#Zagreb2019

Starcevic Soars to Fifth Consecutive Zagreb Open Title

Sunday, February 10, 2019 - 19:09 By Eric Olanowski

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ZAGREB, Croatia (February 10) – Bozo STARCEVIC remained patient in his hometown of Zagreb and waited until the last bout of the tournament, but the Croatian wrestler capped off his impressive run to a fifth consecutive Zagreb Open title with a tactical 2-1 victory over Turkey’s Yunus BASAR in the 77kg finals. 

Starcevic, the hometown wrestler, grabbed the 1-0 lead after receiving a passivity point but found himself fighting back in the second period after Basar gained the 1-1 lead on criteria with a passivity point of his own. 

With just over a minute left, the Croatian wrestler continued to push the pace and broke the 1-1 tie after he was awarded a second passivity point. Starcevic remained composed in the final 30 seconds and closed out the match with the 2-1 victory, locking up his fifth consecutive Zagreb Open title. 

Starcevic's run to his fifth title also included a 6-1 quarterfinals win over Olympic champion KIM Hyeonwoo (KOR). 


Bulgaria’s Daniel ALEKSANDROV erased a 7-0 deficit to defeat reigning world silver medalist Emrah KUS (TUR) in the 82kg gold-medal bout. (Photo Kadir Caliskan) 

Two World Silver Medalists Go Down

Bulgaria’s Daniel ALEKSANDROV and Russia’s Ilia BORISOV knocked off reigning world runner-up’s Emrah KUS (TUR) and Kiril MILOV (BUL) respectively to with their first Zagreb Open titles. 

Daniel Aleksandrov erased a 7-0 opening-period deficit and scored eight unanswered points in the final period to upend returning world runner-up Emrah KUS (TUR), 8-7, in the 82kg Zagreb Open gold-medal bout. 

Aleksandrov trailed 7-0 after the first two minutes of action. He was dinged for passivity and thrown in par terre position, where Kus grabbed four-points from a reverse lift to control the 5-0 advantage. Aleksandrov found himself down 7-0 after Kus grabbed another two for exposure, but got on the board with a step out point and trailed 7-1 heading into the second period. 

The Bulgarian exploded for seven points in the closing three minutes and hung on to the 8-7 lead to knock off the clearly deflated returning world runner-up, 8-7.

In the 97kg finals, Ilia Borisov also knocked off a returning Budapest world runner-up to win his Zagreb Open title. Borisov, the lone Russian finalist, tossed around returning world runner-up Kiril MILOV (BUL) with ease and scored the 9-0 technical superiority victory in the opening period. 

Borisov grabbed the 1-0 lead after Milov was hit for passivity. The Russian went to work in par terre, throwing Milov for four points,  then used a pair of gut wrenches to close out the 97kg gold-medal match with a 9-0 technical superiority victory. 

Uzbekistan and Hungary Win Pair of Golds 

Islomjon BAKHRAMOV and Elmurat TASMURADOV handed Uzbekistan a pair of gold medals, while Robert Attila FRITSCH (HUN) and Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) won Hungary's two Zagreb Open titles. 

In the 63kg finals, Islomjon Bakhramov struck first with a four-point throw, but Xavier JOHNSON (USA) quickly scored a two-point exposure and cut the Uzbek's leads to 4-2. Bakhramov stayed offensive and scored a pair of takedowns and a gut wrench, ending the 63kg gold-medal match early with a 10-2 technical superiority victory. 

Elmurat Tasmuradov gave Uzbekistan their second gold medal of the day. Tasmuradov came out on fire in the opening seconds of 67kg finals and threw a huge headlock to secure the 4-0 lead over U23 and senior-level European champion Mihai MIHUT (ROU). Tasmuradov surrendered a step out point to the Romanian wrestler, but his first-period four-point throw was enough to give him the 4-1 victory. 

Robert Fritsch won Hungary's first gold medal of the night after Georgia's Ramaz ZOIDZE injury defaulted out of the 72kg finals. 

At 87kg, Viktor Lorincz grabbed a passivity point and a low-level gut and took the 3-0 lead over Kristoffer Zakarias BERG (SWE) into the second period. Lorincz gave up a passivity point but didn’t get turned and held on to the 3-1 decision over Berg, giving Hungary their second gold medal of the night. 

Kamal and Marvik Win Remaining Two Gold Medals 

There wasn't a 55kg gold-medal bout because it was a round-robin competition, so the final two gold medals went to Turkey's Kerem KAMAL  and Norway's Oskar MARVIK (NOR). 

In the 60kg gold-medal bout, two-time junior world champion Kerem Kamal handled Iran’s Milad REZANEZHAD from whistle-to-whistle and scored his first senior-level gold medal with the 9-3 victory, while Oskar Marvik used a first-period passivity point to defeat Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB), 1-0, in the 130kg finals.  

Results

Team Scores
GOLD - Turkey (132 points) 
SILVER - Uzbekistan (101 points) 
BRONZE - Croatia (91 points) 
Fourth - Bulgaria (85 points) 
Fifth - Hungary (83 points) 

55kg (Round-Robin) 
GOLD -   Poya Soulat DAD MARZ (IRI) 
SILVER - Ekrem OZTURK (TUR) 
BRONZE - Alexandru Vasile BOTEZ (ROU)

60kg 
GOLD - Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Milad Ali REZANEZHAD (IRI), 9-3

BRONZE - Erik TORBA (HUN) df. Virgil MUNTEANU (ROU), 3-3 
BRONZE -  Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO) df. Seunghak KIM (KOR), 4-3 

63kg 
GOLD - Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB) df. Xavier JOHNSON (USA), 10-2 

BRONZE -  Dawid Andrzej ERSETIC (POL) df. Irakli DZIMISTARISHVILI (GEO), 12-0 
BRONZE -  Firuz TUKHTAEV (UZB) df. Travis Michael RICE (USA), 9-0 

67kg
GOLD -  Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) df. Mihai Radu MIHUT (ROU), 4-1 

BRONZE - Enes BASAR (TUR) df. Morten THORESEN (NOR), 9-0
BRONZE - Ignazio SANFILIPPO (ITA) df. Danijel JANECIC (CRO), via injury default 

72kg
GOLD - Robert Attila FRITSCH (HUN)  df. Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO), via injury default

BRONZE - Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL) df. Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR), 3-1 
BRONZE - Mateusz Lucjan BERNATEK (POL) df. Mate NEMES (SRB), 3-1 

77kg
GOLD - Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO) df. Yunus BASAR (TUR), 2-1 

BRONZE - Mohammad Aziz NAGHOUSI (IRI) df. Ilie COJOCARI (ROU), 7-4 
BRONZE - Hyeonwoo KIM (KOR) df. Rafael IUNUSOV (RUS), 10-0 

82kg
GOLD - Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL) df. Emrah KUS (TUR), 8-7

BRONZE - Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) df. Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB), 2-1 
BRONZE - Karlo KODRIC (CRO) df. Aivengo RIKADZE (GEO), via injury default 

87kg
GOLD - Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) df. Kristoffer Zakarias BERG (SWE), 3-1 

BRONZE - Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL) df. Yoan Danielov DIMITROV (BUL), 6-3 
BRONZE - Arkadiusz Marcin KULYNYCZ (POL) df. Erik SZILVASSY (HUN), 4-3 

97kg
GOLD - Ilia BORISOV (RUS) df.  Kiril Milenov MILOV (BUL), 9-0 

BRONZE - Jahongir TURDIEV (UZB) df. Zsolt TOEROEK (HUN), 11-0
BRONZE - Tracy Gangelo HANCOCK (USA) df. Adam VARGA (HUN), 4-0 

130kg 
GOLD - Oskar MARVIK (NOR) df. Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) , 1-0 

BRONZE - Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ (CHI) df. Osman YILDIRIM (TUR), 5-1 
BRONZE - Miloslav Yuriev METODIEV (BUL) df. Marko KOSCEVIC (CRO), 5-1 

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open Best Move: Blades Suplex

Friday, February 14, 2025 - 15:22 By Vinay Siwach

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ZAGREB, Croatia (February 14) -- Kennedy BLADES (USA) is making the suplex her own. After thrilling a packed Champs de Mars Arena with a majestic suplex at the Paris Olympics, the 21-year-old star began her 2025 season with two of them at the Zagreb Open last week.

"When I get behind, in my mind, I am like I have to execute this because it's so rare to hit a suplex," Blades said in Zagreb. "So every time I get behind in matches or big stages, I try to hit the suplex. I want to do it at the world stage because I know it will be on the highlights."

At the Zagreb Open, Blades was at 68kg, two weight classes down from 76kg, in which she won the silver medal at the Paris Games. She debuted at 68kg with a fall over Kendra DACHER (FRA) and another fall over world bronze medalist Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE).

The first glimpse of her suplex in the match against Noémi SZABADOS (HUN). Close to a minute had gone in the bout when Blades used her reach for a outside single-leg. Instead of going for a takedown, she stood up and locked Szabados from behind and out came the throw.

However, the perfect arch was missing and it was awarded four points.

Blades wasn't satisfied. In Round 5 and leading 7-0, Blades countered Karolina POK (HUN) in a perfect set up for a suplex. Pok made a half-hearted attempt for a headlock but Blades snuck out and moved behind.

Pok knew it was coming. She did not resist and Blades did not relent. A picture-perfect arch, a beautiful throw, safe landing and a cheeky smile at the end. Blades was content.

"I just feel like when someone gets a headlock, they probably have to throw it really hard because growing up, I used to wrestle Greco in the summer," she said. "So my coach always taught us how to set up the suplex if they grab your head for a headlock and they don't go. When someone gets in a headlock position and they don't go super hard, then the suplex is there. If I would ever be in that position, I just go flat because I know that they can probably throw me. "

While it has become relatively easy for Blades to throw her opponents at 68kg, she still needs to tackle their speed and movement.

"I think at 68kg, the girls just feel lighter and that's what makes it a tiny bit easier," she said. "The difference though is that they wrestle a little bit more so my conditioning and footwork needs to be better. Whereas at 76kg, they're kind of hand fighting. It's more like strength. But at 68kg, it's speed and technique. It's hard to distinguish if it's easier or not, but I think the fact that I was able to lift the girls up easy was the best thing ever."

The suplex isn't new to Blades. She performed one at the U20 World Championships back in 2021, then at the Olympics and now in Zagreb. However, Blades picks the one in Paris as the best one so far.

"The best suplex is probably my Olympic one because that was straight back on her neck, on the Olympic stage, first match." she said. "I was on fire. I kind of want to see that the suplex I just hit because I think it was pretty nice. But the Olympic one is so hard to beat and I was in a pink singlet."