KUORTANE – At the 10th WUC Wrestling in Kuortane, the men continued their competition yesterday in free-style categories 84kg, 96kg, and 120 kg while the women finally also started their matches in the free-style categories 48kg and 51 kg. In the women’s class two Finnish athletes Sarianne Savola (48kg) and Tiina Ylinen (51kg) were the only two participants to represent the hosting country. In the preliminary round Savola, who was 3rd in the European Championships in 2009, first encountered Victoria Anthony (USA) and concluded the match with a victory.
“She (Savola) is a good wrestler, she’s also a bit taller than me. But like my coach said, it can’t be about winning only. You have to care about the process also.” – V. Anthony (USA).
However, the quarter finals did not end well for the Finn as Ni Li (CHN) wrestled her way forward in the competition against Savola. Luckily by going through the repechage, Savola claimed herself a spot at the bronze medal match. Savola ended up losing the final competition for the bronze medal to the Ukrainian Iryna Rybak who at the end managed to turn the match point in her favor. Thus, Savola was placed 5th overall in the competition.
Ylinen made her way directly to quarter finals but the Japanese Haruka Hirano turned out to be too tough to overcome. Ylinen did not proceed forward to make the cut for the medal games.
The undeniable champion for the men’s free style under 120 kg category was the Turkish wrestler Taha Akgul. Akgul began his matches from the quarter finals by succeeding against Vitalii Gagiev (RUS). When entering the semi-finals, Akgul was matched up with the Polish Kamil Wojciechowski and proceeded to the final where he encountered Parviz Hadi (IRI).
Final Results Medal Matches Oct. 3rd:
In the free style men -84 kg category the bronze medallists were Ion Gurmuzachi (MDA) and Akhmed Magomedov (RUS). Serdar Bâ-ke (TUR), 3rd at the 2010 World University Wrestling Championship and 5th at the 2012 European Championship, ended up with the silver and the gold medal was handed to Meisam Mostafajoukar (IRI), placed 2nd in the Asian championship in 2007 and 2008.
Free style men -96 kg bronze medallists for the day were Abbas Tahan (IRI) and Muren Mutlu (TUR). Marat Ibragimov (RUS) defeated Nicolae Ceban (MDA), an Olympic 11th in 2012, European Championship 3rd in 2011, Junior European Championship 2nd and Junior World Championship 3rd in 2006, in the gold medal match.
In the men’s category under 120 kg, the two bronze medals went to Oleksandr Khotsianivskyi (UKR) and Vitalii Gagiev (RUS), 2nd in the Junior European Championship in 2012. Taha Akgul (TUR), an Olympic 8th in 2012, 1st in the European Championship, 2nd in Junior World Championship in 2010, fought the gold medal against Parviz Hadi (IRI).
Women’s category in free style under 51 kg handed out the bronzes for Natalia Budu (MDA) and Haruka Hirano (JPN). The final was carried out between the defending champion Genevieve Haley (CAN) and Davaachimeg Erkhembayar (MGL). Haley protected the title until the end and once again, managed to grab the gold medal.
Jasmin Mian (CAN) and Iryna Rybak (UKR) got the bronze medals in the women’s -48kg category. The battle for the gold medal was between the Japanese Yuki Irie, 1st at the Junior World Championship in 2012, and Ni Li (CHN), 5th at the Junior World Championship in 2010, Junior Asian 1st in 2010. Irie fought harder than her opponent and received the gold medal at the medal awarding ceremony.
(Source : OC & Julien Buhajezuk, WUC Asst.)