Ukraine, Georgia Take Ground Heading Into First Set Of Greco-Roman Finals

By Richard Immel

ATHENS, Greece (Sept. 5) – Greco-Roman continued its high-flying affair at the Cadet World Championships on Tuesday with all 10 weight categories competing under the new two-day competition format.

Under the new tournament structure, the five weights that competed yesterday finalized medal match pairings by finishing the repechage rounds, and the remaining five weights navigated to the semifinals.

After securing just one finals berth on Monday, Russia took command of the team race by placing five wrestlers in tonight’s medal round, in addition to seeing three athletes qualify for the day two semifinals at Ano Liosia Olympic Hall.

Finding a place in today’s semifinals for Russia were 2016 Cadet European runner-up Anvar ALLAKHIAROV (RUS), Schoolboy European champion Mukhammad EVLOEV (RUS) and Schoolboy European silver medalist Aleksei VLASOV (RUS). Allakhiarov and Vlasov will meet foes from Azerbaijan in their respective semis at 43kg and 46kg. Evloev continues his 85kg march against Luka ZAKARIADZE (GEO).

Matching Russia with three semifinalists on the day were Ukraine and Georgia, who both posted powerful performances on their own.

Returning Cadet World silver medalist and three-time Cadet European medalist Vladyslav KUZKO (UKR) led the Ukrainian charge. Joining Kuzko in the semifinals are Hennadii ZAVERTAILO (UKR) and Vladyslav KRAVCHENKO (UKR). Zavertailo seeks to topple Cadet Asian champion Arshad ARSHAD (IND) at 42kg, and Kravchenko will do the same versus Duran TOSUN (TUR) at 69kg.

Cadet European medalists Davit SOLOGASHVILI (GEO) and Giorgi TSOPURASHVILI (GEO) will wrestle alongside Zakaridze this evening with berths in the gold-medal finals on the line. Solgashvili will be tested in his 69kg semifinal by Cadet Asian bronze medalist Ashu ASHU (IND). Likewise, Tsopurashvili is paired against Cadet European bronze medalist Istvan TAKACS (HUN) in the 76kg semis.

Holding the banner for Iran on Tuesday was Mehran Seyed Jafar SAADATIFARD (IRI), who qualified for the 76kg semifinals where he will see Akylbek TALANTBEKOV (KGZ) in a showdown of Cadet Asian medalists. 

Cadet European runner-up Muhammed Furkan DURSUN (TUR) stands opposite Cadet Nordic champion Juho Matias PAHIKAINEN (FIN) in the 85kg semifinals.

The Greco-Roman semifinals at 42kg, 46kg, 69kg, 76kg and 85kg are scheduled for 17:30 this evening, and will be immediately followed by the medal rounds at 50kg, 54kg, 58kg, 63kg and 100kg.

In total, Russia will feature the most athletes in tonight’s session with eight competitors spread throughout the semifinals and medal rounds. Both Ukraine and Georgia have moved five wrestlers into the evening session. After a tough start today, Iran sits in fourth overall with four such athletes.

Stay locked in to all the action from Greece with a live stream and updated results provided on the United World Wrestling event page.

Greco-Roman Finals (50-54-58-63-100kg)

50kg (25 entries)

Gold – Zaur ALIYEV (AZE) vs. Ken MATSUI (JPN)

Bronze – Manuel STOICA (ROU) vs. Vladimir ZABEYVOROTA (RUS)

Bronze – Niklas Jan Olov Pontus OEHLEN (SWE) vs. Hayk ASATRYAN (ARM) 

 

54kg (20 entries)

Gold – Nursultan BAZARBAYEV (KAZ) vs. German DOEV (RUS)

Bronze – Miguel Angel UGALDE AGUILAR (MEX) vs. Beka GURULI (GEO)

Bronze – Sunao SHIMAYA (JPN) vs. Aliaksandr PECHURENKA (BLR) 

 

58kg (27 entries)

Gold – Mohsen Fathollah MADHANI (IRI) vs. Sonu SONU (IND)

Bronze – Sergey Aleksandrovitch CHIGIREV (RUS) vs. Samuel BELLSCHEIDT (GER) 

Bronze – Ivo Krasimirov ILIEV (BUL) vs. Kosei TAKESHITA (JPN) 

 

63kg (27 entries)

Gold – Dmytro MIROSHNYK (UKR) vs. Mostafa KAYED KHORDEH (IRI)

Bronze – Nikalas Petrov SULEV (BUL) vs. Artem EROKHIN (RUS) 

Bronze – Rakhat SAGYMBAY (KAZ) vs. Otar ABULADZE (GEO)

 

100kg (21 entries)

Gold – Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA) vs. Balint VATZI (HUN)

Bronze – Kantemir SHIBZUKHOV (RUS) vs. Seyedmojtaba Seyedmostafa HOSSEINI (IRI) 

Bronze – Oleksandr YEVDOKIMOV (UKR) vs. Ciprian Ilie TRUFAN (ROU) 

 

Greco-Roman Results (42-46-69-76-85kg)

42kg (15 entries)

Semifinal – Arshad ARSHAD (IND) vs. Hennadii ZAVERTAILO (UKR) 

Semifinal – Aleksei VLASOV (RUS) vs. Gurban GURBANOV (AZE) 

 

Quarterfinal – Aleksei VLASOV (RUS) df. Edmond Armen NAZARYAN (BUL) by VPO1, 5-2 

Quarterfinal – Hennadii ZAVERTAILO (UKR) df. Yerassyl MAMYRBEKOV (KAZ) by VPO1, 1-1 

Quarterfinal – Gurban GURBANOV (AZE) df. Hafeni Festus ASINO (NAM) by VSU, 8-0 

Quarterfinal – Arshad ARSHAD (IND) df. Mohammad Mostafa KARIMI NIA (IRI) by VPO, 2-0 

 

46kg (16 entries)

Semifinal – Vladyslav KUZKO (UKR) vs. Nurzat KABDYRAKHIMOV (KAZ) 

Semifinal – Anvar ALLAKHIAROV (RUS) vs. Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE) 

 

Quarterfinal – Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE) df. Mukremin AKTAS (TUR) by VPO1, 4-1 

Quarterfinal – Nurzat KABDYRAKHIMOV (KAZ) df. Kagetora OKAMOTO (JPN) by VPO1, 5-1 

Quarterfinal – Anvar ALLAKHIAROV (RUS) df. Dylan Allan RAGUSIN (USA) by VCA, 10-5 

Quarterfinal – Vladyslav KUZKO (UKR) df. Temur KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO) by VPO1, 8-5 

 

69kg (25 entries)

Semifinal – Duran TOSUN (TUR) vs. Vladyslav KRAVCHENKO (UKR) 

Semifinal – Ashu ASHU (IND) vs. Davit SOLOGASHVILI (GEO) 

 

Quarterfinal – Davit SOLOGASHVILI (GEO) df. Sargis TADEVOSYAN (ARM) by VSU1, 11-1 

Quarterfinal – Vladyslav KRAVCHENKO (UKR) df. Joni Pekka KOMPPA (FIN) by VSU, 9-0 

Quarterfinal – Ashu ASHU (IND) df. Galymbek NURGALI (KAZ) by VPO, 4-0 

Quarterfinal – Duran TOSUN (TUR) df. Lorenzo Valentin BOTEZ (ROU) by VPO1, 5-4 

 

76kg (25 entries)

Semifinal – Mehran Seyed Jafar SAADATIFARD (IRI) vs. Akylbek TALANTBEKOV (KGZ) 

Semifinal – Giorgi TSOPURASHVILI (GEO) vs. Istvan TAKACS (HUN) 

 

Quarterfinal – Giorgi TSOPURASHVILI (GEO) df. Szymon SZYMONOWICZ (POL) by VSU, 9-0 

Quarterfinal – Akylbek TALANTBEKOV (KGZ) df. Ruslan KONIEV (UKR) by VPO1, 3-1 

Quarterfinal – Istvan TAKACS (HUN) df. Nao KUSAKA (JPN) by VPO, 3-0 

Quarterfinal – Mehran Seyed Jafar SAADATIFARD (IRI) df. Baisar EVLOEV (RUS) by VSU, 9-0 

 

85kg (28 entries)

Semifinal – Juho Matias PAHIKAINEN (FIN) vs. Muhammed Furkan DURSUN (TUR) 

Semifinal – Mukhammad EVLOEV (RUS) vs. Luka ZAKARIADZE (GEO) 

 

Quarterfinal – Luka ZAKARIADZE (GEO) df. Davyd SHADT (UKR) by VPO, 4-0 

Quarterfinal – Juho Matias PAHIKAINEN (FIN) df. Ashton Hunter SHARP (USA) by VPO1, 6-2 

Quarterfinal – Mukhammad EVLOEV (RUS) df. Ilias PAGKALIDIS (GRE) by VPO1, 7-4 

Quarterfinal – Muhammed Furkan DURSUN (TUR) df. Mikita HEURASIOU (BLR) by VPO1, 3-1