#ChinaOpen2018

World Champion Mukaida Headlines Day One China Open Finals

Friday, June 22, 2018 - 07:02 By Eric Olanowski

Share this article

TAIYUAN, China (June 22) – China, Japan, and Russia each qualified three wrestlers for the opening day finals at the China Open, United World Wrestling's third Ranking Series event of the year. Romania’s world finalist Alina VUC (ROU) claimed the tenth and final spot in the day one finals at the Shanxi Sports Center in Taiyuan, China. 

The top match-up of Friday night’s finals comes at 55kg where Japan’s 2016 world champion Mayu MUKAIDA will take on China’s 2018 Ivan Yarygin champion, ZHANG Qi.

Zhang finished the morning session with two wins, including a knockoff win over Korea’s fifth-ranked OH Hyemin who was the silver medalist at this year's Asian Championships. 

Another gold-medal match-up to keep an eye on is the 57kg championship bout between second ranked RONG Ningning (CHN) and Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS).

Rong, who is making her third finals appearance of the year will look to remain unblemished after capturing gold medals at the Ivan Yarygin and Asian Championships. Rong also went undefeated at the 2018 World Cup. 

The Chinese wrestler will have her hands full with Russia's Mongolia Open third-place finisher Olga Khoroshavtseva. In her opening round match-up, Khoroshavtseva picked up a 9-7 come-from-behind win after trailing Romania's Katerina ZHYDACHEVSKA 7-0 in the first period. She followed up that first round win with a 10-0 routing of Korea's UM JiEun. 

The finals are expected to begin shortly after the opening ceremony which begins at 6:00 PM local time. 

#ChinaOpen2018 Medal Match-ups 
50kg 
GOLD – Alina VUC (ROU) vs. ZHU Jiang (CHN) 

BRONZE - Aktenge KEUNIMYAEVA (UZB) vs. Dauletbike YAKHSHIMURATOVA (UZB) 

53kg 
GOLD – Ekaterina POLESHCHUK (RUS) vs. YUI MIYAHARA (JPN) 

BRONZE – PANG Qianyu (CHN) vs. LOU Lannuan (CHN) 
BRONZE – Mercedesz DENES (HUN) vs. LIU Yujiao (CHN) 

55kg 
GOLD – ZHANG Qi (CHN) vs. Mayu MAKAIDA (JPN) 

BRONZE – OH Hyemin (KOR) vs. Ramona GALAMBOS (HUN) 
BRONZE – Zalina SIDAKOVA (BLR) vs. OUYANG Junling (CHN) 

57kg
GOLD – RONG Ningning (CHN) vs. Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS) 

BRONZE – Kateryna ZHYDACHEVSKA (ROU) vs. UM Jieun (KOR)  

59kg
GOLD – Veronika CHUMIKOVA (RUS) vs. Yuzuru KUMANO (JPN) 

BRONZE – Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) vs. WANG Yuan (CHN) 
BRONZE – SUN Xinyuan (CHN) vs. ZHANG Yue (CHN) 

#WrestleBratislava

Adar, the woman of firsts in Turkiye wrestling, retires

Friday, April 11, 2025 - 09:17 By Vinay Siwach

Share this article

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (April 10) -- Turkiye's first-ever Olympic medalist, first-ever world and European champion in Women's Wrestling, Yasemin ADAR (TUR)retired Thursday after 16 years of international wrestling.

A winner of seven gold medals at the European Championships did not have a fairytale ending as she lost the 76kg final against Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) on Thursday at the European Championships in Bratislava.

Despite the loss, Adar undoubtedly retires the trailblazer in Women's Wrestling for Turkiye. In 2016, she won her first European title to create history before adding the world title in 2017. In 2021, she became the first Turkish wrestler in Women's Wrestling to win the bronze medal when she pinned Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ) to claim the medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

"I had an incredible career in the 76kg category," Adar said after the European Championships final. "I had many successes and many firsts. I became a two-time world champion. I was at the Olympics with bronze medal. So I have an incredibly beautiful career and I am proud of myself. I can't believe it. It's very difficult to describe. I am very emotional today."

Adar, who had tears in her eyes while was taking off her shoes on the mat to mark her retirement, is aptly called the "woman of firsts" in Türkiye. With her teammates and family in the stands cheering for her, the final match became even more emotional for Adar.

"I finished my wrestling and believe me it was not easy at all," she said. "I even rehearsed it many times before coming here. I said this is where I will finish my career. In my speech, I always wanted to be considered as the legend of 76kilograms. This match was more nervous for me. I had planned it beforehand, I knew that this match was the last match. Even though I couldn't earn the gold medal, I ended it with silver. But believe me, there are really great successes in my career."

On how she came to the decision of retiring at the European Championships, Adar was clear that she wanted to pass on the baton to the younger generation.

"Even if you don't want it, wrestling starts to leave you," she said. "Although there are those who say I am very good, I try to compare it to a situation like this. I am 34-years-old with an 18-year-old athlete and unfortunately we cannot have the same performance."