WARSAW, Poland (April 19) -- We're live from Warsaw, Poland for the opening day of wrestling at the European Championships.
Monday’s Freestyle Schedule:
11:30 - Qualification rounds
17:15 - Opening ceremony
18:00 - Semifinals
19:19: It'll be Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) and Israil KASUMOV (RUS) wrestling for gold at 70kg. Masumov making the finals at 70kg means Russia is three-for-three in semifinal matches.
18:30: Russia puts their second wrestler into the finals. Zagir SHAKHIEV (RUS) outscored Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE), 8-1 to close out the match and moved into the 65kg finals.
18:23: Atli will see Nachyn MONGUSH (RUS) for 57kg gold. The Russian picked up a pair of inactivity points and moved into the finals with the 2-0 shutout win over Afgan KHASHALOV (AZE).
18:04: Suleyman ATLI (TUR) and Mikyay NAIM (BUL) traded inactivity points, but a first-period takedown from the Turkish two-time world medalist was the difference in punching his ticket to a second consecutive European final.
14:22: That'll do it for the morning session. We'll see you back here at 17:15 for the opening ceremony, which will be followed by the freestyle semifinals at 18:00.
Semifinals Matchups (As they come in)
57kg
SEMIFINAL - Nachyn MONGUSH (RUS) vs. Afgan KHASHALOV (AZE)
SEMIFINAL - Mikyay NAIM (BUL)vs. Suleyman ATLI (TUR)
65kg
SEMIFINAL - Maxim SACULTAN (MDA) vs. Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL)
SEMIFINAL - Zagir SHAKHIEV (RUS) vs. Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE)
70kg
SEMIFINAL - Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) vs. Israil KASUMOV (RUS)
SEMIFINAL - Ihor NYKYFORUK (UKR) vs. Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE)
79kg
SEMIFINAL - Saifedine ALEKMA (FRA) vs. Rashad YUSIFLI (AZE)
SEMIFINAL - Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK) vs. Nika KENTCHADZE (GEO)
97kg
SEMIFINAL - Suleyman KARADENIZ (TUR) vs. Elizbar ODIKADZE (GEO)
SEMIFINAL - Radoslaw BARAN (POL) vs. Alikhan ZHABRAILOV (RUS)
13:27: Odikadze narrowly escapes an upset. He scored a takedown, but gave up two one-point moves and hung on to defeat Aliaksandr Hushtyn, 2-2, on criteria.
13:20: Atli looked in mid-season form in his quarterfinals match against Kerymonv. He only need four minutes to pick up the 11-0 win over the Ukrainian wrestler. Atli will take on the winner of Mikyay Salim NAIM (BUL) and Beka BUJIASHVILI (GEO) in the 57kg semifinals.
13:01: Suleyman ATLI (TUR) medaled at the '18 and '19 World Championships. Last year's European silver medalist will make his '21 debut on Mat B next against Kamil KERYMOV (UKR).
12:50: World bronze medalist Elizbar ODIKADZE 🇬🇪 has a few European medals. He's coming up in three matches on Mat A.
Odikadze's European Resume:
'15 Euro Games 🥈
'16 Euro C'ships 🥉
'17 Euro C'ships 🥉
'18 Euro C'ships 🥉
'19 Euro C'ships 🥉
'20 Euro C'ships 🥉
12:45: The lone returning champion that'll be in action today is Suleyman KARADENIZ (TUR). He's coming up next on Mat A against Shamil ZUBAIROV (AZE).
12:37: Kentchadze eases his way into the quarterfinals with a 10-5 win over Babii.
12:33: Russian national champion and two-time European bronze medalist Israil KASUMOV (RUS) will wrestle Mihail SAVA (MDA) next on Mat A.
12:12: U23 world champion Nika KENTCHADZE (GEO) is coming up next on Mat B. He'll wrestle Valentyn BABII (UKR).
11:57: Tsiutryn lost a challenge after giving up a four-point chest wrap and fell to Mongush, 7-6.
11:53: We have ourselves a battle going on over on Mat B. Nachyn MONGUSH (RUS) and Aryan TSIUTRYN (BLR) and tied, 6-6, with 90 seconds left to go!
11:46: Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (BLR) starts his day off with a 5-0 upset over Italy's '18 world bronze medalist Abraham CONYEDO (ITA).
11:38: HERE. WE. GO! We're hearing whistles, which means the first day of wrestling is officially underway.
