World Champs Back in Action, But Greco-Roman World Rankings Hold Steady

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (June 3) – With the Rio 2016 qualifying results in the books, world champions returned to action in May making their presence known in the United World Wrestling Rankings for Greco-Roman.

At the “last chance” qualifier in Istanbul, world champions Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) and Selcuk CEBI (TUR) qualified their countries for this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in categories lighter than where they won their titles in Las Vegas.

Chunayev, the world champ at 71kg, romped through the field at 66kg to secure Azerbaijan its fifth entry in the classic style for Rio.

Cebi, meanwhile, was steady in his four wins at 75kg, opening the door to the likelihood that six world champions from the last four years will vie for the gold medal at the Rio Games.

Cebi’s victory also helped him regain the top spot at 80kg, where he is reigning world champion, one month after surrendering the position to European under-23 champion Lasha GOBADZE (GEO).

Three of the world champions currently ranked at 75kg – Peter BACSI (HUN), Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARM) and Saied Mourad ABDVALI (IRI) – were also in action over the last six weeks and climbed into the top 10 at welterweight.

World champs Zhan BELENYUK (UKR) and Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM), along with Julfalakyan, shook off some of the mat rust with wins at the Trophee Milone tourney in and were joined by world medalists Armen VARDANYAN (71kg), Dmitri TIMCHENKO (98kg) and Aleksander CHERNETSKI (130kg) – all of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, London 2012 gold medalists Hamid SORYAN (59kg) and Omid NOROOZI (66kg) each returned to the rankings with an eye on competing in Rio this summer.

Six-time world champion Soryan, who stumbled through the first two qualifiers after an early exit from the Las Vegas world meet, turned up the heat in Istanbul with four technical falls and a cumulative score of 33-0 to rejoin the rankings at No.12.

Noroozi, meanwhile, secured the 66kg slot for Iran at the Asian qualifier in March, but did not have enough to qualify for the rankings until posting a pair of wins at the World Cup in May. Noroozi, who re-enters the rankings at No.16, however, sits behind Takhti Cup winner Mehdi ZEIDVAND (IRI) at No.9.

Wrestlers in the rankings are listed by name, country code, most notable or most recent result over the last 12 months, and their position in the previous rankings.

59kg – Jesse THIELKE (USA) notched wins against London 2012 bronze medal winner Peter MODOS (HUN) and silver medalist Revaz LASHKHI (GEO) in Istanbul on his way to qualifying for Rio 2016 in Istanbul. Thielke joins the rankings at No.17.

1. Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) – World No.1 (1)
2. Rovshan BAYRAMOV (AZE) – World No.2 (2)
3. Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ) – GGP Final No.1 (3)
4. Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.3 (4)
5. Mingiyan SEMENOV (RUS) – Europe No.1 (6)
6. YUN Won-Chol (PRK) – World No.3 (5)
7. Soslan DAUROV (BLR) – World No.5 (7)
8. Arsen ERALIEV (KGZ) – World No.5 (8)
9. Stig Andre BERGE (NOR) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.2 (9)
10. KIM Seung-Hak (KOR) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.1 (10)
11. Shinobu OTA (JPN) – Asian OG Qualifier No.2 (12)
12. Hamid SORYAN (IRI) – Istanbul OG Qualifier No.1 (Not Ranked)
13. Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS) – Ivan Poddubny No.3 (13)
14. Ibragim LABAZANOV (RUS) – Ivan Poddubny No.1 (14)
15. Kristijan FRIS (SRB) – European OG Qualifier No.2 (16)
16. Ivo ANGELOV (BUL) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.5 (11)
17. Jesse THIELKE (USA) – Istanbul OG Qualifier No.2 (nr)
18. Kanybek ZHOLCHUBEKOV (KGZ) – Asia No.1 (15)
19. Saman ABDVALI (IRI) – Asia No.2 (17)
20. WANG Lumin (CHN) – Hungarian GP No.3 (18)

66kg – Omid NOROOZI (IRI) contributed a pair of wins to Iran’s victory in the World Cup of Greco-Roman and rejoins the rankings at No.16 as the Asian Olympic Games qualifying tourney’s runner-up.

1. Frank STAEBLER (GER) – World No.1 (1)
2. RYU Han-Soo (KOR) – World No.2 (2)
3. Artem SURKOV (RUS) – World No.3 (3)
4. Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) – Hungarian GP No.1 (4)
5. Islambek ALBIEV (RUS) - Europe No.1 (5)
6. Davor STEFANEK (SRB) – Europe No.2 (6)
7. Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) – European OG Qualifier No.2 (8)
8. Migran ARUTUNYAN (ARM) – Trophee Milone No.1 (7)
9. Mehdi ZEIDVAND (IRI) – Asia No.3 (11)
10. Tarek Aziz BENAISSA (ALG) – All-African Games No.1 (9)
11. Hasan ALIYEV (AZE) – Europe No.3 (10)
12. Wuileixis RIVAS ESPINOZA (VEN) – Pan Am OG Qualifier No.1 (13)
13. Miguel MARTINEZ PALACIOS (CUB) – Pan America No.1 (14)
14. Ionut PANAIT (ROU) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.1 (15)
15. Edgaras VENCKAITIS (LTU) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.3 (16)
16. Omid NOROOZI (IRI) – Asian OG Qualifier No.2 (nr)
17. Artak MARGARYAN (FRA) – Hungarian GP No.3 (17)
18. Mateusz BERNATEK (POL) – European U23 No.1 (18)
19. David KARECINSKI (POL) – Hungarian GP No.2 (19)
20. Askhat ZHANBIROV (KAZ) – Asia No.2 (nr)

71kg – World silver medalist Armen VARDANYAN (UKR) overcame a disappointing stint in the Rio 2016 qualifiers at 66kg with a second place at the Trophee Milone in Italy to reclaim No.7 in the rankings.

1. Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) – World No.1 (1)
2. Balint KORPASI (HUN) – Europe No.3 (2)
3. Afshin BYABANGARD (IRI) – Asia No.1 (3)
4. Adam KURAK (RUS) – World No.3 (4)
5. Varsham BORANYAN (ARM) – Europe No.1 (5)
6. Aleksandar MAKSIMOVIC (SRB) – Europe No.2 (6)
7. Armen VARDANYAN (UKR) – Trophee Milone No.2 (9)
8. Zackarias TALLROTH (SWE) – World No.3 (7)
9. Mathias MAASCH (GER) – Paris GP No.1 (8)
10. Tero VAELIMAEKI (FIN) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.2 (10)
11. Danijel JANECIC (CRO) – LIG Int’l No.3 (11)
12. Ruslan TSAREV (KGZ) – Istanbul OG Qualifier No.2@66 (nr)
13. Timur BERDIEV (BLR) – World No.5, (16)
14. Yunus OZEL (TUR) – Europe No.5 (13)
15. Tomi HINOVEANU (ROU) – Europe No.5 (14)
16. Zoltan LEVAI (HUN) – Zagreb GP No.1 (17)
17. Darkhan BAYAKMETOV (KAZ) – Asia No.3 (18)
18. Abou Halima ABOU HALIMA (EGY) – Africa No.1 (19)
19. Yunus Emre BASAR (TUR) – Vehbi Emre No.1 (20)
20. Abuyazid MANTSIGOV (RUS) – World Cup No.2 (nr)

75kg – Former world champion Saeid Mourad ABDVALI (IRI) posted three wins at the World Cup meet in Iran to climb to No.10 in the rankings moving ahead of Elvin MURSALIYEV (AZE), a fellow fifth-place finisher at the Las Vegas world championships.

1. Roman VLASOV (RUS) – World No.1 (1)
2. Doszhan KARTIKOV (KAZ) – Asia No.1 (2)
3. KIM Hyeon-Woo (KOR) – GGP Final No.1 (3)
4. Mark MADSEN (DEN) – World No.2 (4)
5. Andrew BISEK (USA) – World No.3 (5)
6. Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (GEO) – Europe No.1 (6)
7. Viktor NEMES (SRB) – Europe No.2 (7)
8. Peter BACSI (HUN) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.1 (10)
9. Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARM) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.3 (11)
10. Saeid Mourad ABDVALI (IRI) – World Cup No.1 (12)
11. Elvin MURSALIYEV (AZE) – Europe No.5 (8)
12. Chingiz LABAZANOV (RUS) – Ivan Poddubny No.1 (9)
13. YANG Bin (CHN) – Hungarian GP No.1 (13)
14. Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO) – Zagreb GP No.1 (15)
15. Karapet CHALYAN (ARM) – Europe No.3 (14)
16. Pascal EISELE (GER) – Europe No.1, 80kg (16)
17. Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO) – European U23 No.1 (17)
18. Geordan SPEILLER (USA) – Hungarian GP No.3 (18)
19. Zied AIT OUAGRAM (MAR) – Africa-Oceania OG Qualifier No.1 (19)
20. Neven ZUGAJ (CRO) – Hungarian GP No.3 (20)

80kg – Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL) grabbed the second ticket on offer at the Istanbul qualifier behind Selcuk CEBI (TUR) to leap four places to No.6 while European U23 bronze medalist Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR) was the top individual performer at the World Cup and breaks into the rankings at No.16.

1. Selcuk CEBI (TUR) – Istanbul OG Qualifier No.1, 75kg (2)
2. Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) – European U23 No.1 (1)
3. Evgeni SALEEV (RUS) – Ivan Poddubny No.1 (3)
4. Rafik HUSEYNOV (AZE) – GGP Final No.2 (4)
5. Viktor SASUNOVSKI (BLR) – World No.2 (5)
6. Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL) – Istanbul OG Qualifier No.2 (10)
7. Edgar BABAYAN (POL) – Europe No.2 (6)
8. AISHAN Aishan (CHN) – Asia No.2 (7)
9. Aslan ATEM (TUR) – Europe No.3 (8)
10. Ramin TAHERISARTANG (IRI) – World Cup No.2 (12@71)
11. Ramazan ABACHARAEV (RUS) – Ivan Poddubny No.1 (9)
12. Laszlo SZABO (HUN) – Zagreb GP No.2 (11)
13. Pavel POMINCHUK (BLR) – Hungarian GP No.1 (12)
14. Raibek BISULTANOV (DEN) – Hungarian GP No.2 (13)
15. Patrik SZABO (HUN) – Hungarian GP No.3 (14)
16. Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR) – World Cup No.1 (nr)
17. Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) – European U23 No.2 (nr)
18. Ashkat DILMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ) – Asia No.3 (16)
19. Yousef GHADERIAN (IRI) – World No.3 (15)
20. Rafik MANUKYAN (ARM) – Takhti Cup No.1 (18)

85kg – Denis KUDLA (GER) shut down 2014 world champion Melonin NOUMONVI (FRA) and European Games bronze medalist Metehan BASAR (TUR) for his ticket to Rio 2016 and No.6 in the rankings. Islam ABBASOV (AZE) posted three wins at the World Cup meet to break into the rankings at No.10.

1. Zhan BELENYUK (UKR) – World No.1 (1)
2. David CHAKVETADZE (RUS) – Ivan Poddubny No.3 (2)
3. Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB) – World No.2 (3)
4. Hasan Saman TAHMASEBI (AZE) – World No.3 (4)
5. Alexej MISHIN (RUS) – European OG Qualifier No.1 (5)
6. Denis KUDLA (GER) – Istanbul OG Qualifier No.1 (10)
7. Robert KOBLIASHVILI (GEO) – Europe No.2 (6)
8. Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) – World No.5 (7)
9. Habibollah AKHLAGHI (IRI) – World No.3 (8)
10. Islam ABBASOV (AZE) – World Cup No.1 (nr)
11. Nikolai BAYRAKOV (BUL) – European OG Qualifier No.2 (14)
12. Javid HAMZATOV (BLR) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.1 (15)
13. Maksim MANUKYAN (ARM) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.2 (16)
14. Damian JANIKOWSKI (POL) – Hungarian GP No.1 (9)
15. Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ) – Vehbi Emre No.2 (11)
16. Ramsin AZIZSIR (GER) – Thor Masters No.2 (12)
17. Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL) – Europe No.3 (13)
18. Zakarias BERG (SWE) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.3 (17)
19. Metehan BASAR (TUR) – Istanbul OG Qualifier No.3 (18)
20. PENG Fei (CHN) – Asia OG Qualifier No.1 (20)

98kg – Muhammad Etka SEVER (GER) racked up three wins against a single loss at the World Cup to follow up his triumph at the European under-23 championships and earn No.11 in the rankings.

1. Nikita MELNIKOV (RUS) – Europe No.1 (1)
2. Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) – World No.1 (2)
3. Ghasem REZAEI (IRI) – World No.2 (3)
4. Islam MAGOMEDOV (RUS) – World No.3 (4)
5. Aleksander HRABOVIK (BLR) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.1 (5)
6. Cenk ILDEM (TUR) – Europe No.3 (6)
7. Dimitri TIMCHENKO (UKR) – Ukraine Int’l No.1 (7)
8. XIAO Di (CHN) – Hungarian GP No.1 (8)
9. Mahdi ALIYARI FEYZABADI (IRI) – Asia No.1 (9)
10. Daigoro TIMONCINI (ITA) – Istanbul OG Qualifier No.2 (20)
11. Muhammad Etka SEVER (GER) – European U23 No.1 (nr)
12. Musa EVLOEV (RUS) – Ivan Poddubny No.2 (10)
13. Ardo ARUSAAR (EST) – European OG Qualifier No.1 (16)
14. Adam VARGA (HUN) – European OG Qualifier No.2 (11)
15. Elis GURI (BUL) – Nikola Petrov No.2 (12)
16. Alin ALEXUC-CIURARIU (ROU) – LIG Int’l No.2 (13)
17. Yasmany LUGO CABRERA (ROU) – Pan America No.1 (14)
18. Fredrik SCHOEN (SWE) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.3 (15)
19. Shalva GADABADZE (AZE) – European OG Qualifier No.3 (17)
20. Revazi NADAREISHVILI (GEO) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.2 (19)

130kg – London 2012 bronze medal winner Johan Magnus EUREN (SWE) snared one of the final tickets to Rio 2016 at the Istanbul qualifier to edge one step higher in the super heavyweight rankings at No.5.

1. Riza KAYAALP (TUR) – World No.1 (1)
2. Aleksander CHERNETSKI (UKR) – Europe No.2 (2)
3. Mijain LOPEZ NUNEZ (CUB) – World No.2 (3)
4. Beylal MAKHOV (RUS) – World No.3 (4)
5. Johan Magnus EUREN (SWE) – Europe No.3 (6)
6. Iosif CHUGOSHVILI (BLR) – Europe No.3 (5)
7. Nurmakhan TINALIEV (KAZ) – Asia OG Qualifier No.1 (7)
8. Heiki NABI (EST) – European OG Qualifier No.1 (10)
9. MENG Qiang (CHN) – Hungarian GP No.1 (8)
10. Amir GHASEMI MONJAZI (IRI) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.1 (9)
11. Eduard SOGHOMONYAN (BRA) – Pan America No.2 (11)
12. Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) – European U23 No.1 (15)
13. Eduard POPP (GER) – European OG Qualifier No.2 (14)
14. Murat RAMONOV (KGZ) – Asia No.2 (13)
15. Sabah SHARIATI (AZE) – GGP Final No.1 (12)
16. Bashir BABAJANZADEH (IRI) – Hungarian GP No.2 (18)
17. Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.3 (nr)
18. Stjepan LAVRIC (CRO) – Hungarian GP No.3 (16)
19. Christian JOHN (GER) – European U23 No.3 (19)
20. Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU) – European U23 No.3 (20)