RIO DE JANEIRO (August 14) – Mijain LOPEZ NUNEZ (CUB) begins his quest for a third Olympic Games gold medal, facing London 2012 silver medalist Heiki NABI (EST) on Monday, the second day of wrestling at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Five-time world champion Lopez defeated Nabi for the 120kg title in London and will likely have to face 2012 bronze medalist Johan EUREN (SWE) in the quarterfinals.
Lopez’s semifinal opponent will emerge from the preliminary pool at the bottom of the bracket which includes two-time junior world champ Sergey SEMENOV (RUS), world bronze medalist Aleksander CHERNETSKI (UKR) or European under-23 champ Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO).
Meanwhile, reigning world champ Riza KAYAALP (TUR) begins at the top of the bracket and will have challenging trip, but not impossible, trip to the gold medal final.
At 85kg, world champion Zhan BELENYUK (UKR) also begins at the top of the bracket with many of his top challengers starting in the preliminaries.
World bronze medalists Saman TAHMASEBI (AZE) and Habibollah AKHLAGHI (IRI) as well as Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) and Davit CHAKVETADZE (RUS), currently second and third in the United World Wrestling Rankings, all begin in the preliminary bouts.
With the exception of Lorincz, only one of the other three wrestlers will have a chance to make the semifinals. Lorincz has drawn to the upper quarter of the lower half of the bracket and could advance to the semifinals with a win over world silver medalist Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB).
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Greco-Roman 85kg (21 entries)
Preliminary Round
Pr1 - Maksim MANUKYAN (ARM) v Viktor LORINCZ (HUN)
Pr2 - Davit CHAKVETADZE (RUS) v Saman TAHMASEBI (AZE)
Pr3 - Habibollah AKHLAGI (IRI) v Zakarias BERG (SWE)
Pr4 - Denis KUDLA (GER) v Zhanarbek KENZHEEV (KGZ)
Pr5 - Robert KOBLIASHVILI (GEO) v Alfonso LEYVA YEPEZ (MEX)
Round of 16
Zhan BELENYUK (UKR) v Ahmed SAAD (EGY)
Adem BOUDJEMLINE (ALG) v Nikolai BAYRAKOV (BUL)
Rami HIETANIEMI (FIN) v Amer HRUSTANOVIC (AUT)
Javid HAMZATOV (BLR) v PENG Fei (CHN)
Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB) v Benjamin PROVISOR (USA)
Ravinder KHATRI (IND) v Winner Pr1
Winner Pr2 v Winner Pr3
Winner Pr4 v Winner Pr5
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Greco-Roman 130kg (19 entries)
Preliminary Round
Pr1 - Murat RAMONOV (KGZ) v Sergey SEMENOV (RUS)
Pr2 - Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY) v Aleksander CHERNETSKI (UKR)
Pr3 - Eduard SOGHOMONYAN (BRA) v Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO)
Round of 16
Riza KAYAALP (TUR) v Erwin CARABALLO CABRERA (VEN)
Sabah SHARIATI (AZE) v Robert SMITH (USA)
MENG Qiang (CHN) v Bashir BABAJANZADEH (IRI)
Eduard POPP (GER) v Nurmakhan TINALIYEV (KAZ)
Mijain LOPEZ NUNEZ (CUB) v Heiki NABI (EST)
Johan EUREN (SWE) v Ivan POPOV (AUS)
Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) v Winner Pr1
Winner Pr2 v Winner Pr3
Lutte gréco-romaine 85kg (21 inscriptions)
Round préliminaire
Pr1 - Maksim MANUKYAN (ARM) v Viktor LORINCZ (HUN)
Pr2 - Davit CHAKVETADZE (RUS) v Saman TAHMASEBI (AZE)
Pr3 - Habibollah AKHLAGI (IRI) v Zakarias BERG (SWE)
Pr4 - Denis KUDLA (GER) v Zhanarbek KENZHEEV (KGZ)
Pr5 - Robert KOBLIASHVILI (GEO) v Alfonso LEYVA YEPEZ (MEX)
Round of 16
Zhan BELENYUK (UKR) v Ahmed SAAD (EGY)
Adem BOUDJEMLINE (ALG) v Nikolai BAYRAKOV (BUL)
Rami HIETANIEMI (FIN) v Amer HRUSTANOVIC (AUT)
Javid HAMZATOV (BLR) v PENG Fei (CHN)
Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB) v Benjamin PROVISOR (USA)
Ravinder KHATRI (IND) v Winner Pr1
Winner Pr2 v Winner Pr3
Winner Pr4 v Winner Pr5
Lutte gréco-romaine 130kg (19 inscriptions)
Round préliminaire
Pr1 - Murat RAMONOV (KGZ) v Sergey SEMENOV (RUS)
Pr2 - Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY) v Aleksander CHERNETSKI (UKR)
Pr3 - Eduard SOGHOMONYAN (BRA) v Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO)
Round of 16
Riza KAYAALP (TUR) v Erwin CARABALLO CABRERA (VEN)
Sabah SHARIATI (AZE) v Robert SMITH (USA)
MENG Qiang (CHN) v Bashir BABAJANZADEH (IRI)
Eduard POPP (GER) v Nurmakhan TINALIYEV (KAZ)
Mijain LOPEZ NUNEZ (CUB) v Heiki NABI (EST)
Johan EUREN (SWE) v Ivan POPOV (AUS)
Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) v Winner Pr1
Winner Pr2 v Winner Pr3
