NOVI SAD, Serbia (May 7) – World champion Balint KORPASI (HUN) and Rio 2016 Olympian Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) advanced to the gold medal finals at the European Senior Wrestling Championships on Sunday as Hungary chases after the Greco-Roman team title.
Korpasi won three bouts through the quarterfinals at Spens Sport Hall, then edged Russian national champ Abuyazid MANTSIGOV (RUS), 2-1, in the 71kg semifinals to advance the gold medal matches on Sunday evening.
Korpasi will square off with world student champion Pavel LIAKH (BLR) in the first gold medal match of the evening.
Lorincz, meanwhile, rolled into the 85kg finals without giving up any points in his three wins, including a 2-0 triumph over fellow Rio 2016 bronze medal finalist Nikolai BAYRAKOV (BUL) in the semifinals.
Lorincz will take on European Games bronze medalist Metehan BASAR (TUR) for the gold medal in the tourney finale just before the curtain comes down on the championships.
With four wrestlers in the medal finals on Saturday, Hungary grabbed a 29-26 lead over perennial champion Russia in the race for the team title. Hungary and Russia each send three wrestlers into Sunday evening’s medal matches with Hungary enjoying a slight 2-1 advantage in wrestlers in the gold medal matches.
Joining Korpasi and Lorincz in the medal matches for Hungary will be Tamas LORINCZ (75kg), who fell in the semifinals to former Egyptian standout Tarek ABDELSALAM (BUL), 5-2. Lorincz will face former European junior runner-up Mihail BRADU (MDA) for one of the bronze medals.
Abdelsalam will meet world champion Chingiz LABAZANOV (RUS) for the gold medal at 75kg.
At 80kg, last year’s champion at 75kg Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (GEO) forged three wins, including a 2-1 victory over Adlan AKIEV (RUS) in the semifinals – a repeat of their meeting in the final of the prestigious Ivan Poddubny in January.
Datunashivili will meet Radik KULIEV (BLR) for the gold medal while Akiev takes on Dan Kolov tourney winner Daniel ALKESANDROV (BUL) for one of the bronze medals.
In an early stunner, Dejan FRANJKOVIC (SRB) raced out to an early 5-2 lead against Rio 2016 champion Davit CHAKVETADZE (RUS) and held on for a 7-4 win at 85kg. Chakvetadze was eliminated from medal contention when Franjkovic lost in the round of 16.
Pairings for Sunday evening’s medal matches and semifinal results:
Greco-Roman
71kg (27 entries)
Gold – Pavel LIAKH (BLR) v Balint KORPASI (HUN)
Bronze – Aleksandar MAKSIMOVIC (SRB) v Evrik NIKOGHOSYAN (FRA)
Bronze – Murat DAG (TUR) v Abulazid MANTSIGOV (RUS)
Semifinal – Evrik NIKOGHOSYAN (FRA) df. Pavel LIAKH (BLR), 4-2
Semifinal – Balint KORPASI (HUN) df. Abulazid MANTSIGOV (RUS), 2-1
75kg (22 entries)
Gold – Chingiz LABAZANOV (RUS) v Tarek ABDELSALAM (BUL)
Bronze – Kazbek KILOV (BLR) v Ruhin MIKHAILOV (AZE)
Bronze – Mihail BRADU (MDA) v Tamas LORINCZ (HUN)
Semifinal – Chingiz LABAZANOV (RUS) df. Ruhin MIKHAILOV (AZE), 4-1
Semifinal – Tarek ABDELSALAM (BUL) df. Tamas LORINCZ (HUN), 5-2
80kg (17 entries)
Gold – Radik KULIEV (BLR) v Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (GEO)
Bronze – Edgar BABAYAN (POL) v Aslan ATEM (TUR)
Bronze – Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL) v Adlan AKIEV (RUS)
Semifinal – Radik KULIEV (BLR) df. Aslan ATEM (TUR), 2-0
Semifinal – Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (GEO) df. Adlan AKIEV (RUS), 2-1
85kg (18 entries)
Gold – Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) v Metehan BASAR (TUR)
Bronze – Eerik APS (EST) v Nikolai BAYRAKOV (BUL)
Bronze – Yuri SHKRIUBA (UKR) v Ramsin AZIZSIR (GER)
Semifinal – Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) df. Nikolai BAYRAKOV (BUL), 2-0
Semifinal – Metehan BASAR (TUR) df. Ramsin AZIZSIR (GER), 3-3
