Poland Prise Pair of Women's Golds at #PolandOpen

Saturday, September 8, 2018 - 20:09 By Eric Olanowski

WARSAW, Poland (September 8) – Roksana ZASINA (POL) and Agnieszka WIESZCZEK-KORDUS (POL) helped the host nation, Poland, capture two of the possible five women’s wrestling gold medals that were up for grabs on the second day of the final Ranking Series event of the year.

Roksana Zasina, the No. 8 ranked wrestler in the world, gave Poland their first gold medal of the day after scoring a 6-2 win over U23 world bronze medalist Tetyana KIT (UKR) in the 55kg gold-medal match.

Zasina won her second straight Poland Open title, but more importantly, she stopped Kit from capturing her first Ranking Series gold medal. Kit has competed in three of the four Ranking Series events and has finished with two silvers and a bronze medal.

At 72kg, Wieszczek-Kordus handed Poland their second women’s wrestling gold medal after sticking WANG Kunming (CHN) in the gold-medal match. It took Wieszczek-Kordus four tries, but she finally grabbed the gold medal that she’s been chasing since 2012.

Danielle LAPPAGE (CAN) knocked off the No.1 ranked wrestler in the world to win the Poland Open title at 65kg. (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne)

Danielle LAPPAGE (CAN), Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS), and Mariya STADNIK (AZE) won the final women’s wrestling gold medals.

In the 65kg finals, Danielle Lappage stunned the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the world, Petra OLLI (FIN), 3-2. Lappage handed Olli her first loss since January’s Ivan Yarygin. Since January, Ollie has won gold medals at the Klippan Lady Open, the International Ukrainian Tournament, and the European Championships.

Stadnik gabbed her second gold medal of the season, defeating Ilona SEMKIV (UKR) in the 50kg gold-medal bout. Stadnik, the Klippan Lady Open runner-up, and European Championship gold medalist scored her fifth technical superiority victory of the tournament, improving her 2018 record to 12-1. Her only loss in 2018 was against reigning world champion, Yui SUSAKI (JPN).

Svetlana Lipatova claimed the final gold medal with an injury default win over 2017 world runner-up, Marwa AMRI (TUN).

RESULTS
Women's Wrestling
50kg
GOLD - Mariya STADNIK (AZE) df. Ilona SEMKIV (UKR), 13-2

BRONZE - Whitney CONDER (USA) df. Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (RUS), 6-4
BRONZE - Jessica Anne Marie MACDONALD (CAN) df. Emilia Alina VUC (ROU), via injury default

55kg
GOLD - Roksana ZASINA (POL) df. Tetyana KIT (UKR), 6-2

BRONZE - Zalina SIDAKOVA (BLR) df. Olga SHNAIDER (UKR), 4-0
BRONZE - Sofia MATTSSON (SWE) df. Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA), 10-0

59kg
GOLD - Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS) df. Marwa AMRI (TUN), 0-0

BRONZE - Olena KREMZER (UKR) df. Hanna VAHER (BLR), 4-0
BRONZE - Lingling BAO (CHN) df. Laura Sofia AAK (NOR), via fall

65kg
GOLD - Danielle LAPPAGE (CAN) df. Petra Maarit OLLI (FIN), 3-2

BRONZE - Forrest Ann MOLINARI (USA) df. Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE), via fall
BRONZE - Moa NYGREN (SWE)df. Chuying TANG (CHN), 6-2

72kg
GOLD - Agnieszka Jadwiga WIESZCZEK-KORDUS (POL) df. Kunming WANG (CHN), via fall

BRONZE - Catalina AXENTE (ROU) df. Patrycja SPERKA (POL), 3-1
BRONZE - Alexandra Nicoleta ANGHEL (ROU) df. Nikoletta Renata SZMOLKA (HUN), 10-0

Freestyle
57kg
GOLD - Stevan Andria MICIC (SRB) df. Givi DAVIDOVI (ITA), 10-0

BRONZE - Georgios PILIDIS (GRE) df. Frank Vincent PERRELLI IV (USA), 12-6
BRONZE - Nurislam (Artas) SANAYEV (SANAA) (KAZ) df. Adrian Jakub WAGNER (POL), via fall.

65kg
GOLD - Akhmed CHAKAEV (RUS) df. Vladimer KHINCHEGASHVILI (GEO), via injury default

BRONZE - Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL) df. Jordan OLIVER (USA), , via forfeit
BRONZE - Dimitar Lyubomirov IVANOV (BUL) df. Hasibagena HASIBAGENA (CHN), 6-2

74kg
GOLD - Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO) df. Wei WU (CHN), 12-2

BRONZE - Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ) df. Nurlan BEKZHANOV (KAZ), 7-1
BRONZE - Andrzej Piotr SOKALSKI (POL) df. Jonatan ALVAREZ DIAZ (ESP), via forfeit.

86kg
GOLD - Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL) df. Samuel BROOKS (USA), 2-2

BRONZE - Akhmed AIBUEV (FRA) df. Lars SCHAEFLE (GER), 10-0
BRONZE - Piotr IANULOV (MDA) df. Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ), 8-3

97kg
GOLD - Elizbar ODIKADZE (GEO) df. Mamed IBRAGIMOV (KAZ), 10-0

BRONZE - Chaoqiang YANG (CHN) df. Pavlo OLIINYK (HUN), via injury default

Greco-Roman
63kg
GOLD - Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM) df. Nikolay Ivanov VICHEV (BUL), 4-0

BRONZE - Hassan Hassan Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY) df. Virgil Alexander BICA (SWE), 8-0

72kg
GOLD - Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR) df. Denis HORVATH (SVK), 9-0

BRONZE - Daniel Mattias SOINI (SWE) df. Shogo TAKAHASHI (JPN), 7-1
BRONZE - Mikko Petteri PELTOKANGAS (FIN) df. Joilson DE BRITO RAMOS JUNIOR (BRA), 5-1

82kg
GOLD - Emrah KUS (TUR) df. Oleksii OSNIACH (UKR), 6-4

BRONZE - Daniel Tihomirov ALEKSANDROV (BUL) df. Edgar BABAYAN (POL), 6-2
BRONZE - Jarno Krister AALANDER (FIN) df. Petr NOVAK (CZE), 4-3

97kg
GOLD - Tracy Gangelo HANCOCK (USA) df. Nikolay Nikolaev BAYRYAKOV (BUL), 7-0

BRONZE - Suleyman ERBAY (TUR) df. Mathias BAK (DEN), 13-6
BRONZE - Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA) df. Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM), via injury default

'I was destroyed, couldn't sleep': Ghasempour recalls painful loss to Sadulaev

Monday, March 10, 2025 - 10:53 By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (March 10) -- "I've thought about it a lot. Of course, it's in the past and thinking about it won't change anything. But I've thought a lot about why I made a mistake in those four seconds and I could have managed the wrestling differently and finished it very easily."

Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) stares at the empty walls of the interview room as he recalls the heartbreaking and shocking 5-3 loss to Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW) in the semifinal of the World Championships last October.

The images of Ghasempour holding his head in hands after the loss went viral on social media. Sadulaev was praised for his champion mindset and his ability to script a remarkable late turnaround. Ghasempour was consoled by his fans, who urged him to not lose heart.

Those comforting words felt hollow at that point and Ghasempour felt 'lost'.

"The reality is that the fighting spirit and the feeling I had on the first day of the competition caused all those feelings to disappear and I was destroyed. I couldn't control myself and I just wanted the competition to end and go back," Ghasmepour says, with his voice breaking as he recollects his thoughts.

For 5 minutes and 55 seconds, Ghasempour controlled the 92kg semifinal against Sadulaev, a two-time Olympic champion known for his must-win attitude. A loss would have reinforced the belief that the Sauldaev aura was fading. A win for Ghasempour, a two-time world champion at 92kg, would make him only the third wrestler to beat Sadulaev.

But with five seconds remaining, Sadulaev snapped the Iranian down, spun behind, then managed to fling him to the mat for a 4-point takedown.

Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW), behind, hits the match-winning takedown on Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

"It was also very difficult for me to come to terms with the loss," Ghasempour recalls. "After the match, I felt very bad and didn't sleep all night. I was awake from the intensity of thought and pressure, and it was very difficult for me. Due to the pressure I was under, I took four painkillers after the match."

A few hours of sleep was never going to be enough for Ghasempour to return for his bronze-medal bout against David TAYLOR (USA), which he lost 6-2.

Four months have passed since that day in Tirana, a city Ghasempour returned for the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series last week and captured the gold medal. Though not the World Championships and there was no Sadulaev in the field, Ghasempour managed to bring a smile on his face as he stood on the podium.

However, memories flashed back.

"When I was going up to the podium [after winning gold], I thought again that I could have been standing on the Worlds podium a few months ago, not this tournament," he said. "But that's how sports is, and if a professional athlete wants to continue their path, they must know that winning and losing are part of sports."

Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) won the 92kg gold medal at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series in February. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Ghasempour did take comfort from the messages he received. Yet, he is unable to move on from those five seconds of lapse in concentration.

"People gave me a lot of good energy and praised me constantly, which shows the kindness of the people," he says. "But what I wanted didn't happen and the result wasn't as I wanted. It would have been better if it ended with a good result."

As the new Olympic cycle begins, Ghasempour wants to make amends. There will be many pit stops before he can be at his first Olympics and he wants to capture every gold medal that comes his way.

"There are three more World Championships left before the Olympics [in 2028]," he says. "The World Championships are very important to me, and after that, it's the Olympic medal that I want to have in my medal showcase. In the year leading up to the Olympics, I will make the decision and compete in a weight class so that I can participate in the Olympics."

Poland Prise Pair of Women's Golds at #PolandOpen

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'I was destroyed, couldn't sleep': Ghasempour recalls painful loss to Sadulaev