Malmgren warms up for senior Euros with U23 gold

Thursday, March 16, 2023 - 15:00 By Vinay Siwach

BUCHAREST, Romania (March 16) -- Jonna MALMGREN (SWE) could not have asked for a better warm-up for the European Championships where she will enter as the defending champion at 53kg.

In a battle of two European champions, Malmgren defeated Andreea ANA (ROU) at 55kg to win her first U23 European title in Bucharest, Romania.

Malmgren, a regular at 53kg, scripted a thrilling 5-4 win over home wrestler Ana in the final, a month before the European Championships which begin in Zagreb, Croatia on April 17.

Malmgren won the 53kg gold medal while Ana won the 55kg title in the Budapest edition of the European Championships last year.

With the gold in Bucharest on Thursday, Malmgren added a U23 European title to her resume which already boasts of U17 and senior titles along with U20 world and Youth Olympic Games gold medals.

Malmgren, who lost in the quarterfinals of the Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series last month, entered the tournament as the favorite to win at 55kg. She began in a similar fashion, winning her two bouts on Wednesday via fall. From the other side of the bracket, Ana was equally dominant with two wins via technical superiorities.

In the final, Malmgren had to script a comeback after Ana took a 4-2 lead. Malmgren was called passive but she scored a takedown in the final second of the activity period to lead 2-0 till the break. Ana returned the favor with a nice slideby to make it 2-2 and added another to make it 4-2 with a single-leg sweep.

Malmgren did not panic despite trailing and hit a high double-leg which Ana escaped but Malmgren never let go of her one leg and scored a takedown to take a 4-4 criteria lead. Ana managed to disposition Malmgren in the final few seconds and hit an underhook but Malmgren never tilted over 90 degrees to be considered in danger position.

Romania did challenge the call but lost as Malmgren was declared a 5-4 winner.

Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR) celebrates after winning the 59kg gold medal. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Ukraine wins 2 golds

Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR) and Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) won two of the five gold medals that were on offer on Thursday as Ukraine took lead in the team race with five more gold medals to be decided.

Wrestling at 59kg, Vynnyk is now a U23 European champion along with her U17 and U20 continental titles. After outscoring her opponents 34-2 in three bouts on Wednesday, Vynnyk wrestled Amel REBIHA (FRA) in the final and pinned her first period to claim the gold.

Vynnyk began with a single leg and scored a takedown to lead 2-0 before hitting a powerful double leg. She used an armbar to secure the fall just before the break.

Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) after securing the fall over Kamila GAUCAITE (LTU). (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Alpyeyeva won the 76kg gold with a fall over Kamila GAUCAITE (LTU) who finished with a silver medal for the second year in a row.

The 2021 U23 world champion showed a gulf in the class at the competition as none of her opponents were able to score a point on her.

Gaucaite too was never close to getting a point on Alpyeyeva who scored using leg attacks throughout the final. Gaucaite, trailing 4-0, tried hitting a double leg on Alpyeyeva who countered by throwing her sideways and securing the fall four seconds before the break.

Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA) defended her 50kg gold medal at U23 European Championships. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Luttenauer repeats

Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA) defended her 50kg title in Bucharest by beating Emanuela LIUZZI (ITA), 5-4 in a heated gold medal bout.

With victories over Emine OSMAN (BUL) in the opening bout, Amanda TOMCZYK (POL) in the quarterfinals and Zehra DEMIRHAN (TUR) in the semifinal, Luttenauer was expected to win the gold.

However, Liuzzi too had a good run to the final with wins over Khrystyna BASYCH (SVK), Ana Maria PIRVU (ROU) and Gabija DILYTE (LTU).

And despite Lutteauer's 5-0 lead in the gold medal bout, Liuzzi bounced back with a snap down for two points and later with an inside trip for another takedown.

Luttenauer was smart enough to avoid a fall on her back and gave up only two points instead of a possible four. Liuzzi failed to score a point she needed to win in the remaining 30 seconds as the French wrestler became a two-time U23 European champion.

The fifth gold of the night went to U23 world champion Nesrin BAS (TUR) who defeated Zsuzsanna MOLNAR (SVK), 4-0, in the gold medal bout.

Both wrestlers were slow to start off but Bas created more attacks than Molnar who was called passive two minutes into the final. She tried a cradle in the activity time but failed to finish it as Bas circled around and got a takedown along with the passivity point.

Molnar was once again warned for passivity in the second period and Bas was happy to take one more point after the period finished.

Bas easily kept Molnar at bay for the remaining time and captured the gold medal, her first at U23 European Championships.

RESULTS

50kg
GOLD: Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA) df. Emanuela LIUZZI (ITA), 5-4

BRONZE: Ana PIRVU (ROU) df. Gabija DILYTE (LTU), via fall
BRONZE: Zehra DEMIRHAN (TUR) df. Amanda TOMCZYK (POL), 6-1

55kg
GOLD: Jonna MALMGREN (SWE) df. Andreea ANA (ROU), 5-4

BRONZE: Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE) df. Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA), 14-7
BRONZE: Mariia VYNNYK (UKR) df. Immacolata DANISE (ITA), 10-0

59kg
GOLD: Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR) df. Amel REBIHA (FRA), via fall

BRONZE: Ebru DAGBASI (TUR) df. Othelie HOEIE (NOR), 4-1
BRONZE: Ana PUIU (ROU) df. Fatme SHABAN (BUL), 17-10

68kg
GOLD: Nesrin BAS (TUR) df. Zsuzsanna MOLNAR (SVK), 4-0

BRONZE: Irina RINGACI (MDA) df. Laura GODINO (ITA), 10-0
BRONZE: Karolina POK (HUN) df. Nigar MIRZAZADA (AZE), 10-2

76kg
GOLD: Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) df. Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU), via fall

BRONZE: Fanni NAGY NAD (SRB) df. Marion BYE (NOR), 4-3
BRONZE: Mehtap GULTEKIN (TUR) df. Elena MARGAS (ROU), 10-2

#WrestleAlexandria

Mirzazadeh ready for Kayaalp test in Alexandria

Monday, February 20, 2023 - 12:22 By Vinay Siwach

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (February 17) -- Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) has watched his World Championships final against Riza KAYAALP (TUR) numerous times in the last five months to understand what he could have done differently to change the result.

The 1-1 victory for Kayaalp gave the Turkish legend his fifth world title, denying Mirzazadeh his first. But there were moments in the final that Mirzazadeh rues, a few that proved to be detrimental.

"I watched that final again," Mirzazadeh said. "There were some problems. I know that."

But not long after that bout, Mirzazadeh will get a chance to reverse the results albeit not in a World Championships. The two wrestlers head to the historic city of Alexandria, Egypt for the second Ranking Series event from February 23 to 26.

The two are among the 463 wrestlers who will compete at the Ibrahim Moustafa tournament and try to win the 1500 Swiss Francs on offer for the gold medal.

Starting this year, every Ranking Series will offer prize money -- 1500 Swiss Francs for gold, 750 Swiss Francs for silver and 500 Swiss Francs each for the bronze medalists. The tournaments will also allow two-kilogram weight tolerance.

Iran is bringing only four wrestlers but all are among the best in their weight classes. Mirzazadeh will be at 130kg while Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) will wrestle at 97kg. Olympic champion Mohammaedreza GERAEI (IRI) is registered at 72kg while Meysam DALKHANI (IRI) is wrestling at 63kg.

Mirzazadeh, a native of Khozestan, is visibly smaller than Kayaalp which has hampered his quest to beat the latter. But over time, the Iranian believes that he has improved his strength and size which can help him beat Kayaalp in near future.

"The Turkish wrestler is experienced," Mirzazadeh said. "But I will use my power as I am younger."

In Belgrade, late in the final, Mirzazadeh managed to put Kayaapl in a tricky position and could have scored a go behind or a stepout. However, it was the strength of Kayaalp that prevented that from happening.

Another huge shortcoming for Mirzazadeh is his failure to score from par terre against Kayaalp. It is one of the reasons that despite getting the advantage for the third passivity, he asked Kayaalp to resume in standing and not par terre in the Belgrade bout.

"In the previous bouts, I was underweight," he said. "But now I have increased my weight and strength to a great extent, and I will definitely look more powerful in my next match."

The two have met twice before in their careers and a positive, if any, for Mirzazadeh is the improvement in his defense. At the Tokyo Olympics, Kayaalp managed to turn Mirzazadeh from par terre while the same did not happen at the Belgrade World Championships.

With the growing years, it may well be true that Mirzazadeh's physical strength increased while Kayaalp's conditioning takes a hit with age.

Despite all this, Kayaalp, who has been busy with relief work after the February 6 earthquakes in Turkiye and Syria, will still be the favorite to win the gold at 130kg.

The participation in relief work in the Hatay province of Turkiye may affect his preparation for his first tournament of the year, but with tons of experience on his side and the European Championships scheduled in two months, Kayaalp will still be a force to reckon with.

On the other hand, this well may be the best chance for Mirzazadeh to get a win over Kayaalp.

"We have the plans," the 25-year-old said. "We have been working in the off-season with my coach Sina TALEBVAND and now at the national camp in Tehran."

Irrespective of the result of this potential bout on February 23, the two wrestlers will get a dress rehearsal for their respective continental championships.

Kayaalp will have Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO), Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO), Jello KRAHMER (GER) and Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU) in the field while Mirzazadeh will likely face Lingzhe MENG (CHN), NAVEEN (IND), Anton SAVENKO (KAZ), Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ) and Roman KIM (KGZ).

Kayaalp will be looking to extend his record title run at European Championships in April in Croatia as last year he won his 11th continental title.

But Mirzazadeh is waiting for a showdown at the World Championships, incidentally, which will be held in Stark Arena, Belgrade like last year.

"I will do my best to improve in terms of physical and technical preparation," he said. "My goal is to reach my best state and to be able to win the gold medal in the 2023 World Championship and after that in the 2024 Olympics."

Malmgren warms up for senior Euros with U23 gold

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Mirzazadeh ready for Kayaalp test in Alexandria