Oleg Karavaev Preview

Wednesday, July 24, 2019 - 18:04 By Eric Olanowski

MINSK, Belarus (July 24) --- The regular season comes to an end this weekend in Minsk, Belarus, as 175 wrestlers from 19 nations will take part in the final Greco-Roman Ranking Series event of the year, the Oleg Karavaev. The tournament’s entry list is littered with world-level talent, including 24 wrestlers who are ranked inside the top-20 of the latest Greco-Roman rankings, but it’s Emrah KUS (TUR), the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the world at 82kg, who headlines the nearly 200-man field.

The world runner-up’s weight is set to feature six ranked wrestlers -- which is the most top-20 guys entered in one bracket. Kus' most significant competition in Belarus will be Viktar SASUNOUSKI (BLR) and Rajbek BISULTANOV (DEN).

Fourth-ranked Sasunouski won a bronze medal at last year’s World Championships, while sixth-ranked Bisultanov is the reigning 82kg European champion.

Bisultanov will be looking to take down top-ranked Kus and Sasunouski for the second time this season. The Danish wrestler defeated Sasunouski, 8-1 in the European quarterfinals, then followed that up with a 5-5 criteria victory over Kus in the semifinals en route to his first continental title three months ago in Bucharest.

Kus and Sasunouski have been in several brackets together over the past year but have somehow managed to miss wrestling each other. Most recently, they were in the same bracket at the European Championships, where Kus finished in third place and Sasunouski fell to a disappointing seventh-place finish.

Other Ranked Wrestlers at 82kg
No. 7 Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV(UZB)
No. 8 Maxat YEREZHEPOV(KAZ)
No. 16Singh HARPREET (IND)

Four Ranked Wrestlers at 67kg and 130kg
A pair of other stacked weight classes to keep an eye on are 67kg and 130kg. Both weights house a quartet of the world's top-20 competitors.

At 67kg, second-ranked RYU Hansu (KOR) leads a pack of four ranked wrestlers into Minsk. The 2017 world champion is the clear favorite to win the weight -- having already won titles this season at the Asian Championships and the Hungarian Grand Prix, while also finishing in third place at the Sassari City Tournament.

Japan will be sending a pair of top-ten wrestlers who’ll try to halt Ryu’s quest of winning a second 2019 Ranking Series title. The Japanese duo who sits inside the top-ten that are making the trip to Belarus are Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (JPN) and Shogo TAKAHASHI (JPN). They’re ranked ninth and tenth, respectively. Though Shimoyamada is ranked higher, Takahashi, who was this year’s Asian bronze medalist, has already been named Japan’s Nur-Sultan world team representative.

The fourth-ranked wrestler competing at 67kg will be Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY). Elsayed, the reigning U23 world champion, is ranked 17th in the world coming into the Oleg Karavaev.

The third weight with at least four ranked wrestlers entered is 130kg.

The front-runner at 130kg is Korea’s KIM Minseok. He’s currently ranked fourth in the world but is on the verge of locking up the third seed. Kim, the returning world bronze medalists, is only five points away from passing Heiki NABI (EST) for that third slot, and will gain the advantage after collecting the six entry points if he participates this weekend.

But, to do so, he’ll have to battle three heavy hitters in Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB), Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ (CHI), and MENG Lingzhe (CHN), who are ranked fifth, sixth, and ninth, respectively.

Kim Looking for Third Ranking Series Title
KIM Seunghak (KOR), the third ranked wrestler in the world at 60kg, comes into the Oleg Karavaev with hopes of luring in his third consecutive Ranking Series title.

Kim started his season with a fifth-place finish at the Grand Prix of Zagreb, but has since won back-to-back Ranking Series golds after title-winning performances at the Hungarian Grand Prix and the City of Sassari tournament in Sardinia.

Kim is stationed 14 points behind Victor CIOBANU (MDA), last year’s world runner-up, but could pass the Moldovan wrestler if he reaches the top of the podium for a third consecutive time. A gold medal this weekend would give Kim 16 Ranking Series points -- which would give him the two-point advantage over Ciobanu heading into Nur-Sultan.

Kim’s top competition will be Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) and Ilkhom BAKHROMOV (UZB).

The Japanese star has two world titles to his name. His most recent world title coming at the U23 age level last season, while his senior-level world title came back at the 2017 Paris World Championships.

Bakhromov is ranked 15th in the world, but that's down at 55kg.

Top-Two Matchup Brewing at 63kg
A showdown between two of the best 63kg wrestlers in the world could be on the horizon as No. 2 Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) and No. 3 Erbatu TUO (CHN) are both entered into the Oleg Karavaev.

Tasmuradov and Tuo met in Xi’an, China, earlier this year in the gold-medal bout of the Asian Championships with Tuo earning the continental title after Tasmuradov was forced to withdraw from the competition after suffering an apparent hip injury. During the time of the injury, Tasmuradov was leading 3-2 but surrendered two points from a caution-and-two and fell behind, 4-3 -- which is when he conceded the match.

The Oleg Karavaev marks the first time that Tasmuradov has competed since facing that hip injury. He comes into Minsk with a six-point advantage over Tuo, and could lock up the second seed by collecting 10 Ranking Series points.

Kuliyeu Eyeing the Fourth Seed at 87kg
Radzik KULIYEU (BLR) comes into Minsk as the sixth ranked wrestler in the world at 87kg but is in perfect position to grab the fourth seed with a podium finish this weekend.

The reason being, Hungary’s Erik SZILVASSY and Viktor LORINCZ are ranked third and fourth, respectively, but will have to forfeit one of the top-four spots because each nation can only enter one wrestler per nation into the World Championships. Hungary’s forfeiture of one of their top-four seeds will slide Islam ABBASOV (AZE) into the fourth seed, but since he’s not competing this weekend, Kuliyeu just needs nine points to overthrow the Azeri for the fourth spot.

Kuliyeu will be joined by two other top-ten wrestlers at 87kg. They are ninth-ranked Mikalai STADUB (BLR) and tenth-ranked Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB).

The first set of brackets will be released on Thursday at 17:00 and wrestling will begin on Friday at 10:30 (local time).

#WrestleTirana

Japan adds 3 golds to maintain perfect record in Tirana

Friday, February 28, 2025 - 23:31 By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (February 28) -- Ami ISHII (JPN) can't stop winning in Tirana.

Four months after she won the U23 and Senior World Championships in the Albanian capital, Ishii has begun her 2025 with a Ranking Series gold in Tirana on Friday.

While she won the World Championships at 72kg, Ishii returned to the Olympic weight class 68kg as she leaves memories of missing out on Paris Olympics behind.

"It [Tirana] is a luck city," Ishii said. "Also, 68kg is home for me."

Ishii is now 12-0 in Tirana, winning golds at the U23 World Championships, senior World Championships and Muhamet Malo Ranking Series -- scoring six technical superiority wins and three pins.

Her gold medal was one of three that Japan won, maintaining its perfect record in Women's Wrestling in Tirana, adding to the two it won on Thursday. Out of the six golds on offer so far, Japan has won five with one -- 62kg -- going to China. Japan did not enter a wrestler in 62kg.

Ishii won the gold medal at 68kg after U20 world champion Sakura ONISHI (JPN) made a golden senior debut at 59kg. Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) was successful at 65kg. On Thursday, Umi ITO (JPN) won at 50kg while Haruna MAYUMARA (JPN) won gold at 55kg.

Ami ISHII (JPN) won the 68kg gold medal in Tirana. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Ishii looked in sublime form at 68kg and seemed like she would go unscathed, however, Zelu LI (CHN) checked her in the final. Ishii managed to win 6-2 but could feel the pressure of the final.

"I think the opponent's level is quite high since it's in the finals," Ishii said. "The pressure is the most fun in the finals. There shouldn't be any pressure, but it was a close match so I'll practice a little more."

She opened the scoring with a double-leg takedown and kept aiming for Li's ankles, converting once such attempt to a takedown. Li tried to counter lift but Ishii was solid in her defense and led 4-0 at the break. Li did cut the lead to 4-2 in the second period but Ishii made it 6-2 with a similar takedown like the previous ones.

"My wrestling is different, and I keep updating my wrestling every day," she said. "My wrestling is completely different from the last time I came to Tirana. Wrestling Japanese, I continue to improve my skills."

After missing out on the Paris Olympics, losing in the domestic playoff to Nonoka OZAKI (JPN), Ishii remains motivated to be at the Olympic cycle.

"My goal for 2025 is to win the 68kg class at the World Championships," she said. "My biggest goal for 2025 is probably to win a gold medal at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics."

Sakura ONISHI (JPN) defeated Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (UWW) 10-0 in the 59kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Onishi was the first to secure gold medal of the night for Japan as she dominated the 59kg weight class. In the final against Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (UWW), Onishi scored the first takedown with a single-leg attack and gut wrenched for two more points. She added another takedown with head outside before finishing the bout 10-0 with 4:16 remaining on the clock.

This was the first senior tournament for the teenager but remained unfazed the stage and the opponents.

"It was my first tournament and I was a bit nervous," Onishi said. "But since I had earned the right to compete at the All-Japan Championship in Japan, I decided to represent Japan and not worry about my age."

Before travelling to Tirana, Onishi was in a two-week training camp in China alongwith Morikawa. Both went to Kunming, world champion Jia LONG's(CHN) hometown, to train in different styles.

Previously, Onishi would finish her bouts in typical Japanese style of pins or leg lace but she used the gut-wrench effectively in Tirana. Onishi said she picked the technique in China.

"The lace is something I always do," she said. "I don't really pay attention to it but that gut wrench is a technique I learned the other day when I went on a two-week camp to China, and I was happy."

In the four bouts on Friday, Onishi, a training partner of Olympic champion Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) at the Nippon Sports Science University, outscored her opponents 45-3 and geared up for the Asian Championships.

"I think it was a really good tournament because I was able to see how much I've improved, even if just a little, in what I practice every day," she said.

Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) tries to turn Irina RINGACI (JPN) before Ringaci pulled out of the final citing knee injury. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) added another gold but she would have liked to avenge her round-robin loss to Irina RINGACI (MDA) in a better way. Ringaci pulled out injured midway through the final while leading 6-3. Morikawa had just scored a takedown when Ringaci left the match due to a injured knee. Ringaci had shown excellent movements till then, hitting double-leg attacks and gut wrenches to which Morikawa had no answers.

The two had met earlier in Round 1 bout of their group which Ringaci won 6-5 despite a solid comeback from Morikawa. This was their second meeting since the 2021 World Championships final which Ringaci won.

Ringaci scored a takedown and turn to lead 4-0 and then a scramble resulted in Ringaci landing on top to take the lead 6-0. Morikawa was on board when she scored an exposure and another leg elevation forced a takedown which made the score 6-4 for Ringaci with 17 seconds left. A double leg from Morikawa resulted in just a stepout with six seconds on the clock. Japan challenged that call asking for two points but Morikawa had no control over Ringaci during stepout. Ringaci defended the 7-5 lead to win the bout.

LILI (CHN) defeated Paris Olympic bronze medalist Grace BULLEN (NOR) in 62kg semifinal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

At 62kg, world bronze medalist LILI (CHN) completed a commanding performance in Tirana with a gold medal at 62kg, beating former world champion Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL) 8-4 in the final after she had defeated Paris Olympic bronze medalist Grace BULLEN (NOR) in the semifinals.

Bullen was on her way to the final when she ran into Lili in the semis and was involved in a tense match which she led. She opened the scoring with a takedown and turn before Lili scored a reversal and lace. The Chinese added another takedown and turn to make it 7-4. Bullen closed the gap to 7-5 with a stepout but she failed to break the defense and lost 8-3.

In the final, Lili raced to an 8-0 lead over Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL) and it seemed like she will close out the bout soon. However, Dudova hit a double-leg attack to get four points back. But Lili still managed to keep the lead with herself and defeated to claim the gold medal at 62kg.

RESULTS

59kg
GOLD: Sakura ONISHI (JPN) df. Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (UWW), 10-0

BRONZE: Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR) df. Bediha GUN (TUR), 12-2

62kg
GOLD: LILI (CHN) df. Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL), 8-4

BRONZE: Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA) df. Anne NUERNBERGER (GER), 11-0
BRONZE: Grace BULLEN (NOR) df. Amina TANDELOVA (UWW), via inj. def.

65kg
GOLD: Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) df. Irina RINGACI (MDA), via inj. (3-6)

BRONZE: Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) df. Aleah NICKEL (CAN), 10-0

68kg
GOLD: Ami ISHII (JPN) df. Zelu LI (CHN), 6-2

BRONZE: Elizaveta PETLIAKOVA (UWW) df. Noémi SZABADOS (HUN), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU) df. Gerda BARTH (GER), via fall (6-0)

Oleg Karavaev Preview

Comments

Japan adds 3 golds to maintain perfect record in Tirana