#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open: Tynybekova beats Motoki again, Zhou rules 68kg

By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (January 12) -- For the last two years, Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) has begun her seasons disastrously. She suffered first-round losses in Istanbul and Zagreb in 2022 and 2023 Ranking Series events respectively.

But the world champion has begun 2024 with a gold medal at the first Ranking Series event -- winning the 62kg weight class at the Zagreb Open on Friday.

After winning her third world title in Belgrade last year, Tynybekova traveled to the Asian Games in October 2023 but finished with a bronze medal. There, she had said that a break from wrestling for some time would help her for the new season.

It appears that the break did help Tynybekova as she won five bouts on Friday albeit taking them notoriously close. After winning close bouts against Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA), Yaru WU (CHN) and Alina KASABIEVA (AIN), Tynybekova set up a World Championships rematch against Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) in the semifinal.

Unlike the World Championships final, it seemed that Motoki had a plan. She moved much quicker and remained at a distance from Tynybekova. The first point on the scoreboard came as Tynybekova was called for passivity. Motoki then added a takedown to lead 3-0 at the break.

"In the first period I wrestled passively because I was tired," Tynybekova said. "Motoki was leading 3-0 but during the break time the coach told me to wrestle actively right from the beginning to score two points and finish the match 3-3 winning on criteria."

That's what Tynybekova did. Motoki was hit with a passivity call with 50 seconds remaining. During Motoki's activity time, Tynybekova got the opportunity to hit a single-leg attack and she got exposure to lead 3-3 with 10 seconds on the clock.

"The semifinal and those six minutes seemed to be endless for me," she said. "I thought the time would never end."

Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ)Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) defeated Kayla MIRACLE (USA) in the final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

In the final, Tynybekova faced a familiar opponent in Kayla MIRACLE (USA) and won with the largest margin of victory in her five bouts, beating her 7-0.

"I wasn’t thinking about winning the gold," she said. "The main thing was to come here and try myself against international athletes. We knew that the strongest ones would come here to compete. The coach Nurbek Izabekov said that we should come here and just wrestle as if we were at home. It didn’t matter for me to win or lose, the main goal was to wrestle."

But compared to the World Championships, Tynybekova said that she is still recovering physically and will assess her future tournaments depending on the same.

"In comparison with the World Championships, this tournament in Zagreb was harder for me because I am not in good health now," she said. That’s why all the matches today were really difficult. [Next], I think we will be wrestling at all the Rankings Series as well as the Asian championships that will be held in our country in Kyrgyzstan."

Feng ZHOU (CHN)Feng ZHOU (CHN) dominated the 68kg weight class in Zagreb. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

In the other Women's Wrestling weight class, veteran Feng ZHOU (CHN) clinched the 68kg gold medal after a close 2-0 win over Forrest MOLINARI (USA).

But it was total domination from Zhou in the morning session as she took out world champion Buse TOSUN (TUR) in the opening match and world silver medalist Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (MGL) in the semifinals.

Rolling back the years, Zhou showed that strong gut wrench that the Chinese wrestlers are famous for. Tosun had no answers to Zhou's grip and suffered a 10-0 loss.

Zhou was in trouble in the second bout against Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL) when the Polish wrestler scored a takedown with 10 seconds remaining to lead 3-1. But Zhou hit exposure with three seconds on the clock to win 3-3. A lost challenge gave her an extra point.

After beating RADHIKA (UWW) 13-0 in the quarterfinal, Zhou used the gut wrench to build a 9-0 lead against Enkhsaikhan in the semifinal before the Mongolian close the gap to 9-5. However, it did not give her the win.

Molinari was hit with two passivity calls on either side of the break which gave Zhou a 2-0 lead which was enough, along with her defense, to get her the gold medal.

In the non-Olympic weight classes, Ukraine won two gold medals with Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR) clinching the gold medal at 59kg and Alla BELINSKA (UKR) winning the 65kg gold after dominating the round-robin.

Milad ALIRZAEV (AIN)Milad ALIRZAEV (AIN) completes a throw on Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB). (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Alirzaev shines

In a bracket that had five World Championships medalists including world champion David LOSONCZI (HUN), Milad ALIRZAEV (AIN) emerged as the best at 87kg, winning the gold after beating Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI), 4-2, in the final.

After a few easy matches early on, Alirzaev was tested by Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB) in the quarterfinals. Alirzaev hit a big throw from par terre to lead 5-1 but Komarov got two turns from par terre in the second period to make it 5-5. Alirzaev led 5-5 on criteria thanks to the four-point technique which helped him win as well.

In the semifinal, Daniel GREGORICH (CUB) mounted a comeback from 7-0 to make it 7-7 and lead on criteria. However, Alirzaev scored a reversal with 30 seconds remaining to win 8-7.

The final saw Mohmadipiani get the par terre advantage and he managed to throw Alirzaev but failed to get a correct throw. Alirzaev blocked him during the throw to score two points, a decision which Iran challenged and lost, giving Alirzaev a 3-1 lead.

Mohmadipiani scored a stepoutn in the stepout but that was after Alirzaev was awarded a point for par terre. The final score remained 4-2 as Alirzaev won the gold.

The bronze medals were won by Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB) who beat Daniel GREGORICH (CUB), 9-0, while Alan OSTAEV (AIN) beat Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO) via fall. Ostaev had earlier knocked out world champion Losonczi in the opening bout.

At 77kg, world silver medalist Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) won the gold after Zoltan LEVAI (HUN), a world silver medalist from 2022, pulled out injured during the match.

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RESULTS

Women's Wrestling

59kg
GOLD: Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR)
SILVER: Mariana CHERDIVARA ESANU (MDA)
BRONZE: Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE)

62kg
GOLD: Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) df. Kayla MIRACLE (USA), 7-0

BRONZE: Veranika IVANOVA (AIN) df. Ana GODINEZ (CAN), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Alina KASABIEVA (AIN) df. Sakura MOTOKI (JPN), via inj. def.

65kg
GOLD: Alla BELINSKA (UKR)
SILVER: Kadriye AKSOY (TUR)
BRONZE: Anne NUERNBERGER (GER)

68kg
GOLD: Feng ZHOU (CHN) df. Forrest MOLINARI (USA), 2-0

BRONZE: Buse TOSUN (TUR) df. Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (TUR), 5-1
BRONZE: Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR) df. Qian JIANG (CHN), 11-6

Greco-Roman

77kg
GOLD: Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) df. Zoltan LEVAI (HUN), via injury (5-0)

BRONZE: Yunus BASAR (TUR) df. Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR), 2-1
BRONZE: Nao KUSAKA (JPN) df. Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR), 8-7

87kg
GOLD: Milad ALIRZAEV (AIN) df. Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI), 4-2

BRONZE: Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB) df. Daniel GREGORICH (CUB), 9-0
BRONZE: Alan OSTAEV (AIN) df. Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO), via fall

#WrestleParis

Paris 2024: Lopez secures unprecedented place in Olympic history

By Ken Marantz

PARIS (August 6) -- Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) now has a place in a pantheon on his own.

In the 128-year history of the Summer Olympics, no athlete had ever won five gold medals in the same event in any sport. Until Tuesday, when Lopez accomplished the feat at the Paris Olympics with a dominant performance at Greco 130kg.

The 41-year-old Lopez defeated Cuban-born and former training partner Yasmani ACOSTA (CHI) 6-0 in the final before a packed crowd at the Champs de Mars Arena that included International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach.

“I'm happy, it has been an important achievement in my life, in my career," Lopez said. "It has also been an achievement of all my coaching team, my mom, my dad, my family in general, that have been helping me in every single one of my tasks in the sport. And what better celebration than to have achieved this gold medal.”

In other finals, Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) captured the Greco 60kg that eluded him at his home Olympics three years ago, while rising star Amit ELOR (USA) triumphed at women's 68kg to become the second wrestler to add an Olympic gold to world titles on all four age-group levels.

After a delay for Bach to be seated and the arena in an expectant buzz, Lopez started the featured match of the tournament by scoring a 2-point roll off par terre in the first period against Acosta, who had made history himself by giving Chile its first-ever Olympic wrestling medal.

Lopez added a takedown in the second period to clinch the victory in his first competition since winning the gold three years ago in Tokyo.

There will be no sixth gold. After slamming his coach to the mat in celebration and acknowledging the cheers of the adoring crowd, Lopez took off his wrestling shoes and left them in the middle of the mat, the universal sign of a wrestler's decision to end his career.

"It's a moment to demonstrate that someone has retired officially from the sport of wrestling and that also leaves a path wide open for the younger generation to continue inspiring others," said Lopez, who dedicated the victory to his late father.

Coming into Paris, Lopez had been one of six athletes who had won four golds in the same event along with fellow wrestler Kaori ICHO (JPN), sailing's Paul ELVSTROM (DEN), athletics' Al OERTER (USA) and Carl LEWIS (USA), and swimming's Michael PHELPS (USA). Swimmer Katie LEDECKY (USA) and shooting's Vincent HANCOCK (USA) joined the group in Paris.

Amazingly, Lopez was appearing in his sixth Olympics, having finished fifth in his debut at the 2004 Athens Games. He was also a five-time world champion and three-time silver medalist dating back to his first title in 2005. His last defeat came in the final of the 2015 World Championships to rival Riza KAYAALP (TUR).

Reflecting on his remarkable career, Lopez commented, "To achieve all of these results, one has to love their sport, love their job, and demonstrate to the world that with so little you can achieve great things."

Asked to describe each gold medal in one word, he replied: "Beijing: youth. London: transcendence. Rio: effort. Tokyo: sacrifice. Paris: joy."

Before Lopez made history, Fumita won the Greco 60kg gold that had been an obsession since that tearful day at the Tokyo Olympics, when he lost in the final to Luis ORTA (CUB).

Fumita put together a masterful match, scoring from par terre in the first period and keeping Liguo CAO (CHN) at bay throughout to notch a 4-1 victory and end a 40-year drought for Japan in Greco at the Olympics.

"The number one thing that clearly comes to my mind now is the final from three years ago," Fumita said. "[The three years] was a difficult period that I had never experienced before. But there were also good times in there as well. In total, there were more plusses, which is why I could win the title today."

In the intervening years, the 28-year-old Fumita, a former two-time world champion, got married and became a father. He also lost in the final at last year's World Championships in Belgrade to Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ), a loss that gave him a new perspective on his career -- and which he avenged in the semifinals in Paris on Monday.

He said he was motivated by his family and a large group of supporters who made the trip to Paris. "If it wasn't for my family, I might not have tried again [for the Olympics]," he said. "All the people who have helped me along the way have made this special."

As for becoming Japan's first Greco champion since Atsuji MIYAHARA (JPN) won the 52kg gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Fumita responded, "It's something to accomplish a feat for the first time in 40 years. But honestly speaking, my bigger feeling is of disappointment that we haven't won for 40 years. I hope that Japan Greco makes great progress in the next 40 years."

Fumita had previously won world titles in 2017 and 2019 before winning a bronze in 2022 and a silver last year. Including his Tokyo silver, none will ever compare with the gold he just won.

"I don't know how many grams its weighs, but it's heavier than any medal I've won up to now," he said. "But it's not just its actual weight. The long time I have aimed at getting it, all of the emotions that went into it, I feel [the weight of it] all hanging from my neck."

In the final match of the night, two-time world 72kg champion Elor put up a wall of defense that Tokyo bronze medalist Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ) was unable to penetrate in a 3-0 victory in the women's 68kg final.

"It was one of the best moments in my life," Elor said. "And when I experience something like that, it just reminds me that everything is worth it. All the hard days the grind, it's all worth it for moments like these."

The 20-year-old Elor, who cut weight for the first time in her life to make her first Olympics, scored the lone technical points of the match with a takedown off a counter, then added an activity point as she kept the 2021 world champion at bay with an underhook that thwarted any tackle attempts.

"I actually wrestled her a few times in international training camps when I was younger," Elor said of the 24-year-old Zhumananarova. "She's a little bit older than me, so those were pretty tough bouts. I know she is an extremely solid, strong wrestler, so my mindset going into the match was to be patient, stay in good position, and to trust in my style of wrestling and in my skills."

With the Olympic gold, Elor joins Yui SUSAKI (JPN) as the only wrestlers who have completed the "Golden Grand Slam" of titles, having previously won the world cadet (U17) in 2021 and the world U20, U23 and senior titles in 2022.

"I think the number one thing that's helped me develop mentally has been experience," Elor said. "For the past two years, I've done three world championships in one summer. Those experiences have not only helped me stay focused and solid under pressure, they've also helped me improve as a wrestler and as a person."

Elor became the third American woman to win Olympic gold after Helen MAROULIS (USA) at Rio 2016 and Tamyra MENSAH-STOCK (USA) last year in Tokyo, while preventing Zhumanazarova from becoming Kyrgyzstan's first Olympic gold medalist in any sport.

Elor already has an added incentive to defend her title in 2028. "Other than becoming an Olympic champion, my biggest dream of all time is to go to the 2028 Olympics, because I'm from California.

"To have the opportunity to compete and represent not only my country, but my state, and to compete in my own state, is incredible. I have been excited about that ever since I heard about it."

Sharshenbekov, Mirzazadeh, Ozaki take home bronzes

Sharshenbekov added an Olympic bronze to his two world golds when he got the roll in par terre in the first period and defeated Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) 3-1 at Greco 60kg.

Sharshenbekov completed a gut wrench from par terre in the first period, then held his ground while on bottom in the second to close with a victory after seeing his streak of 10 consecutive tournament titles ended by Fumita in the semifinals.

In the other bronze-medal match at Greco 60kg, Raiber RODRIGUEZ (VEN) saw his bid to become Venezuela's first-ever Olympic medalist in wrestling end in just over a minute when he was soundly defeated by Se Ung RI (PRK) 10-0.

Ri, a Youth Olympic champion back in 2014 who returned to global competition at the 2023 Asian Games and came home with a bronze medal, followed a takedown with three successive rolls to end the match in 1:11.

At Greco 130kg, reigning world champion Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) secured the bronze medal that he missed out on in Tokyo with a 4-0 win over Iranian-born Sabah SHARIATI (AZE), the 35-year-old who was looking to add to his bronze from the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Mirzazadeh went ahead 3-0 with a gut wrench from par terre in the first period, then picked up a fourth point by keeping the pressure on and receiving a second passivity point. Although he was unable to turn Shariati again, he was never in danger and went on become Iran's first-ever Olympic medalist in the heaviest Greco weight.

Shariati, who suffered a gash over his right eye that had to be bandaged during the match, got a ride on the shoulders of Mirzazadeh after the match as a sign of respect. Shariati then left his shoes on the mat.

Lingzhe MENG (CHN) won the other 130kg bronze, scoring two takedowns in the second period to defeat Abdellitif MOHAMED (EGY) 5-2 and avenge a loss to the Egyptian in the bronze-medal match at last year's World Championships.

At women's 68kg, world champion Buse TOSUN (TUR) finally managed to finish off a takedown and it came at the buzzer to defeat teenager Sol Gum PAK (PRK) 4-2.

Tosun had two stepouts sandwiched around Pak's second-period takedown to trail on criteria 2-2. But with the seconds ticking down, she fought off Pak's whizzer and got behind just as time ran out, denying Pak's bid to become the first-ever women's Olympic medalist for DPR Korea.

Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) assured she would have something to show for her ordeal of moving up two weight classes to be in Paris by defeating Tokyo silver medalist Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) 3-0 for the other women's 68kg bronze.

Ozaki scored with a sweeping single that sent Oborududu directly to her back in the first period. She added an activity point in the second and never allowed Oborududu an opening.

Ozaki was the 2022 world 62kg champion who missed out on Japan's Olympic spot in that weight class. After a stop at 65kg last year to add a second world title, she secured her ticket to Paris at 68kg with a last-second victory over Ami ISHII (JPN) in a domestic playoff.

Despite winning the gold at the Asian Championships in April in her international debut at 68kg, she struggled in Paris against the naturally heavier opponents and saw her gold-medal hopes end with a late loss to Zhumanazarova in the quarterfinals.

Day 2 Results

Greco-Roman

60kg
GOLD: Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) df. Liguo CAO (CHN), 4-1

BRONZE: Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) df. Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI), 3-1
BRONZE: Se Ung RI (PRK) df. Raiber RODRIGUEZ (VEN) by TF, 8-0, 1:11

77kg
SF 1: Nao KUSAKA (JPN) df. Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM), 3-1
SF 2: Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ) df. Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE), 6-1

97kg
SF 1: Artur ALEKSANYAN df. Gabriel ROSILLO (CUB), 5-3
SF 2: Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) df. Mohamad GABR (EGY), 6-0

130kg
GOLD: Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) df. Yasmani ACOSTA (CHI), 6-0

BRONZE: Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) df. Sabah SHARIATI (AZE), 4-0
BRONZE: Lingzhe MENG (CHN) df. Abdellitif MOHAMED (EGY), 5-2

Women's Wrestling

50kg
SF 1: Vinesh PHOGAT (IND) df. Yusneylis GUZMAN (CUB), 5-0
SF 2: Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA) df. Otgonjargal DOLGORJAV (MGL), 5-0

68kg
GOLD -- Amit ELOR (USA) df. Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ), 3-0

BRONZE -- Buse TOSUN (TUR) df. Sol Gum PAK (PRK), 4-2
BRONZE -- Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) df. Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR), 3-0