika was called passive before she added a takedown just before the break to lead 3-0. She added two gut wrenches before the clock expired and raced to a 7-0 lead that she maintained till the end of the match.

Ha, the lone Chinese wrestler in the final, had to bring out a clutch double-leg to score two points and beat Utaha YUI (JPN) 4-3 in the 49kg final and become the first wrestler from China to win gold at U17 Worlds in Women's Wrestling after five years.

Yui led 3-0 at the break but Ha scored a takedown to cut it to 3-2 in the second period. As Yui tried holding on to that lead, Ha made continuous attempts to break the defense. She finally succeeded in the final 10 seconds, using a double-leg attack, completing the takedown with head-outside for two points.

Yuu KATSUME (JPN)Yuu KATSUME (JPN) defeated Morgan TURNER (USA) in the 46kg semifinal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostandin Andonov)

India eyes team title

With four golds and two more finalists on Friday, India will be favorites to win the Women's Wrestling team title in Amman. This would be the first time it will accomplish the feat after falling short for the last five years.

India has 100 points from the gold medal while Japan, in second spot, has 56 points. Japan has three finalists on Friday and is still looking for its first gold medal. Japan hopes that one of Yuu KATSUME (JPN), Nana KOZUKA (JPN) and Sae NOGUCHI (JPN) end the drought.

Katsume entered the 46kg final by beating returning champion Morgan TURNER (USA) 13-2 in the semifinal. She will take on Shrutika PATIL (IND) for gold after Patil beat Medina KUANYSHBEK (KAZ) in the other semifinals.

Kozuka was also dominant, winning her 53kg semifinal via fall over Lisette BOETTKER (EST) and will take on Kaura COLES (CAN) after she became the first Canadian to reach the U17 Worlds final in Women's Wrestling. Coles beat Isabella GONZALES (USA), 8-3.

Noguchi will look to stop the United States from having a U17 world champion as she faces Taina FERNANDEZ (USA) in the 61kg final. Noguchi beat Hiunai HURBANOVA (AZE) 5-0 while Fernandez pinned Zhaidar MUKAT (KAZ) in the semifinals.

At 69kg, Oleksandra RYBAK (UKR) will face KAJAL (IND) after she stunned Ilayda CIN (TUR) with a fall. Cin was leading 4-0 when Rybak rolled over and pinned her. Kajal defeated Rahma BEDIWY (EGY), 4-3, in a close semifinal.

Ukraine's second finalist was Kamila KUCHMA (UKR) who won her semifinal at 40kg against Nazrin AHMADLI (AZE) 5-0. She will take on Aleksandra FEDOROVA (AIN) who defeated Raj BALA (IND) 4-3, thanks to a challenge to give her the win instead of Bala, who was winning 3-2 before the challenge.

https://photo.uww.org/Wrestling/2024/U17-World-Championships/Womens-Wrestling

RESULTS

43kg
GOLD: Aditi KUMARI (IND) df. Maria GKIKA (GRE), 7-0 

BRONZE: Aleksandra BEREZOVSKAIA (AIN) df. Mareim ABDELAAL (EGY), 7-0
BRONZE: Gabriela PALACIOS (MEX) df. Xin HUANG (CHN), 6-4

49kg
GOLD: Na HU (CHN) df. Utaha YUI (JPN), 4-3

BRONZE: Kseniya KOSTSENICH (AIN) df. Dounia ZITOUNI (ALG), via fall
BRONZE: Polina BOCHKAREVA (AIN) df. Esra MAMMADLI (AZE), 9-0

57kg
GOLD: NEHA (IND) df. So TSUTSUI (JPN), 10-0

BRONZE: Anna STRATAN (KAZ) df. Mairi MANI (GRE), 5-1
BRONZE: Palina BRAHINETS (AIN) df. Barbara BAGER (HUN), 7-3

65kg
GOLD: PULKIT (IND) df. Daria FROLOVA (AIN), 6-3

BRONZE: Uldana TILEUKHAN (KAZ) df. Anastasiya KOMANAVA (AIN), via fall (13-2)
BRONZE: Maram ALY (EGY) df. Ling CAI (CHN), via fall (11-0)

73kg
GOLD: Mansi LATHER (IND) df. Hanna PIRSKAYA (AIN), via fall

BRONZE: Lotta ENGLICH (GER) df. Khrystyna DEMCHUK (UKR), via fall (5-2)
BRONZE: Diana TITOVA (AIN) df. Makia KIMURA (JPN), 6-0

Women's Wrestling Semifinals

40kg
GOLD: Kamila KUCHMA (UKR) vs. Aleksandra FEDOROVA (AIN)

SF 1: Aleksandra FEDOROVA (AIN) df. Raj BALA (IND), 4-3
SF 2: Kamila KUCHMA (UKR) df. Nazrin AHMADLI (AZE), 5-0

46kg
GOLD: Shrutika PATIL (IND) vs. Yuu KATSUME (JPN)

SF 1: Yuu KATSUME (JPN) df. Morgan TURNER (USA), 13-2
SF 2: Shrutika PATIL (IND) df. Medina KUANYSHBEK (KAZ), 3-1

53kg
GOLD: Nana KOZUKA (JPN) vs. Kaura COLES (CAN)

SF 1: Kaura COLES (CAN) df. Isabella GONZALES (USA), 8-3
SF 2: Nana KOZUKA (JPN) df. Lisette BOETTKER (EST), via fall (10-0)

61kg
GOLD: Taina FERNANDEZ (USA) vs. Sae NOGUCHI (JPN)

SF 1: Sae NOGUCHI (JPN) df. Hiunai HURBANOVA (AZE), 5-0
SF 2: Taina FERNANDEZ (USA) df. Zhaidar MUKAT (KAZ), via fall (6-0)

69kg
GOLD: Oleksandra RYBAK (UKR) vs. KAJAL (IND) 

SF 1: KAJAL (IND) df. Rahma BEDIWY (EGY), 4-3
SF 2: Oleksandra RYBAK (UKR) df. Ilayda CIN (TUR), via fall (2-4)