#WrestleBucharest

Malmgren warms up for senior Euros with U23 gold

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

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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)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)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)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.

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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

#WrestleBelgrade

Aitmukhan: From volunteer at Worlds to Kazakhstan's first world champ

Tuesday, September 19, 2023 - 15:31 By Vinay Siwach

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BELGRADE, Serbia (September 19) -- Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ) was hoping to become Kazakhstan's first-ever Freestyle world champion when he reached the 65kg final at the World Championships in 2019. He failed after losing to Gazdhimurad RASHIDOV.

In that final, Rashidov took a bleeding timeout. A volunteer, Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ), ran out to clean the blood dropped on the mat. Little did Niyazbekov or Kazakhstan know that the tall volunteer would go on to achieve what Niyazbekov failed to.

Born in Kyzyltu, a village with only 600 people in the northern region of Kazakhstan, Aitmukhan became the central Asian country's first-ever world champion in Freestyle on Monday as he defeated Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE) in the 92kg final in Belgrade, Serbia.

In a thrilling final, Aitmukhan made a comeback after being down 2-0. He scored a stepout and caution with 30 seconds left. His criteria lead was threatened by Nurmagomedov in the final second when he almost scored a pushout. But Aitmukhan pushed the Azerbaijan wrestler out of bounds and won 6-2.

"The final match was very intense and tough," Aitmukhan said. "I noticed that he was getting tired. I used that moment and snatched the victory. We work hard, but all the success comes from God."

This victory was after five other wrestlers from Kazakhstan had tried to win the elusive Freestyle gold in the country's wrestling history to check out another box. With a Freestyle world champion, Kazakhstan is now without a world champion only in Women's Wrestling.

Aitmukhan's gold medal was also the first for Kazakhstan at the World Championships since Mkhitar MANUKYAN's (KAZ) won the last one in 1999 in Greco-Roman.

"This victory is the biggest in my life," Aitmukhan said. "I’ve been working for it for so many years. I would like to dedicate this win to my country and to my grandmother, she would have been 81 years old today [Monday]. But she passed away 3 years ago. This victory means a lot to me."

Back in 2019, Aitmukhan was the fourth-placer at the World School Combat Games and later won bronze at the U15 Asian Championships. He competed at the U23 Asian Championships as a 17-year-old and won gold at 92kg. Four months later, he was at the U23 World Championships but lost to Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) in the first round and to Feyzulla AKTURK (TUR) in the bronze medal bout. Akturk also defeated him in the bronze medal bout at the 2023 Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series.

But as fate would have it, he would return to Astana in April this year, for the Asian Championships and enter the final. The 19-year-old finished with a silver medal against another teenager Arash YOSHIDA (JPN). He stepped on the top of the podium at the U23 Asian Championships before adding bronze at the Budapest Ranking Series. In an agonizing close U20 World Championships final in Amman in August, he finished with a silver medal.

The run in Belgrade saw him beat European champion Akturk 11-0 in the quarterfinals and returning bronze medalist Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) 8-1 in the semifinals.

For a wrestler who began only in 2014, the success meant that he was on the path to achieving something historic. Ironically, he had no liking for the sport as well.

"My dad made me wrestle by force nine years ago," he said. "I didn’t want to train at all, by the he made me do that. And then I liked it. And now, 9 years later I am a world champion, the first one in Kazakh history. I think it’s not a bad result for a 19-year-old."

The losses at the Asian and U20 World Championships fueled Aitmukhan's effort to win the gold in Belgrade.

"In the Asian championships final and in U20 Worlds, there was that moment when I had to push myself. But that wasn’t enough," he said. "This time I felt the same during the match. I realized that if I didn’t do it now, I might not ever get this chance again. So, I tried my hardest and I did it."

Now that one goal is achieved, Rizabek will move to the Olympic weight class of 97kg. 

"We’ve decided that it’s the last world championships in this weight class, next year I’ll move up to the Olympic weight 97kg," he said. "I’ll wrestle for an Olympic spot. I will try to become an Olympic champion."