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

#WrestleParis

Paris 2024 Wrestling Day 3 Preview: GR 67kg and 87kg; WW 53kg

Wednesday, July 24, 2024 - 09:49 By Eric Olanowski

PARIS, France (July 24) --- Two-thirds of the returning Greco-Roman Olympic champions -- Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) and Luis ORTA (CUB) -- along with the wrestler holding the world's longest win streak among active wrestlers, will compete on the third day in Paris 2024 when GR 67kg and 87kg and WW 53kg takes center stage at Champ de Mars Arena.

Beleniuk is a two-time Olympic medalist, having won gold in Tokyo and silver in Rio. The 33-year-old is on a mission to make history in Paris and become Ukraine's first-ever two-time Olympic champ. Before Beleniuk's win at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Ukraine was 0-3 in Olympic finals and were still searching for someone to accompany the 1996 Atlanta Games 90kg gold medalist Vyatsheslav OLEYNIK (UKR) in the history books.

PARIS 2024 SCHEDULE | PARIS 2024 NEWS

Orta moved up from his Tokyo Olympic weight of 60kg to 67kg and is on a quest to join Filiberto ASCUY and Mijain LOPEZ as Cuba's only multiple-time Olympic champs.

In women's wrestling, Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) will look to extend her world-best 130-match win streak against the 53kg field.

Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) won the gold medal at 87kg in Tokyo. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Martin Gabor)

GR 87kg: Beleniuk up against packed field

It's not often that the reigning Olympic champion heads into a competition as an underdog, but that's the case when five world champs are in one bracket. Besides Ukraine's reigning Olympic champion Beleniuk, the other world title holders in 87kg include David LOSONCZI (HUN), Ali CENGIZ (TUR), Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) and Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE).

Beleniuk will have to overcome dark horses Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB), Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) and Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN) to become Ukraine's first-ever two-time Olympic gold medalist.

Cengiz won the outright world title in Belgrade, beating Beleniuk and Losonczi. However, he's since taken a step back to reality, going 5-3 in his last two competitions. Out of the three losses he's taken this season, two came against wrestlers he could face in Paris -- Komarov and Losonczi.

Cengiz lost to Komarov in the European finals before falling to Losonczi at the Hungarian Ranking Series event. Losonczi, the other half of the 2023 87kg world champions, followed a similar path as Cengiz during the first few months of the 2024 season.

After ending 2023 on a 14-match win streak, Losonczi lost his first match of the season to Alan OSTAEV (AIN) at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series event. The 23-year-old Hungarian rebounded at the Hungarian Ranking Series event, beating Olympians Cengiz and Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ) before dropping out his of his finals match against Semen NOVIKOV (BUL).

Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) will be hoping to add a second Olympic medal to his resume. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Huseynov, a world champion in 2021 and '23, saved Azerbaijan's Paris hopes at the last moment, replacing No. 6 Islam ABBASOV (AZE) at 87kg for the final Olympic Qualifier.

The Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist at 77kg, bumped up to 82kg, where he remained for the last three seasons, winning two world titles and a European gold. But at 36, Huseynov will return to Azerbaijan's lineup for one final run at an Olympic title.

With Huseynov being new to the category, he remains the question mark of the weight. Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI) and Gobadze have wrestled the Azeri before with Huseynov beating Mohamadipiani in last year's World Championships final and he defeated Gobadze to qualify Azerbaijan for Paris 2024.

Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) will be one of the darkhorses at 87kg in Paris. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Gobadze, the 2019 world champion, was a late addition to the entry list. He missed out on punching Georgia's ticket through the qualification competitions but earned an allocation after the Neutral Athletes dropped out. Gobadze has the talent to beat anyone in the world. In the last few years, since leaping 82kg to 87kg, the Georgian has beaten many top-tier guys who will also be at the Games. His previous wins include Cengiz and Bisultanov. On the other hand, he recently lost to Huseynov and Cengiz.

Komarov won the European Championships this year with wins over Beleniuk, Abbasov and Cengiz. He will be the biggest threat to make a run for the gold medal.

GR 67kg: New weight, old habits for Orta

Luis Orta has been a man on a mission since his disappointing seventh-place finish at the 2022 World Championships. He's turned his fortunes around, positioning himself to become Cuba's third-ever two-time Olympic champ. Since that blunder in Belgrade, Orta has gone 29-2, winning gold medals at the World Championships, Pan-Am Championships, Pan-Am Games, Central American and Caribbean Games and Hungarian Ranking Series. More importantly, his last two losses came at the hands of HUSIYUETU (CHN), who missed out on making the Olympic Games.

Of the 16 wrestlers in the field, Orta has at least one win over half of the entries. He's already beaten Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE), Andres MONTANO (ECU), Amantur ISMAILOV (KGZ), Mate NEMES (SRB), Souleymen NASR (TUN), Nestor ALMANZA (CHI), Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) and Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI).

Orta has already bested Nemes and Jafarov, his most credentialed challengers. He defeated Jafarov twice last season and beat 2022 world champion Nemes in the quarterfinal of the 2023 World Championships.

Parviz NASIBOV (UKR) is the returning silver medalist at 67kg.(Photo: United World Wrestling / Dogukan Karadag)

He is yet to face two major threats: Olympic medalists Parviz NASIBOV (UKR) and Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY). After seeing what the Ukrainian has been able to do over the last few years, Orta will be more threatened by Nasibov than Elsayed.

Nasibov, the Tokyo runner-up, has victories over Olympian Jafarov, Nemes, Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM), and Mamadassa SYLLA (FRA) this season alone. Meanwhile, Elsayed has struggled since his impressive Tokyo bronze-medal run, going 7-4 in non-African competitions.

Iran's Esmaeili is replacing Tokyo Olympic champion Mohammedreza GERAEI (IRI) after winning the playoff. He almost beat Orta in Budapest and has a win over Sogabe. Iran will hope that the youngster can make a surprise run to gold as Geraei did in Tokyo.

WW 53kg: Fujinami vs the rest

When it comes to betting favorites in the 53kg Paris field, oddsmakers have singled out Akari Fujinami as the safest wrestler to put money on.

Fujinami, a 20-year-old phenom, has been unstoppable up to this point in her career. She's won 130 consecutive matches heading into Paris -- including two golds at the World Championships, golds at the Asian Championships and Asian Games, and international and domestic competitions.

Akari FUJINAMI (JPN), blue, pinned Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) at the 2023 World Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

To fully understand Fujinami's dominance, just look at her 2023 season. In her 21 matches last season at the World Championships, Asian Championships, Asian Games, Zagreb Open Ranking Series and Dan Kolov, Fujinami outscored her opponents 206-7 and finished 21/21 matches by technical superiority or via fall. Furthermore, 10 of those technical superiority wins came against wrestlers with at least one world medal to their name.

The only wrestler to score a point on Fujinami last season was Lucia YEPEZ (ECU). Fujinami gave up an early 5-0 lead but scored 14 consecutive points before securing a second-period fall.

Other threats to Fujinami include Qianyu PANG (CHN), Dominique PARRISH (USA), ANTIM (IND), and Jonna MALMGREN (SWE). Pang, Malmgren, and Antim have already faced Fujinami, while a matchup between Parrish and Fujinami would be a first.

Qianyu PANG (CHN) is the returning silver medalist at 53kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Pang, an Olympic finalist in Tokyo, last faced Fujinami at the Asian Games, where the Japanese star won 10-0. Antim lost to Fujinami at the Asian Championships (10-0) and was pinned at the Asian Games. Malmgren and Fujinami met at the 2018 U17 World Championships, where Fujinami won 14-4.

Parrish was the 53kg world champion the year Fujinami withdrew from the World Championships. Fans and critics have long debated Parrish's world title without Fujinami's presence, leaving the American eager to face the young Japanese star.

The third day of wrestling at Paris 2024 starts on August 7. Follow @unitedworldwrestling on all social channels to stay updated on what's happening in Paris.

Malmgren warms up for senior Euros with U23 gold

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Paris 2024 Wrestling Day 3 Preview: GR 67kg and 87kg; WW 53kg