SZOMBATHELY, Hungary (March 26) – World champions Peter BACSI (80kg) and Balint KORPASI (71kg) won at their respective weight categories Sunday to give the hosts the team title at the Polyak Imre Memorial wrestling tournament.
Bacsi had to turn away the spirited efforts of fellow Rio 2016 Olympian Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (GEO) in the semifinals and Pan American champ Geordan SPEILLER (USA) in the tournament finale to claim the 80kg crown.
Bacsi turned away hard-charging Ivan Poddubny titlist Datunashvili and held the center of the mat over the final 2:40 for a 2-1 win. Bacsi dropped Speiller early in the final for four points and managed to hang on through Storm Geordan for the win.
Earlier at Arena Savaria, Speiller notched wins against defending champion Pavel POMINCHUK (BLR), world No.5 Nikolozi KELASOV (GEO), and 2015 world silver medalist Viktor SASUNOVSKI (BLR) before coming up short against the 2014 world champion.
Korpasi, meanwhile, wrestling in his first event since winning the 71kg world title in December, opened with a win over Rio Olympian Tomohiro INOUE (JPN) and converted a leg penalty and failed challenge into a 6-0 win over Aleksander MAKSIMOVIC (SRB) in the final.
In the afternoon’s first gold medal final, Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) locked up chest-to-chest and launched two-time Olympian Kristijan FRIS (SRB) for four points, holding firm in the second period for a 4-3 victory.
With the win, Fumita became the fourth Japanese wrestler over the last five years to claim the Szombathely title at the lightest weight category.
Previous winners for Japan were Shota TANOKURA (2013), Rio 2016 silver medalist Shinobu OTA (2015) and two-time Asian Games champion Kohei HASEGAWA (2016).
In the 98kg final, Rio 2016 bronze medalist at 85kg Javid HAMZATOV (BLR) took on European bronze medalist and fellow Rio 2016 qualifier Aleksander HRABOVIK (BLR), but had to settle for runner-up honors for the second year in a row.
Hrabovik, meanwhile, won his second title of 2017 after taking the Vehbi Emre crown in Istanbul in early March.
In the final Polyak Memorial team rankings, host Hungary finished in first place with four champions, a pair of bronze medal winners, and a total of 85 points.
Belarus was second with 52 points mostly from one champion, two runners-up and a third-place, while Japan came third with one champion, three bronze medalists and 50 points.
Results
59kg (11 entries)
Gold – Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) df. Kristijan FRIS (SRB), 4-3
Bronze – Alireza KARGAR (IRI) df. Joszef ANDRASI (HUN), 8-4
Bronze – Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO) df. Dawid ERSETIC (POL), 2-2
Semifinals – Kristijan FRIS (SRB) df. Joszef ANDRASI (HUN) by TF, 10-0, 2:14
Semifinals – Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) df. Dawid ERSETIC (POL) by TF, 9-0, 3:38
71kg (12 entries)
Gold – Balint KORPASI (HUN) df. Aleksandar MAKSIMOVIC (SRB), 6-0
Bronze – Takeshi IZUMI (JPN) df. Tomohiro INOUE (JPN), 2-0
Bronze – Mate NEMES (SRB) df. Evrik NIKOGHOSYAN (FRA), 6-2
Semifinals – Balint KORPASI (HUN) df. Takeshi IZUMI (JPN), 4-0
Semifinals – Aleksandar MAKSIMOVIC (SRB) df. Evrik NIKOGHOSYAN (FRA) by TF, 8-0, 1:03
80kg (20 entries)
Gold – Peter BACSI (HUN) df. Geordan SPIELLER (USA), 4-0
Bronze – Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (GEO) df. John STEFANOWICZ (USA), 4-4
Bronze – Viktor SASUNOVSKI (BLR) df. Nikolozi KELASOV (GEO), 1-1
Semifinals – Peter BACSI (HUN) df. Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (GEO), 2-1
Semifinals – Geordan SPIELLER (USA) df. Viktor SASUNOVSKI (BLR), 1-1
98kg (20 entries)
Gold – Aleksander HRABOVIK (BLR) df. Javid HAMZATOV (BLR), 4-0
Bronze – Daniel MILLER (USA) df. Felix RADINGER (GER), 8-5
Bronze – Balasz KISS (HUN) df. Mikhail KAJAIA (SRB), 5-1
Semifinals – Javid HAMZATOV (BLR) df. Daniel MILLER (USA), 5-1
Semifinals – Aleksander HRABOVIK (BLR) df. Mikhail KAJAIA (SRB), 4-3
