Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! May 14, 2019

By Eric Olanowski

Discussing next week's Sassari City Matteo Pellicone Memorial, along with results from the International Ukrainian Tournament, and the Beach Wrestling World Series. Also looking at Gadzhimagomedov's surgery and the latest set of Greco-Roman rankings. 

1. Sassari City Matteo Pellicone Memorial Begins Next Thursday 
United World Wrestling’s third Ranking Series event of the year, the Sassari City Matteo Pellicone Memorial, is just over a week away. It’ll be the first-ever Ranking Series event which will feature freestyle, Greco-Roman, and women’s wrestling under one roof. 

The three-day tournament, which begins on May 23, will take place 655km west of Rome on the Italian island destination of Sardinia. The thought of wrestling with the breeze of the Tyrrhenian Sea on your back has intrigued some of the sports biggest stars to sign up for the event. Though registration is not official until 24 hours before the first whistle, here are some of the stars that fans can expect to see in Sardinia: 

GR 77kg - KIM Hyeonwoo (KOR) – Olympic champion
FS 70kg - Soslan RAMONOV (RUS) – Olympic champion 
WW 76kg - Erica WIEBE (CAN) – Olympic champion
WW 72kg - Anna FRANSSON (SWE) – Olympic bronze
FS 74kg - Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) –  Two-time world champion 
GR 67kg - 
RYU Hansu (KOR) – World champion 
WW 76kg - Aline ROTTER FOCKEN (GER) – World champion
WW 55kg - Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR) – World champion
WW 55kg - Sofia MATTSSON (SWE) – World champion
GR 77kg - Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) – World runner-up 
FS 74kg - Khetik TSABALOV (RUS) - World runner-up 
FS 65kg - Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS) – Two-time world silver 
GR 87kg -Erik SZILVASSY (HUN) – U23 World champion 
WW 57kg - Grace Jacob BULLEN (NOR) – U23 World champion
FS 57kg - Suleyman ATLI (TUR) – Ranked No. 1 at 57kg 
FS 68kg - Fatih ERDIN (TUR) – Ranked No. 1 at 86kg

SCHEDULE

2. Brazilian Women, Georgian Men Sweep Beach Gold in Rio
Brazilian funk music thumped Saturday afternoon as four of the nation’s beach wrestling women captured gold at the second stop of the Beach Wrestling World Series (BWWS). The Brazilian side, who laughed and danced their way to the unlikely quadruple gold also each collected 1000 CHF for winning their respective weight classes at the event.

Kamila BARBOSA (50kg), Camila FAMA (60kg), Brenda AGUIAR DOS SANTOS (70kg), and Aline DA SILVA FERREIRA (BRA) each cruised their way to gold over the course of the two-day event, creating a buzz among the hometown crowd.

Also similar to the first stop, four Georgians made the finals of the event, only this time all four Georgians managed to take home top billing.

Click here for Tim Foley’s full Beach Wrestling wrap. 

3. Nine Europeans Ranked First in Latest Greco-Roman World Rankings
United World Wrestling has released their latest point-based Greco-Roman world rankings, and European nations own nine of the ten top spots heading into the final pair of Ranking Series events before the Nur-Sultan World Championships.

Even more impressive, the Russian Federation owns five of Europe’s nine top-spots. The five No. 1-ranked Russian wrestlers are Sergey EMELIN (60kg), Stepan MARYANYAN (63kg), Artem SURKOV (67kg), Musa EVLOEV (97kg), and Sergey SEMENOV (130kg). 

In addition to the Russian-five, Azerbaijan’s Eldaniz AZIZLI (55kg), Germany’s Frank STAEBLER (72kg) , Turkey’s Emrah KUS (82kg), and Ukraine’s Zhan BELENIUK (87kg) also hold the top spot at their respective weight classes. 

The lone non-European top-ranked wrestler is Korea’s  Olympic champion Hyeonwoo KIM who is ranked No. 1 at 77kg.

Click here for full breakdown of Greco-Roman rankings.

4. Gadzhimagomedov Undergoes Surgery After European C'ship Injury 
Russia’s reigning 79kg world bronze medalist Akhmed GADZHIMAGOMEDOV underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus and cruciate ligament in his right knee – but he's expected to make a full recovery before July’s Russian National Championships, where he's expected to move down to 74kg.

Gadzhimagomedov hurt his right knee in the closing seconds of the first period in his European Championship semifinals bout against Oleksii DOMANYTSKYI (UKR). Gadzhimagomedov stopped an arm spin attempt and went down in pain, grabbing his right knee. He was up 3-0 at that point and continued wrestling on one knee in the second period. The Russian scored a pair of heroic takedowns, and ultimately won the bout, 7-0. 

But, Gadzhimagomedov medically forfeited out of his finals match against reigning world runner-up Jabrayil HASANOV (AZE) and settled for a silver medal. 

Olena KREMZER (UKR) defeated Anzhelina LYSAK (UKR) to win the 59kg title. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

5. International Ukrainian Tournament Concludes in Kiev
The International Ukrainian Tournament wrapped up in Kiev, Ukraine, and according to sources in the Ukrainian Wrestling Federation, the host nation will use last weekend’s results as the determining factor for June’s European Games. The highest placing Ukrainian wrestler at each weight will represent their nation in Minsk, Belarus, at the 2019 European Games. 

Of the nine gold medals up for grabs (no entries at 72kg), Ukrainian wrestlers won seven of those nine titles. Arguably, the most notable upset of the tournament came at 57kg, where Irina KHARIV (UKR) shocked reigning European runner-up Tatyana KIT (UKR) to steal the European Games spot. 

Additionally, European champions Alla CHERKASOVA (68kg) and Iryna HUSYAK (55kg), and European runner-up Lilya HORISHNA (53kg), sat out of last weekend’s competition. It’s not clear if they’ve done enough to automatically grant themselves a spot in the lineup at the European Games, or there will be a special wrestle-off prior to June's competition.

Japan’s Miyuu NAKAMURA (50kg) and Vasilisa MARZALIUK (76kg) were the two non-Ukrainian wrestlers who reached the top of the podium in their respective weight classes. 

Nakamura, the 2016 junior world champion, upset returning world bronze medalist No.2-ranked Oksana LIVACH (UKR) in the 50kg finals. In her finals, No. 19 Vasilisa Marzaliuk defeated Ukraine’s European Championship representative Alla BELINSKAYA in the 76kg gold-medal bout. 

Results

50kg    
GOLD - Miyuu NAKAMURA (JPN)
SILVER - Oksana LIVACH (UKR)  
BRONZE Anna LUKASIAK (POL)
BRONZE - Maria VINNIK (UKR)

53kg
GOLD - Yuliia BLAHINYA (UKR)  
SILVER - Kristina BEREZA(UKR)
BRONZE - Paula KOZLOV (POL)
BRONZE - Maria PPREVOLARAKL (GRE)

55kg
GOLD - Alina AKOBIYAN (UKR)  
SILVER - Zalina SIDAKOVA (BLR)           
BRONZE - Khristina DEMKO (UKR)

57kg
GOLD - Irina KHARIV (UKR)         
SILVER - Tatyana KIT (UKR)          
BRONZE - Irina KURCHKINA (BLR)

59kg    
GOLD - Olena KREMZER (UKR)    
SILVER - Anzhelina LYSAK (UKR)            
BRONZE - Sofia BODNAR (UKR)

62kg    
GOLD - Yulia TKACH (UKR)                                              

65kg    
GOLD - Irina KOLIADENKO (UKR)          
SILVER - Tatyana RYSHKO (UKR)
BRONZE - Anastasia LAVRENCHUK (UKR)

68kg    
GOLD - Kristina BEREZA (UKR)                                        

72kg                                                                        
No Competition 

76kg    
GOLD - Vasilisa MARZALIUK (BLR)        
SILVER - Alla BELINSKAYA (UKR)         
BRONZE - Irina PASICHNIK (UKR)

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media 

1. Big Move Monday -- DATUNASHVILI Z. (GEO) -- 2015 European Games
2. Talk about earning the No.1 ranking in the world? Here’s @koreawrestlingfederation ‘s Olympic champion and No.1-ranked (at 77kg) KIM Hyeonwoo’s (71 points) resume since the World Championships: 
World Championships:? Asian Championships:? Zagreb Open:? Hungarian GP:? 
3. The Hungarian head-scratcher. 
Who should Hungary ?? enter into the #WrestleNurSultan World Championships at 87kg?
No. 3 Erik SZILVASSY - U23 ??and European?or No. 5 Viktor LORINCZ - 2x ??, Hungarian GP and Zagreb Open ?. Lorincz is 2-0 against Szilvassy in 2019
4. Saturday smiles with No. 5 RYU Hansu ??. ?: @sachikohotaka
5. Hungary’s ?? reigning world champion Peter BACSI has retired since winning world gold on home soil - meaning the 82kg seeds (as of now) at the #WrestleNurSultanWorld Championships will be: 
No. 1 - Emrah KUS ??.
No. 2 - @saeid.abdovali68 ??.
No. 3 - Viktar SASUNOUSKI ??.
No. 4 - @bisultanov_077 ??.

Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! February 19, 2019

By Eric Olanowski

Previewing this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix and reviewing results from the 25th Annual Klippan Lady Open. Also looking at Makhmudov's injury,  Ramonov's return, and Magomed Kurbanaliev opening up his sports school in Dagestan.

1. Hungarian Grand Prix Begins This Weekend 
Azerbaijan's reigning world champion Eldaniz AZIZLI headlines a Hungarian Grand Prix field of over 175 wrestlers from 25 different nations which boasts an impressive eight returning world medalists (listed in bold in below link).

Though they only enter three wrestlers, Azerbaijan has arguably the most successful team in the tournament. Their three entries are Azizli, Rasul CHUNAYEV, and Sabah SHARIATI. 

Azizli is coming off a run to his first world title and is the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the world at 55kg, while Chunayev and Shariati both hold Rio Olympic bronze medals. 

Chunayev, who's 25 points is good enough for the No. 4-ranking in the world at 72kg has three world medals to go along with his Rio bronze-medal finish. In 2015, he won the world title and grabbed bronze medals at the 2014 and 2018 world championships.

The last Azeri entry is Sabah Shariati, who will be making his 2019 season debut at 130kg. 

Korea and Serbia are two other nations that enter stacked squads into the second Ranking Series event of the year.

Korea's team features Olympic champion KIM Hyeonwoo, two-time world champion RYU Hansu, and reigning 130kg world bronze medalist KIM Minseok. 

Kim Hyeonwoo brings 25 Ranking Series points into the Hungarian Grand Prix and is ranked third in the world after a bronze-medal finish at last weekend's Zagreb Open. 

Kim Minseok, the fifth-ranked wrestler in the world at 130kg, is looking to bounce back after failing to medal at the Zagreb Open, and two-time world champion Ryu Hansu will make his season debut at 67kg. 

Viktor NEMES, the 2017 world champion and reigning world bronze medalist Mihail KAJALA lead Serbia's team into the second Ranking Series event of the year. Both wrestlers are ranked fourth in the world at 77kg and 97kg respectively. 

The Hungarian Grand Prix begins on February 23 at the Olimpiai Sportpark in Gyor, Hungary.

Click here for full list of entries. 

Schedule 

Friday (February 22) 
Till 12:00 - Final entries for GR cat. 55, 63, 72, 82, 97 kg
15:00 - Referee meeting
16:00 - Technical conference – all teams 
17:00 - Draw – GR cat. 55, 63, 72, 82, 97 kg

Saturday (February 23) 
08:00 - Medical examination & Weigh-in for GR cat. 55, 63, 72, 82, 97kg
10:00 - Qualification rounds and repechage for GR cat. 55, 63, 72, 82, 97kg
Till 12:00 - Final entries/ Inscriptions définitives pour GR cat. 60, 67, 77, 87, 130kg
16:30 - Draw – GR cat. 60, 67, 77, 87, 130kg
17:00 - Opening Ceremony 
18:00 - Finals for GR cat. 55, 63, 72, 82, 97kg Award ceremonies 

Sunday (February 24) 
8.30- Medical examination & Weigh-in for GR cat. 60, 67, 77, 87, 130kg
10.00 - Qualification rounds and repechage for GR cat. 60, 67, 77, 87, 130kg
16.00 - Finals for GR cat. 60, 67, 77, 87, 130kg and Award ceremonies

Monday (February 25) 
Departure of the delegations

China's reigning world champion NINGNING Rong grabbed her first Klippan Lady Open title. (Photo: Martin Gábor )

2. China Wins Four Golds at 25th Annual Klippan Lady Open 
The 25th Annual Klippan Lady Open, one of the oldest all women's wrestling tournaments in the world, took place in Sweden last weekend and four different nations had wrestlers claim a gold medal, but it was China who led the way with a quartet of gold medalists. 

China’s 2018 world champion Rong NINGNING and Rio Olympic bronze medalist YANAN Sun (CHN) were the leaders of the Chinese squad that had four champions. 

Rong, who made her first Klippan Lady Open appearance, won the 57kg gold medal, while Sun improved on her 2015 fifth-place finish by winning the 50kg title. 

The other two Chinese champions were FENG Zhou (CHN) and JUAN Wang (CHN). The pair won the 68kg and 76kg championships respectively. 

The host nation of Sweden finished with the second most gold medalists, grabbing a trio of titles. 

Jenny FRANSSON, Sweden's 2016 Rio bronze medalist, won her second consecutive 72kg Klippan Lady Open title and third overall while making her tenth Lady Open appearance. 

The other two Swedish wrestlers who won gold medals were Moa NYGREN (SWE) Henna JOHANSSON (SWE). 

Nygren, who was wrestling in her fifth Klippan Lady Open had never placed higher than eight before winning the 62kg title on Sunday. 

Johansson finally got over the hump and claimed a Klippan Lady Open title after nine previous attempts. 

Japan grabbed two titles and Russia rounded out the winners with a solo gold medalist.

Umi IMAI (JPN) and Sena NAGAMOTO (JPN) won the 53kg and 55kg gold medals respectively, while Russia’s Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS) won the last gold medal, which came at 59kg. 

RESULTS

50kg 
GOLD - YANAN Sun (CHN) 
SILVER -  Remina YOSHIMOTO (JPN)
BRONZE - Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (RUS) 
BRONZE -  Iwona MATKOWSKA (POL)

53kg 
GOLD -  Umi IMAI (JPN)
SILVER -  QIANYU Pang CHN)
BRONZE - Annika WENDLE (GER) 
BRONZE - Ekaterina POLESHCHUK (RUS)

55kg 
GOLD - Sena NAGAMOTO (JPN) 
SILVER -  Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR) 
BRONZE - Diana WEICKER (CAN) 

BRONZE -  Marina SIMONYAN (RUS)

57kg 
GOLD - NINGNING Rong (CHN)
SILVER -  Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) 
BRONZE - Roksana ZASINA (POL)
BRONZE -  Ramóna GALAMBOS (HUN)

59kg 
GOLD - Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS) 
SILVER -  Pei XINGRU (CHN)
BRONZE - Lauren LOUIVE (USA) 
BRONZE - Emma JOHANSSON (SWE)

62kg
GOLD - Moa NYGREN (SWE)
SILVER -   Jessica BROUILLETTE (CAN)
BRONZE - Veranika IVANOVA (BLR) 
BRONZE -  JUAN Kang (CHN)

65kg
GOLD -  Henna JOHANSSON (SWE)
SILVER -   Gabriella SLEISZ (HUN)
BRONZE - Kriszta INCZE (ROM)
BRONZE - Naomi RUIKE (JPN)

68kg (One bronze) 
GOLD - FENG Zhou (CHN)
SILVER -  Natalia KHRAMENKOVA (RUS) 
BRONZE - Alena SUKHAREVA (RUS)

72kg 
GOLD -  Jenny FRANSSON (SWE) 
SILVER -  CHUCHU Yan (CHN)
BRONZE - Yuka KAGAMI (JPN)

BRONZE - Tatiana KOLENIKOVA (RUS)

76kg 
GOLD - JUAN Wang (CHN)
SILVER -   Epp MAE (EST) 
BRONZE - Masako FURUICHI (JPN) 

BRONZE -  Francy RADELT (GER)

3. Kyrgyzstan’s Makhumdov to miss Two Months
The future of Kyrgyzstani Greco-Roman wrestling Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) is set to have surgery to repair torn ligaments in his left knee and is expecting to miss at least two months. 

Makhmudov told United World Wrestling that he will depart Kyrgyzstan on February 18 and will travel to Germany where he'll have surgery February 20. 

The 19-year-old expects to return to the mat in mid-April and projects that he'll compete at the September’s Astana World Championships, which are seven months away. 

If you’re not familiar with Makhmudov, he’s the three-time age-level Greco-Roman world medalist who introduced himself to the senior level by forging an 8-6 win over Paris 2017 world silver medalist Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ) in the 72kg Asian finals. That match, which took place in Bishkek Kyrgyzstan’s Kozhomkul Sports Palace, was voted United World Wrestling's Greco-Roman Match of the Year. 

In his memorable post-match interview, Makhmudov thanked the Kyrgyzstani fans for their support, saying, "When I heard it, I thought, 'I can die here on the floor, but I will still win. This win will be for them.'"

4. Olympic Champion Ramonov Returns After Three-Month Layoff 
Rio Olympic champion Soslan RAMONOV (RUS) returned to the mat for the first time since undergoing spinal surgery in early November to correct a back issue that has long troubled him. 

Ramonov told United World Wrestling, “I’ve returned to the mat. I’m going to wrestle at the Russian National Championships and possibly the World Championships.” (The dates for this year's Russian National Championships have not been announced, but they're usually one month before the World Championships so we can expect them to be in late July or early August.)  

Last November, Ramonov told UWW, “It’s true that I had an operation on my back, but I’ve already got back to work and started physical therapy. I expect to return to the mat in January, and hopefully enter a tournament at 65kg closer to the fall.” 

Ramonov's November announcement that he's dropping back down to 65kg should raise eyebrows of wrestling fans around the world because the Russian was arguably the most dominant wrestler in the world during his run to the 65kg Rio Olympic gold medal. On that run, he outscored his Olympic opponents 53-11 and thumped the returning Olympic champion Toghrul ASGAROV (AZE) 11-0 in the gold-medal bout.

But, since his title-winning performance in Rio, Ramonov hasn't been the same and a big reason is that he bumped up to 70kg. While up at 70kg, Ramonov has failed to make it back on the Russian world team in back-to-back years after earning medals at three consecutive World Championships and Olympic Games. 

For a healthy Ramonov to represent Russia in Astana, he'll have to make a run in one of the countries deepest weight classes. The 65kg weight class in Russia houses returning 65kg world bronze medalist Akhmed Chakaev (RUS), returning two-time 61kg world runner-up Gazhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS) and Yariguin runner-up Nachyin KUULAR. 

5. Kurbanaliev Opens Up Wrestling School in Dagestan  
Russia’s 2016 world champion Magomed KURBANALIEV recently opened the doors to his namesake sports facility, the Kurbanaliev Sports School, which is “located high in the mountains of Dagestan, in the village of Bezhta that's in the Tsunta district.” 

“This sports school is located in my small homeland, where I was born and raised,” said Kurbanaliev. 

The reigning European champion went further, saying he aspired to open the school because “We did not have the right conditions for normal training, and there was only a small room and a mat. Our youth had no place to train, and I understand them.” 

In addition to freestyle wrestling, the Kurbanaliev Sports School will also be a practice facility for students training boxing, sambo, and volleyball. 

The gym is currently open for wrestling practices, but Kurbanaliev won't officially celebrate the grand opening until the summer. “The official opening will take place in the summer, and now training has begun in various sports.” 

For more information about the Kurbanaliev Sports School, please visit the school’s official Instagram account. 

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media 

1. Big Move Monday -- Rəsul Çunayev (AZE) -- 2018 Dan Kolov
2. Sunday Smiles ?. ?: Lu Marin
3. #ScoreThat - Who do you think scored on this exchange? Was it red or was it blue? (Find out by watching the full match, which is linked in our bio).
4. We traveled to Puerto Rico with members of the USA Women’s national team as they took part in a 10-day training camp on the island. Video: Lu Marin @ Lu Marin Creative
5. Four days until the #HungarianGP2019 .