ABADAN, Iran (March 17) – Rio 2016 champions Roman VLASOV (75kg) and Davit CHAKVETADZE (85kg) led a convoy of world and Olympic Games medalists to a 5-3 victory over Azerbaijan to lift its first Greco-Roman World Cup since 2013.

Russia, which has finished runner-up in the World Cup meets the last three years, got wins from Olympic Games bronze medalists Mingiyan SEMENOV (59kg) and Sergei SEMENOV (130kg) as well as 2015 world bronze medal winner Artem SURKOV (66kg) in claiming its seventh overall World Cup in the classic style.

Only the now-defunct Soviet Union has more World Cup titles in Greco-Roman, monopolizing the dual-meet competition the first 12 years, 1980-1991, it was held.

In the other placement finals, defending champion Iran rolled over Turkey, 6-2, in the bronze-medal dual to the pleasure of their vocal fans. Germany won five bouts from 71kg to 98kg, for a 5-3 win over Ukraine for fifth place while Kazakhstan won the last four bouts of its duel with Belarus for a 6-2 win and seventh place.

In Friday evening’s finale, Semenov and Surkov gave Russia and early 2-0 lead over Azerbaijan. Semenov defeated Taleh MAMMADOV, 9-2, in the opening bout and Surkov followed with an 8-0 technical fall over Nofal BABAYEV. SURKOV scored a four-point throw and a pair of gut wrenches.

Rio 2016 bronze medal winner Rasul CHUNAYEV, also a 2015 world champion in Las Vegas, pulled one back for Azerbaijan, 2-1, over Poddubny tourney titlist Abuyazid MANTSIGOV at 71kg.

Two-time Olympic Games champion and double world champion Vlasov earned a third victory, edging European Games gold medalist Elvin MURSALIYEV (75kg), 2-2 on criteria.

European Games silver medalist Rafig HUSEYNOV (80kg) kept Azeri hopes alive, defeating Poddubny runner-up Adlan AKIEV (RUS) by the narrowest of scores, 1-1.

In the evening’s key bout, Chakvetadze avenged a 2015 World Cup loss to two-time junior world champion Islam ABBASOV, 2-1, on a caution awarded in the final 30 seconds of the 85kg bout. Two years ago, Abbasov landed on top of a back-arching throw by Chakvetadze for a fall and Azerbaijan’s only World Cup triumph to date in Greco-Roman.

Azerbaijan claimed a third win with Orkhan NURIYEV (AZE) 3-0 decision over Maksim SAFARIAN (RUS) 3-0 at 98kg, leaving the door open to a possible team triumph with a technical fall or better at 130kg.

But, in the battle of Rio 2016 bronze medalists, Semenov had other ideas, taking a 1-1 nail-biter from Sabah SHARIATI (AZE) and ending the four-year title drought for the Russian team.

“We came here to win the title. We prepared well and we were confident about winning the championship,” Vlasov told United World Wrestling media.

The two-time Olympic Games gold medalist added “The quality of the duals shows the high level of the tournament. We had a good team and the atmosphere in the hall and the organization of the World Cup was very interesting.”

Further, added a shout-out to the tournament hosts, “I love Iran and the Iranian fans. The Iranian legend Hamid SORYAN is one of my best friends.”

Meanwhile, in the dual meet for third place, Iran defeated Turkey, 6-2. Saman ABDEVALI (59 kg), Mehdi ZEIDVAND (66kg), Mohammad Ali GERAEI (71kg), Yousef GHADERYAN (85kg), Mehdi ALIYARI (98kg) and Behnam MEHDIZADEH (130 kg) gave Iran six wins, while Emrah KUS (75kg) and Metehan BASAR (85kg) were the two winners for the Turkish side.

Just prior to the bronze-medal dual, Hossein NOURI broke his foot in the warm-ups just minutes before the  and could not compete.
 
“We deserved to earn a better place. Most of the Iranian wrestlers were young and I am satisfied about their performance.” Iran’s head coach Ali ASHKANI said.

“Turkey was a good team but our performance was better than theirs. I hope the Iranian people will accept this trophy and we will train hard for upcoming events such as the Islamic Solidarity Games and Asian Championships.” Ashkani added.

Championship Final

Russia (RUS) df. Azerbaijan (AZE), 5-3 
59 kg - Mingiyan SEMENOV (RUS) df. Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE), 9-2
66 kg - Artem SURKOV (RUS) df. Nofal BABAYEV (AZE) by TF, 8-0
71 kg - Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) df. Abuyazid MANTSIGOV (RUS), 2-1
75 kg - Roman VLASOV (RUS) df. Elvin MURSALIYEV (AZE), 2-0
80 kg - Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) df. Adlan AKIEV (RUS), 1-1
85 kg - Davit CHAKVETADZE (RUS) df. Islam ABBASOV (AZE), 2-1
98 kg - Orkhan NURIYEV (AZE) df. Maksim SAFARIAN (RUS), 3-0
130 kg - Sergey SEMENOV (RUS) df. Sabah SHARIATI (AZE), 1-1

Third-place Final

Iran (IRI) df. Turkey (TUR), 6-2 
59 kg - Saman Morad ABDOULI (IRI) df. Hammet RUSTEM (TUR) by TF, 9-0
66 kg - Mehdi Chooli ZEIDVAND (IRI) df. Atakan YUKSEL (TUR), 4-0
71 kg - Mohammadali Abdolhamid GERAEI (IRI) df. Ilker SONMEZ (TUR) by TF, 9-0
75 kg - Emrah KUS (TUR) df. Rasoul Sadegh GARMSIRI (IRI), 2-1
80 kg - Yousef Ahmad GHADERIAN (IRI) df. Aslan ATEM (TUR), 2-1
85 kg - Metehan BASAR (TUR) df. Mahdi Ebrahim FALLAHHAMIDABADI (IRI) by DQ, 1-2
98 kg - Mahdi Abbas ALIYARIFEIZABADI (IRI) df. Cenk ILDEM (TUR), 7-1
130 kg - Behnam Aliakbar MEHDIZADEH ARYATAPEH (IRI) df. Ali Nail ARSLAN (TUR), 2-1

Fifth-place Final

Germany (GER) df. Ukraine (UKR), 5-3 
59 kg - Zhora ABOVIAN (UKR) df. Christopher Josef KRAEMER (GER), 3-2
66 kg - Parviz NASIBOV (UKR) df. Erik WEISS (GER), 2-1
71 kg - Maximilian Andreas SCHWABE (GER) df. Ruslan ISRAFILOV (UKR) by FALL, 2-0
75 kg - Florian NEUMAIER (GER) df. Mykola DARAGAN (UKR), 2-1
80 kg - Pascal EISELE (GER) df. Dmytro PYSHKOV (UKR), 7-3
85 kg - Ramsin AZIZSIR (GER) df. Iurii SHKRIUBA (UKR), 2-0
98 kg - Peter OEHLER (GER) df. Volodymyr VASYLIEV (UKR), 7-0
130 kg - Oleksandr CHERNETSKYY (UKR) df. Christian JOHN (GER) by TF, 8-0

Seventh-place Final

Kazakhstan (KAZ) df. Belarus (BLR), 6-2 
59 kg - Zhanserik SARSENBIYEV (KAZ) df. Maksim KAZHARSKI (BLR), 7-3
66 kg - Daniyar KALENOV (KAZ) df. Yaraslau KARDASH (BLR) by Injury Default, 0-0
71 kg - Pavel LIAKH (BLR) df. Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ), 4-2
75 kg - Yahor KASIANKOU (BLR) df. Maxat YEREZHEPOV (KAZ) by TF, 9-1
80 kg - Daulet ZHAXYLYKOV (KAZ) df. Radzik KULIYEU (BLR), 6-1
85 kg - Azamat KUSTUBAYEV (KAZ) df. Mikalai STADUB (BLR), 4-1
98 kg - Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ) df. Yahor YASKAVETS (BLR) by FALL, 8-0
130 kg - Damir KUZEMBAYEV (KAZ) df. Heorhi CHUHASHVILI (BLR) by FALL, 6-0

Third-round results

Group A

Russia (RUS) df. Germany (GER), 7-1 
59 kg - Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS) df. Christopher Josef KRAEMER (GER), 3-1
66 kg - Aleksei KIIANKIN (RUS) df. Erik WEISS (GER), 5-1
71 kg - Yury DENISOV (RUS) df. Maximilian Andreas SCHWABE (GER) by FALL, 4-0
75 kg - Chingiz LABAZANOV (RUS) df. Florian NEUMAIER (GER), 6-1
80 kg - Adlan AKIEV (RUS) df. Pascal EISELE (GER), 10-4
85 kg - Evgeny SALEEV (RUS) df. Ramsin AZIZSIR (GER), 2-1
98 kg - Peter OEHLER (GER) df. Maksim SAFARIAN (RUS), 1-1
130 kg - Sergey SEMENOV (RUS) df. Christian JOHN (GER) by FALL, 4-0

Iran (IRI) df. Kazakhstan (KAZ), 6-2 
59 kg - Mohsen Hossein HAJI POUR (IRI) df. Zhanserik SARSENBIYEV (KAZ), 2-1
66 kg - Ali Reizollah ARSALAN (IRI) df. Daniyar KALENOV (KAZ), 3-2
71 kg - Afshin Nemat BYABANGARD (IRI) df. Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ), 1-1
75 kg - Maxat YEREZHEPOV (KAZ) df. Rasoul Sadegh GARMSIRI (IRI), 3-0
80 kg - Ramin Soltanmorad TAHERISARTANG (IRI) df. Daulet ZHAXYLYKOV (KAZ), 3-0
85 kg - Azamat KUSTUBAYEV (KAZ) df. Mahdi Ebrahim FALLAHHAMIDABADI (IRI), 1-1
98 kg - Mahdi Abbas ALIYARIFEIZABADI (IRI) df. Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ) by TF, 10-1
130 kg - Behnam Aliakbar MEHDIZADEH ARYATAPEH (IRI) df. Damir KUZEMBAYEV (KAZ), 2-0

Group B

Azerbaijan (AZE) df. Ukraine (UKR), 5-3 
59 kg - Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE) df. Zhora ABOVIAN (UKR) by TF, 9-1
66 kg - Parviz NASIBOV (UKR) df. Kamran MAMMADOV (AZE), 2-2
71 kg - Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) df. Ruslan ISRAFILOV (UKR), 7-0
75 kg - Elvin MURSALIYEV (AZE) df. Artem MATIASH (UKR) by TF, 11-1
80 kg - Dmytro PYSHKOV (UKR) df. Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE), 3-1
85 kg - Islam ABBASOV (AZE) df. Iurii SHKRIUBA (UKR), 3-1
98 kg - Orkhan NURIYEV (AZE) df. Volodymyr VASYLIEV (UKR), 1-1
130 kg - Mykola KUCHMII (UKR) df. Oyan NAZARIANI (AZE), 2-1

Turkey (TUR) df. Belarus (BLR), 6-2 
59 kg - Hammet RUSTEM (TUR) df. Maksim KAZHARSKI (BLR), 2-1
66 kg - Enes BASAR (TUR) df. Yaraslau KARDASH (BLR) by withdrawal, 0-0
71 kg - Ilker SONMEZ (TUR) df. Pavel LIAKH (BLR), 2-1
75 kg - Emrah KUS (TUR) df. Yahor KASIANKOU (BLR), 2-1
80 kg - Radzik KULIYEU (BLR) df. Aslan ATEM (TUR), 2-1
85 kg - Mikalai STADUB (BLR) df. Metehan BASAR (TUR), 2-1
98 kg - Suleyman DEMIRCI (TUR) df. Yahor YASKAVETS (BLR) by TF, 8-0
130 kg - Ali Nail ARSLAN (TUR) df. Heorhi CHUHASHVILI (BLR), 2-0

او همچنین در مورد میزبان مسابقات گفت: " من ایران و تماشاگران ایرانی را دوست دارم. اسطوره کشتی ایران یعنی حمید سوریان یکی از دوستان خوب من است."

در همین حال ایران با برتری 6 بر 2 مقابل ترکیه به عنوان سوم جام جهانی رسید. سامان عبدولی (59 کیلوگرم)، مهدی زیدوند (66 کیلوگرم)، محمد علی گرایی (71 کیلوگرم)، یوسف قادریان (80 کیلوگرم)، مهدی علیاری (98 کیلوگرم) و بهنام مهدیزاده (130 کیلوگرم) شش پیروزی را نصیب ایران کردند و امراه کوش (75 کیلوگرم) به همراه متهان باشار (85 کیلوگرم) دو برد ترکیه را رقم زدند.

در این مسابقه و لحظاتی قبل از آغاز مسابقه، حسین نوری در حال گرم کردن دچار شکستگی پا شد و نتوانست به میدان برود.

علی اشکانی سرمربی تیم ملی ایران پس از این رقابتها گفت: " ما شایسته تصاحب جایگاه بهتری بودیم. بیشتر کشتی گیران ایران جوان بودند و من از عملکرد آنها راضی هستم."

اشکانی همچنین اضافه کرد: " ترکیه تیم خوبی بود اما تیم ما عملکرد بهتری داشت. امیدوارم ایرانی ها این عنوان را از ما قبول کنند. ما سخت تمرین خواهیم کرد تا در رویدادهای پیش رو از جمله بازیهای کشورهای اسلامی و مسابقات قهرمانی آسیا موفق باشیم."

نتیجه فینال: روسیه  5 – جمهوری آذربایجان 3 (اسامی تیم روسیه در ابتدا آمده است)

59 کیلوگرم: مینگیان سیمینوف  9– طالح ممدوف  2

66 کیلوگرم: آرتم سورکوف 8  – نوفال بابایف صفر

71 کیلوگرم: ابوزید مانتسیگوف  یک – رسول چونایف 2

75 کیلوگرم: رومن ولاسوف 2 – الوین مورسالیف صفر

80 کیلوگرم: ادلان آکیف یک – رفیق حسین اف یک (برنده)

85 کیلوگرم: داویت چاکوتادزه  2 – اسلام عباس اف  یک

98 کیلوگرم: ماکسیم صفریان صفر – اورخان نوریف  3

130 کیلوگرم: سرگئی سیمینوف  یک (برنده) – صباح شریعتی یک

نتیجه رده بندی: ایران 7– ترکیه 1

59 کیلوگرم: سامان عبدولی ۹– همت رستم صفر

66 کیلوگرم: مهدی زیدوند ۴ – آتاکان یوکسل صفر

71 کیلوگرم: محمد علی گرایی ۹ – ایلکر سونمزصفر

75 کیلوگرم: رسول گرمسیری یک – امره کوش ۲

80 کیلوگرم: یوسف قادریان ۲ – اصلان آتم یک

85 کیلوگرم: مهدی فلاح 2 – متهان باشار 1

98 کیلوگرم: مهدی علیاری 7– جنک ایلدم 1

130 کیلوگرم: بهنام مهدی زاده 2 - علی نالی ارسلان