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

#development

North Macedonia hosts Referee and Coaches course, implements women's program

Thursday, May 12, 2022 - 10:56 By United World Wrestling Press

SKOPJE, North Macedonia (May 9) -- United World Wrestling hosted the Referees and Coaches Course in North Macedonia from May 2 to 9, 2022. The course was conducted under UWW's Development department and educators Davor PETANJEK (CRO) and Georgi SREDIKOV (BUL) in Kochani, a city east of the capital Skopje.

North Macedonia will now implement a dedicated program for women's wrestling which is a significant part of UWW's 2022-2026 strategy. The program will contribute to the next stage of national training camps dedicated to women's wrestling in Macedonia.

A competition was also held for U17 wrestlers after the course to assess the referees and coaches and the educators noticed significant improvement.

macedonia The Referee and Coaches course was held from May 2 to 9.

"This course was a big project for us," Dragana Saveva, secretary of the North Macedonia Wrestling Federation, said. "We had a chance to learn from the best, I can't describe the changes that they made with our coaches and referees in a positive way. They learned something new, and improved their knowledge and skills."

The course was used to demonstrate the latest rules and systems to the referees while coaches were shown positive ways to motivate wrestlers, better communication and understand wrestling easily.

"I would like to thank the educators, UWW and Olympic Solidarity for helping us to improve in many ways with this project," Savena said.

The national federation submitted an official proposal for increasing the participation of girls in wrestling along with the active promotion of women's wrestling in the country. The other focus of the federation will be to improve the training conditions for women wrestlers for the 2022 season.

The wrestling federation, under the guidance of UWW, will also educate female wrestlers with information on available scholarships, benefits, tournaments and camps. UWW will develop the wrestlers' skills and focus on positive health, team spirit and self-confidence.

MKD UWW educators Davor PETANJEK (CRO), left, and Georgi SREDIKOV (BUL).

The program will target 22 local clubs and a few schools to encourage more girls to participate in wrestling. The federation will organize five camps for the clubs in five different cities namely Prilep, Kochani, Shtip, Skopje and Radovish. Singlets for the wrestlers, sports equipment, and other sports kits will be funded by the federation.

The aim of the federation is to have a team of experienced trainers for women's wrestling and a team of 100 wrestlers for national-level competition and ultimately have success at the European and Balkan Championships.

Off the mat, the national federation is keen on framing successful and supportive policies and legal frameworks for the promotion of gender equality and women’s rights.

Macedonia is one of the fastest-growing nations in women's wrestling since last year as the sports took roots around a decade back. In 2022, women's wrestling demonstrated its seventh consecutive year of growth nationally with over 100 participants from eight local wrestling clubs. The country already hosted 15 wrestling camps, and national and local championships in all age groups and has won medals in women's wrestling at the European and Balkan Championships.

wrestling

The increased participation of girls in wrestling can positively impact on attendance, engagement, opportunities for girls and camps. The sport will also provide opportunities for girls and help the wrestlers establish in the local community, ensure that girls can wrestle girls, reduce the risk of injury and increase support for various clubs and have more active student-athletes.

Increasing the number of girls in wrestling will allow girls to wrestle girls instead of being forced to compete against boys. This is important in terms of the ideals of fair play as well as from a safety perspective. This also builds the idea that wrestling can be supported by the country and attract more sponsors.

Malmgren warms up for senior Euros with U23 gold

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North Macedonia hosts Referee and Coaches course, implements women's program