#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open Ranking Series day five finals set

Sunday, February 5, 2023 - 07:27 By Vinay Siwach

Share this article

ZAGREB, Croatia (February 5) -- The fifth and final day of the Zagreb Open will be all Greco-Roman. Six weight classes will be in action. A few big names trying to win the gold and the 1500 Swiss Francs that are on offer here.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

Here are the results of the semifinals

55kg
Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB) df. Denis Florin MIHAI (ROU), 3-1
Poya DAD MARZ (IRI) df. Mohammad JAVAHERI (IRI), via fall

60kg
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE) df. Razvan ARNAUT (ROU), 3-3
Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) df. Maito KAWANA (JPN), 7-0

72kg
Sajjad IMENTALABFOUMANI (IRI) df. Robert FRITSCH (HUN), 3-1
Selcuk CAN (TUR) df. Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA), 5-2

97kg
Kiril MILOV (BUL) df. Mihail KAJAIA (SRB), via inj. def.
Tamas LEVAI (HUN) df. Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED), 3-3

130kg
Oscar PINO (CUB) df. Amir GHASEMIMONJEZI (IRI), 8-0
Oskar MARVIK (NOR) df. Lingzhe MENG (CHN), 3-0 

14:30: Tamas LEVAI (HUN) moves into the final at 97kg. What a debut for him. Tryone STERKENBURG (NED) got a roll from par terre to lead 3-0 but Levai scored a front head pinch for two to lead 3-3 and win the semifinal. 

14:00: That got a little heated. Mihail KAJAIA (SRB) got the passivity against Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB) and got the turn as well from par terre. The referee calls for a leg foul and Assakalov challenges the call. Leg foul confirmed with Kajaia leading 6-0. The bout restarts in par terre and Kajaia gets the turn and the win.

13:45: A highly competitive bout between Tamas LEVAI (HUN) and Felix BALDAUF (NOR). Both traded passivity points but Levai had the criteria. Balduaf got the par terre for the third passivity but as he was turning Levai, got pinned.

13:15: Another technical superiority win for Oscar PINO (CUB) at 130kg. He looks on a mission. Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN) had no answer to Pino's class 

12:55: Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED) with a very confident run at 97kg. He reaches the semifinal with a 5-1 win over Daniel GASTL (AUT). Just the performance he needed to start this important season

12:30: The bout which may have a lot of say when Azerbaijan will select its team for the European Championships. Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE) beats Murad MAMMADOV (AZE) 6-2 and now the youngster will be the preferred choice for the championships.

12:10: Flex BALDAUF (NOR) with an arm throw against Zamir MAGOMEDOV (AZE) before winning 9-0. Baldauf brought it out of nowhere.

12:00: Oscar PINO (CUB) is wrestling Temurbek NASIMOV (UZB) at 130kg. He starts with a stepout before getting passivity. A toll and a four-point to finish the bout 8-0.

11:50: U23 world champion Poya DAD MARZ (IRI) is in a Nelson system at 55kg. In Round 1 he begins with a hard-fought 5-2 win against Artiom DELEANU (MDA).

11:30: The 97kg weight class has a large number of participants. World silver medalist Kiril MILOV (BUL) is also wrestling. He warms up with some calm wrestling in the first period before winning 10-1 against Murat LOKIAYEV (AZE). 

11:15: Making a big jump in weight classes, Tamas LEVAI (HUN), who was at 77kg just over a year ago, wins his first bout at 97kg at Zagreb Open. He beats Vilius LAURINAITIS (LTU) via fall.

11:00: Amir Ali ABDI (IRI), one of the favorites to win the 72kg, begins with a 6-0 win over Valentin PETIC (MDA).

10:30: Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB), after all these years, has still got it. He rolls to a 9-0 win over Mario VUKOVIC (SRB) at 97kg. In another bout, Felix BALDAUF (NOR) beats Markus RAGGINGER (AUT), 5-0

10:10: Daniel GASTL (AUT) with an early upset. He wins 2-1 against former world silver medalist Alex SZOKE (HUN) at 97kg. He got the second passivity and another point for Szoke's lost challenge

10:00: The final day at Zagreb Open! Big names from Greco-Roman wrestling are on the mat. 55kg, 60kg, 72kg, 82kg, 97kg and 130kg.

Development

Croatia continues to Train and Develop their Coaches and Referees

Tuesday, June 3, 2025 - 11:05 By United World Wrestling Press

Share this article

POREC, Croatia (June 3) – The Croatian Wrestling Federation continues to add educational activities for their coaches and referees. The previous year, they hosted a Level 2 course on the Introduction to Practice Planning. This year they organized a Level 3 coaching course on Periodization and Coaching Philosophy.  They also organized a Level 1 – Introduction to Referee course for their younger national referees. This year’s courses were conducted on 21-24 May in the beautiful city of Porec and was done in conjunction with Olympic Solidarity and United World Wrestling. 

The coaching course was led by UWW Educator Mr. Nenad Žugaj (CRO).  During the course, the 26 participants developed a better understanding of how periodization works when designing training sessions.  They were able to integrate those concepts and design their own plans.  The participants also focused on developing a coaching philosophy that they can use with their teams.

“The participants were active, I think they relaxed more and more every day and thus became more creative in their answers. I am pleased with the energy that prevailed and the positivity of the participants through jokes but also more serious topics.” said Mr. Žugaj  Eric, one of the coach participants said, “’I really liked the course and I would like to see such educations held more often. I especially liked how we, the coaches and referees, had joint lectures and assignments and were able to give opinions and views from different perspectives. I am looking forward to the next Level 4 course.”

CROParticipants look on doing the education courses held in Croaita during the final week of May. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

The referee course was led by UWW Educator Ms. Edit Dozsa (ITA). The course had 13 participants who focused on the fundamentals of being a good referee.  They focused on the evaluation of holds, how to properly start and end matches, proper referee mechanics, and keeping the athletes safe during bouts.  The referee participants were able to practice their skills through simulated matches and practical assessments. 

Both the coaches and referees had some working sessions together. They were able to analyze the roles of the coaches and of the referees. This helps give them a better understanding of the jobs that they do. They also discussed the importance of athlete safeguarding in wrestling.

“The cooperation with the educators Edit and Nenad was very good and successful. I visited the lectures on a couple of occasions and found them to be educational and interesting. The feedback from our coaches and judges was positive.” said Tin Bregović.

The Croatian Wrestling Federation also hosted a competition at the end of the courses. This competition allowed the coaches and referees to practice some of the skills that they had just learned during the course.