#Trnava2018

Reigning World Champs Kilty, Susaki and Velieva Roll Into Semifinals

Wednesday, September 19, 2018 - 11:14 By Eric Olanowski

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TRNAVA, Slovakia (September 19) - Reigning world champions Macey KILTY (USA), Yui SUSAKI (JPN) and Khanum VELIEVA (RUS) opened up the women’s wrestling portion of the Trnava Junior World Championships with a pair of wins and moved into Wednesday night’s semifinals. 

Last year’s cadet world champion Macey Kilty breezed past her first two opponents. In her first match, Kilty quickly dismantled Tindra SJOEBERG (SWE), scoring a 12-0 technical superiority victory. In her quarterfinals bout, she commanded a 4-0 lead on Alina RUDNYTSKA LEVYTSKA (UKR) before picking up the fall to move into the 68kg semifinals where she’ll meet China’s WANG Yan.

Susaki, the reigning Paris world champion only needed 43 seconds in her opening round match to pick up the 10-0 technical superiority victory over Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA). 

In the quarterfinals, Susaki trampled China’s ZHONG Yumei (CHN), 10-0, grabbing the 53-second technical superiority win. Through two matches, Susaki has been on the mat for a total of 99 seconds and has outscored her opponents 20-0. 

The 19-year-old Japanese superstar will meet three-time age-level world bronze medalist and reigning junior European champion Veronika GURSKAYA (RUS) in tonight’s semifinals. 

Russia’s Tampere junior world gold medalist Khanum Velieva began her day with a 6-2 first round routing of Japan’s 2016 cadet world runner-up, Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN).

She then moved to the semifinals with a 10-0 win over Rihem AYARI (TUN). In the semifinals, Velieva will wrestle Korea’s PARK Hyeonyeong (KOR).

Women's wrestling semifinals begin at 17:15, and will be followed by the Greco-Roman finals which begin at 18:00. 

RESULTS

SEMIFINALS 
50kg 
Ellen RIESTERER (GER) vs. Marina ZAKSHEVSKAYA (KAZ) 
Veronika GURSKAYA (RUS) vs. Yui SUSAKI (JPN) 

55kg
Ekaterina VERBINA (RUS) vs. Saki IGARASHI (JPN) 
Jiajing HOU (CHN) vs. Khaliunaa BAYARAA (MGL) 

59kg
Yekaterina FIRSTOVA (KAZ) vs. Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) 
Sae NANJO (JPN) vs. Anshu ANSHU (IND) 

68kg 
Khanum VELIEVA (RUS) vs. Hyeonyeong PARK (KOR) 
Yan WANG (CHN) vs. Macey Ellen KILTY (USA) 

76kg 
Yuanyuan HUANG (CHN) vs. Yasuha MATSUYUKI (JPN) 
Denise  MAKOTA STROEM (SWE) vs. Elmira KHALAEVA (RUS) 

#WrestleParis

Olympic champion Focken carries Olympic torch for Paris 2024

Thursday, June 27, 2024 - 09:38 By Vinay Siwach

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ALSACE, France (June 27) -- Tokyo Olympic champion Aline FOCKEN (GER) was part of the Olympic Torch Relay on Wednesday in Alsace, stage 41 of the relay for the 2024 Paris Games.

"It was magical," Focken said. "It was a short run for only a few minutes but I enjoyed it. I felt the Olympic spirit and pride to run with the torch. We were briefed a lot, about the significance of the torch and it's for peace and I felt it all the time. It was special."

The relay began from the European Parliament and then passed in front of the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe. It also lit up the city’s covered bridges, the Grande île district, the Alsatian Museum and the Notre Dame gothic cathedral before finishing at Place Kléber, in the city’s heart, where the celebration venue was located.

 

The Olympic Torch Relay continued its voyage through eastern France with a distinctly European tone. In addition to putting the spotlight on the gems of Alsace, the Olympic Torch Relay also highlighted fraternity between people, such as Franco-German links, which were celebrated during an exceptional collective relay on the Three Countries Bridge in Huningue. Another collective relay took place in Strasbourg, dedicated, as each day, to a specific sport.

Focken carried the torch at the start of the three country bridge for 250 metres. The starting point of Focken's run was in Germany while her finish was in France. She then handed over the Olympic Torch to Frenchman Eric Kueny, representative of the host country in Huningue.

Aline FOCKEN (GER)Aline FOCKEN (GER) with the Olympic torch on Wednesday. (Photo: Lewis Joly)

Focken, who won the gold medal in 76kg weight class in Tokyo, became the first woman from Germany to win gold at the Olympics in wrestling. She said her feeling was similar to Olympic Games but she was nervous before the run.

"I was nervous," she said. "It's different and all the TV is around you. I was relaxed but nervous. It was a really special moment and I thought that this may be the last Olympic moment for you so just enjoy it. I took my family with me to the relay."