BAKU (November 26) – Viktor NEMES (SRB) “threw” rival Elvin MURSALIEV (AZE) for the only win against one of the home team’s five gold medal finalists Saturday as the curtain came down on the Golden Grand Prix Final.

Nemes, runner-up to Mursaliev at last year’s inaugural European Games in Baku, attempted an arm throw midway through the second period of the 75kg gold medal final, apparently for no points.

But, a challenge from the Serbian corner and a video review by officials resulted in two points for Nemes, who held on through the remainder of the bout for a 3-1 win.

Despite the loss, Azerbaijan finished with four gold medals in the Greco-Roman events, including a win at 85kg by junior world champion Islam ABBASOV (AZE) to go with Mursaliev’s silverand a pair of bronze medals.

European Games champion Artem SURKOV (RUS) grabbed a gold medal with a triumph by fall over Rio 2016 bronze medalist Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) and Musa EVLOEV (RUS) took a second title for Russia at 98kg with a 1-1 win over European bronze medal winner Aliaksandr HRABOVIK (BLR).

Surkov, a bronze medal winner at the 2015 world championships in Las Vegas, whipped the former junior world champion to his back with a collar-tie and underhook early in the bout and held for the fall at 1:17.

Earlier, Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) kicked off the evening with bang when he pinned Firuz TUKHTAEV (UZB) in the 59kg final. Tukhtaev came out in the second period and attempted a body lock, but was countered by Fumita with a back-arching throw for the fall at 4:02.

Fumita finished only eighth in Baku last year after winning the Spanish Grand Prix in July, but came to this year’s GGP Final as the winner of the prestigious Pytlansinki Tourney in Poland in June.

Results of Saturday evening’s medal matches:

59kg (14 entries)

Gold – Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) df. Firuz TUKHTAEV (UZB) by Fall, 4:02 (5-0)
Bronze – Kanybek ZHOLCHUBEKOV (KGZ) df. Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE), 2-0
Bronze – Mingiyan SEMENOV (RUS) df. Karim JAFAROV (AZE), 8-3


66kg (13 entries)

Gold – Artem SURKOV (RUS) df. Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) by Fall, 1:17 (4-1)
Bronze – Rovshan TAGHIYEV (AZE) df. Nurtay NURGALIEV (KAZ), 3-1
Bronze – CHOI Gi-Uk (KOR) df. Mohammad MORAD ELYASI (IRI), 4-1

71kg (13 entries)

Gold – Hasan ALIYEV (AZE) df. Balint KORPASI (HUN), 1-1
Bronze – Aleksandar MAKSIMOVIC (SRB) df. Jair CUERO MUNOZ (COL), 5-1
Bronze – ZHANG Ridong (CHN) df. Jahid NAJAFOV (AZE), 3-2

75kg (14 entries)

Gold – Viktor NEMES (SRB) df. Elvin MURSALIEV (AZE), 3-1
Bronze – Ruslan TSAREV (KGZ) df. Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB), 4-2
Bronze – Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (GEO) df. Mehraj KERIMOV (AZE), 2-1

80kg (12 entries)

Gold – Rafik HUSEYNOV (AZE) df. Aslan ATEM (TUR), 2-1
Bronze – Carlos MUNOZ JARAMILLO (COL) df. Roni SOSA (ARG), 7-4
Bronze – Daulet ZHAXYLYKOV (KAZ) df. Samat SHIRDAKOV (KGZ), 1-1

85kg (15 entries)

Gold – Islam ABBASOV (AZE) df. Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL), 5-1
Bronze – Evgeny SALEEV df. Zhan BELENYUK (UKR), 2-0
Bronze – Sultan ISMAYILOV (AZE) df. Daniel HECHAVARRIA (CUB), 2-1

98kg (10 entries)

Gold – Musa EVLOEV (RUS) df. Aliaksandr HRABOVIK (BLR), 1-1
Bronze – Cenk ILDEM (TUR) df. Orkhan NURIYEV (AZE), 3-1
Bronze – Amirhossein HOSSEINI (IRI) df. Reinier ROMERO (CUB), 5-3

130kg (9 entries)

Gold – Oyan NAZARIANI (AZE) df. Kiril GRISHCHENKO (BLR), 3-1
Bronze – Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB) df. Damir KUZEMBAYEV (KAZ) by TF, 9-0, 4:05
Bronze – Aleksander CHERNETSKI (UKR) df. Vasily PARSHIN (RUS) by Fall, 4:33 (5-0)