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Zagreb Open Ranking Series day four finals set

Saturday, February 4, 2023 - 09:08 By Vinay Siwach

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ZAGREB, Croatia (February 4) -- The Zagreb Open Ranking Series enters its fourth day with four women's wrestling and two Greco-Roman weight classes. A huge crop of talent is competing at 67kg including Olympic champion Luis ORTA (CUB) who won the gold at 60kg in Tokyo.

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15:00: Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE) is so good. Iman Hossein Khoon MOHAMMADI (IRI) tried every trick he had but failed to break Mammadov's defense. The Azerbaijan wrestlers wins 4-4 and reaches the 63kg final.

14:35: Yelena MAKOYED (USA) is quickly becoming a threat at 76kg. She beats Dymond GUILFORD (USA) 12-2 to reach the final. If she can win domestically, she will have a chance to qualify for the Paris Olympics. But Adeline GRAY (USA) is standing on that path.

14:20: Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ) with a fall over Juan WANG (CHN). She moves into the 76kg final and will face the winner of Yelena MAKOYED (USA) vs. Dymond GUILFORD (USA).

14:00: HUSIYUETU (CHN) with the upset of the tournament as he wins 13-4 over Luis ORTA (CUB). Perhaps Orta was pushed to the limits by Jafarov and Sohrabi in the previous. But here he was helpless. Husiyuetu got the par terre advantage and trapped one of Orta's arms and scored via exposure. Nothing much Orta could do there. This also means that a Jafarov vs Sohrabi rematch won't take place.

13:40: Helen MAROULIS (USA) up against Patrycja GIL (POL) at 57kg. Gil with a takedown and tries to pin but Maroulis with excellent defense. Gil leads 4-0. Maroulis scores stepout to cut the lead to 4-3. A takedown just before the break for Gil. She begins the second period with a counter takedown and it's 8-3 for Gil who is struggling to keep up. Maroulis takedown on the edge to make it 8-5 with around a minute remaining. Gil with another spin behind and it's 10-5 for her. Maroulis will take a 10-5 loss at 57kg.

13:15: The quarterfinals at GR 63kg

Samuel JONES (USA) vs. Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Shermukhammad SHARIBJANOV (UZB) vs. Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE)
Perica DIMITRIJEVIC (SRB) vs. Iman Hossein Khoon MOHAMMADI (IRI)
SAGAR (IND) vs. Aref Hossein Khoun MOHAMMADI (IRI) 

12:50: Luis ORTA (CUB) is on a roll here. After beating Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE), he now takes out Daniel SOHRABI (IRI). Sohrabi got a stepout and passivity point in the first period but Orta managed to escape. As the pressure built, Sohrabi tried pushing Orta out but a head pinch from Orta resulted in four points. Sohrabi was penalized for keeping his head low. Orta on 6-2.

12:30: Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ) with a resounding win over KIRAN (IND) at 76kg. She got the cradle to fall to move into the quarterfinals.

12:10: Sae NANJO (JPN) with a technical superiority win over  Alexandria TOWN (CAN). She is on course to wrestle Maroulis in what can prove to be a blockbuster.

12:05: Helen MAROULIS (USA) was checked by Laylokhon SOBIROVA (UZB) as the latter scored the first takedown on her but she quickly fizzled out. Maroulis quickly turned up and won her opening bout at 57kg 11-2.

11:45: Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) with those perfect low singles against Lucia YEPEZ GUZMAN (ECU). Despite all the tricks in her bag, Yepez has no idea how to deal with the phenom named Fujinami, who rolls to another technical superiority win at 53kg

11:36: Daniel SHORABI (IRI) is an absolute master at his craft. The young star gets Sylla into positions of no return. Shorabi scores three takedowns in his 10-2 win over Sylla.

11:35: Luis ORTA (CUB) hands Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) a 5-1 loss. He scores from par terre and two stepouts while Jafarov, despite getting the passivity point, fails to break Orta's defense.

11:20: Two big Greco-Roman bouts on adjacent mats. Luis ORTA (CUB) is wrestling Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE). Danial SOHRABI (IRI) is up against Mamadassa SYLLA (FRA). Both bouts are at 67kg. 

11:15: That has to be the calmest performance ever! Sumire NIIKURA (JPN) was trailing REETIKA (IND) 4-0 with 10 seconds remaining. With no signs of panic, Niikura used a head-pinched Reetika twice to win 4-4. So clutch.

10:55: Ningning RONG (CHN), competing for the first time since the Tokyo Olympics, could not get going in that bout against Patrycja GIL (POL). Shabby defense from Rong each time they got into scrambles and Gil built a 5-0 lead. Rong switched gears one in the final minute, scoring two takedowns but that was too little too late. 

10:40: A fall for Sam STEWART (CAN) over world champion Dominique PARRISH (USA) at 53kg. Parrish was going for the single leg and seems like her knee hit the mat before she could finish the move and lost her balance. Stewart kept Parrish on the back for the fall.

10:30: Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) looks like she was never off the mat. A dominant 10-0 win over Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL) at 53kg. Fujinami last competed internationally at the Asian Championships and has been struggling with a few injuries.

10:15: Tokyo Olympic champion Luis ORTA (CUB) makes his debut at 67kg and begins with a win! A combination of big throws and pushouts gives him a 9-1 victory over Karanjit SINGH (IND).

10:00: Welcome to a very windy day here in Zagreb! The wrestlers are ready for another long day of wrestling. The return of Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) to international competition since the Asian Championships in April last year is the biggest story of the day.

#wrestlebishkek

#WrestleBishkek: Ravi returns with golden aim

Friday, May 26, 2023 - 11:51 By Vinay Siwach

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NEW DELHI, India (May 16) -- Three months back, Ravi KUMAR (IND) was keen on starting the season with a bang. He was in "perfect shape" to wrestle.

Then at one training session, it all changed.

"The hit was so loud that I felt that I will need surgery," Kumar said. "My medial collateral ligament [MCL] and anterior cruciate ligament [ACL] broke."

That was February 6 and since then Kumar has been in rehabilitation, nursing his knee injury. But earlier this month, he return to the mat training sessions and is now making a comeback to competition, 10 months since his last, the World Championships. 

"I can't wait."

The Tokyo Olympic silver medalist will wrestle at the Bishkek Ranking Series scheduled for June 1 to 4. Wrestling at 61kg, Kumar will try to regain his form that helped him win three Asian titles, a Commonwealth Games gold medal and become India's biggest hope for Paris Olympics.

"This competition is very important," he said. "I have missed many. I will try to do my best and attain a level which I had before the injury."

An MCL or ACL tear can require surgery but Kumar says his injury was on the borderline and he opted out of the surgery which could have kept him away from the mat for more than six months.

"My partner got hold of my leg and while I was trying to move away, I hit his shoulder with my knee," he said. "So February, March, April I was in rehabilitation." 

That meant he missed the second Ranking Series and the Asian Championships in which he won three back-to-back gold medals, the first Indian to the title thrice.

In his absence, U23 world champion AMAN (IND) won the gold medal at 57kg to keep the top medal in India. Incidentally, Aman also trains at the same stadium.

Both Kumar and Aman are registered at 61kg for Bishkek along with a third Indian PANKAJ. European champion at 57kg Aliabbas RZAZADE (AZE) is also in the same weight class and so is the Asian champion at 61kg Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) and so is former Asian champion Ulukbek ZHOLDOSHBEKOV (KGZ).

"See if I prepare for every wrestler separately, I will never win," Ravi said. "I have to focus on doing my work and make myself the best. Then whoever is the opponent, it does not matter."

Ravi KUMAR (IND)Ravi KUMAR (IND) lost to Gulomjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) at the World Championships. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

Kumar, however, would have liked to wrestle Abdullaev, a wrestler who has constantly troubled him since his U20 days. Abdullaev leads the head-to-head record 3-2 after his win in Belgrade.

"Abdullaev has an attack on my left leg and he hits on me," he said. "It's kind of perfect. He always hits on me.

"That day in Belgrade, my body could not get going. Even if I had won against Abdullaev, I don't know what the next result could have been. I wanted to work, but my body didn't. My weight also was set a day before the bout so I slept with ease. I did not do anything in the morning. No warm-up as such. I remained lazy."

While he reflects on the World Championships bout, Kumar knows that it doesn't matter now. With the Asian Games and the Olympic qualifying World Championships scheduled, he has to focus on the upcoming tournaments.

"I will be back on the mat after a long time," he said. "So it's very different to be in a competition. Training is great but when you are in a tournament, it's a different feeling. So I want to be good in Bishkek."

Undoubtedly, Kumar will be the favorite to win the gold in his weight class but with young blood coming up, he will be tested.

"It's wrestling," he said. "No one can predict the result because I am not in regular competition. But if I control the bouts, the result will be in my favor."