ZRENJANIN, Serbia (April 15) – Poland became the 52nd country to join the Rio 2016 wrestling club on Friday with a pair of qualifications on the opening day of the European Olympic Games qualifying tournament.
European Games silver medalists Magomedmurad GADZHIEV (POL) and Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL) cruised to semifinal wins in the morning session at Zrenjanin’s municipal arena to qualify Poland for the wrestling competition at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Both wrestlers then posted wins in the evening session to add an exclamation point to their triumph.
Gadzhiev hammered out a 4-0 victory over fellow qualifier Andriy KVYATKOVSKY (UKR) with an early single-leg takedown and quick gut wrench in the freestyle final at 65kg.
Krawczyk, meanwhile, opened with a back-arching throw for four points and wrapped up a technical fall, 10-0, over Nina HEMMER (GER) in the women’s 53kg final.
Bulgaria also added a pair of qualifications from world bronze medalist at 61kg Vladimir DUBOV (BUL) and Elitsa YANKOVA (BUL), bringing Bulgaria’s new total of wrestling berths in Rio to five.
Yankova, another silver medalist from the Baku 2015 European Games, needed a second-period takedown to defeat last month’s European championships runner-up Emilia VUC (ROU) in the women’s 48kg final, 3-2.
Dubov, meanwhile, wrapped up Garnik MNATSAKANYAN (ARM) with a double-leg takedown and a series of gut wrenches to bring the 57kg freestyle to an end in only 53 seconds.
In Greco-Roman, Sanal SEMENOV (RUS) rolled up a quick technical fall against local favorite Kristijan FRIS (SRB) in the 59kg final. Despite the loss, Fris will make his second trip to the Olympic Games after wrestling at Beijing 2008.
London 2012 silver medalist Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) booked his ticket to a third Olympic Games with a hard-fought semifinal victory over European Games bronze medalist Dominik ETLINGER (CRO) in the early session.
In the evening, Lorincz frustrated the reverse waistlock and front headlock attempts of former junior world champion Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) in par terre, and scored with his own gut wrench and a bodylock takedown for a 6-1 win.
With the victory, Lorincz joins younger brother Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) as the second wrestler on Hungary’s Rio 2016 team. The younger Lorincz qualified at last September’s world championships in Las Vegas with a fifth-place finish at 85kg in Greco-Roman.
Freestyle
57kg (17 entries)
Gold – Vladimir DUBOV (BUL) df. Garnik MNATSAKANYAN (ARM) by TF, 10-0, 0:53
Bronze – Suleyman ATLI (TUR) df. Anatoli BURUIAN (MDA) by TF, 12-0, 2:53
Bronze – Levan METREVELI (ESP) df. Zoheir EL OUARRAQE (FRA), 4-1
Semifinal – Garnik MNATSAKANYAN (ARM) df. Anatoli BURUIAN (MDA), 5-3
Semifinal – Vladimir DUBOV (BUL) df. Zoheir EL OUARRAQE (FRA) by TF, 12-0, 4:50
65kg (16 entries)
Gold – Magomedmurad GADZHIEV (POL) df. Andriy KVYATKOVSKY (UKR), 4-0
Bronze – Zurabi IAKOBISHVILI (GEO) df. Niko AROUZMANIDIS (GRE) by TF, 13-2, 3:20
Bronze – David SAFARYAN (ARM) df. Maximilian AUSSERLEITNER (AUT) by TF, 10-0, 2:35
Semifinal – Andriy KVYATKOVSKY (UKR) df. Zurabi IAKOBISHVILI (GEO), 2-2
Semifinal – Magomedmurad GADZHIEV (POL) df. David SAFARYAN (ARM), 7-2
Greco-Roman
59kg (19 entries)
Gold – Sanal SEMENOV (RUS) df. Kristian FRIS (SRB) by TF, 8-0, 2:15
Bronze – Stig-Andre BERGE (NOR) df. Jani HAAPAMAEKI (FIN), 2-0
Bronze – Aleksandar KOSTADINOV (BUL) df. Ardit FAZLJIJA (SWE), 6-2
Semifinal – Kristian FRIS (SRB) df. Stig-Andre BERGE (NOR) by TF, 8-0, 1:45
Semifinal – Sanal SEMENOV (RUS) df. Aleksandar KOSTADINOV (BUL) by TF, 11-2, 2:56
66kg (20 entries)
Gold – Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) df. Shamgi BOLKVADZE (GEO), 6-1
Bronze – Marius THOMMESEN (NOR) df. Dawid KARECINSKI (POL), 7-1
Bronze – Artak MARGARYAN (FRA) df. Dominik ETLINGER (CRO) by Injury Default, 0:02
Semifinal – Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) df. Dawid KARECINSKI (POL), 5-0
Semifinal – Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) df. Dominik ETLINGER (CRO), 6-4
Women’s Wrestling
48kg (11 entries)
Gold – Elitsa YANKOVA (BUL) df. Emilia VUC (ROM), 3-2
Bronze – Natalya PULKOVSKA (UKR) df. Jacquline SCHELLIN (GER), 3-0
Bronze – Evin DEMIRKAN (TUR) df. Maryna MARKEVICH (BLR), 2-1
Semifinal – Emilia VUC (ROM) df. Natalya PULKOVSKA (UKR), 6-5
Semifinal – Elitsa YANKOVA (BUL) df. Maryna MARKEVICH (BLR), 6-2
53kg (14 entries)
Gold – Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL) df. Nina HEMMER (GER) by TF, 10-0, 1:11
Bronze – Irina OLOGONOVA (RUS) df. Francesca MORI (ITA), 8-2
Bronze – Yulia KHAVALDZHY (UKR) df. Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR) by Default, 0:00
Semifinal – Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL) df. Francesca MORI (ITA) by TF, 11-1, 3:19
Semifinal – Nina HEMMER (GER) df. Yulia KHAVALDZHY BLAHINYA (UKR), 10-8
