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

U23 Worlds: Motivated Hlinchuk makes golden return

Saturday, October 28, 2023 - 22:24 By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (October 28) -- The last two years have been extremely difficult for Pavel HLINCHUK (AIN). With no international wrestling for him, the 21-year-old felt like moving away from the sport. The death of his first coach six months ago and then the passing of his uncle troubled Hlinchuk emotionally.

"These have been the toughest two years of my whole life," Hlinchuk says. "After being away from international competitions for two years, as well as not being able to train at all for about 8-9 months, I wanted to return. These reasons gave me motivation."

Making a return to international wrestling at the U23 World Championships, Hlinchuk made it golden by capturing the U23 world title in Tirana, Albania on Saturday.

A U20 world champion from 2021, Hlinchuk looked like he was never away from the mat, beating Mustafa OLGUN (TUR) 4-3 in the 97kg final. Despite a few aggressive moments in towards the end of the final, Hlinchuk kept his cool to deny Olgun.

"Many people will agree, that it's difficult to describe this feeling," he said. "These are probably the best emotions that the athlete could ever experience, especially after the long training. I want to dedicate my win to my coach and uncle."

Pavel HLINCHUK (AIN) defends the par terre position against Mustafa OLGUN (TUR). (Photo: UWW / Ulug Bugra Han Degirmenci)

The final may have been a close battle but Hlinchuk's previous bouts in Tirana were completely one-sided. He outscored his opponents 29-5 before Olgun checked his dominant run.

Olgun got the first point for par terre and though he could not score any points, he managed to score a stepout from neutral to lead 2-0. Hlinchuk turned the tables in the second period by scoring a turn from par terre to lead 3-2.

With around a minute left, Olgun managed to lock Hlinchuk and bring him down on his back. It was ultimately given a fall but Hlinchuk's corner challenged for a leg foul. On review, the fall was reversed as Olgun had in fact brought Hlinchuk down using his leg.

A few moments later, the two got warned by the referee for aggressive wrestling. Olgun again came close to winning as he brought Hlinchuk towards the zone, scoring a stepout with Hlinchuk falling. The referee awarded caution two points to Hlinchuk for a singlet-grab from Olgun. But the judge and mat chairman gave one point to Olgun for stepout. Hlinchuk now led 3-3 on criteria as he had a two-point turn while Olgun had three one-point scores.

Turkiye challenged the decision but on review, it was only given one point to Olgun. A point was added to Hlinchuk's score for Turkiye's lost challenge. In the final eight seconds, Hlinchuk kept Olgun at a distance and won 4-3.

"From outside it might have been seen as if I gave up," he said referring to the fall. "People might have thought that I gave it up and got pinned. But in reality, I immediately felt his leg foul. This still didn't give me the right to give up and secondly, I thought that my head was outside when he was pinning me, so I was relaxed, which is also not an excuse."

Pavel HLINCHUK (AIN) celebrates after winning the 97kg gold in Tirana. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Hlinchuk burst into prolonged celebrations, including a somersault, after the win. Comparing his 2021 campaign in which he won the silver medal to Saturday's gold, Hlinchuk said he has adopted a more risk-free game plan.

"Back in 2021, I was not completely ready even though I won U20 gold and U23 silver," he said. "I was different back then. Now I've grown up, I try to think more, analyze more and be riskless. Back then I only wanted to win as fast as possible. And if I wasn't winning the match, I would lose concentration. Now I don't do that anymore. Even though the final match didn't go as planned, I wrestled with a clear mind."

After the medal ceremony, Hlinchuk also revealed that he was motivated by reading about last year's champion Alex SZOKE (HUN) returning but also his own name in an article. [Szoke lost 4-4 to Lucas LAZOGIANIS (GER) in the quarterfinals and the German lost to Hlinchuk in the semifinals.]

"I was motivated by the article that I read before this championship," he said. "It was written that last year's champion Alex Szoke is coming. But at the same time, Pavel Hlinchuk is coming as well, trying to change the color of his medal. I had this on my mind and that motivated me a lot."

Indeed, Hlinchuk will return home after upgrading his 2021 U23 world silver to gold this year in Tirana.

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U23 Worlds: Motivated Hlinchuk makes golden return