World Greco Rankings released

[The Guru]

http://news.internationalwrestling.org/2013/05/greco-roman-world-wrestling-rankings-may-2-2013/

 

Olympic Champs Vlasov, Kim Top FILA International Greco-Roman Wrestling Rankings

By William May

 

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (May 2) – London 2012 Olympic Games gold medalists Roman VLASOV (Russia) and KIM Hyeon-Woo (Korea) top FILA’s first international rankings for Greco-Roman wrestling.

 

VLASOV won his second European championships crown at 74kg in Tbilisi in March while KIM, the gold medal winner in London at 66kg, had no difficulty moving up a weight category and taking the 74kg title at the recently concluded Asian championships in New Delhi.

 

The Olympic gold medal duo, as respective continental champions, are ranked one-two at 74kg in FILA’s inaugural international rankings.

 

Olympic Games silver medalist Tamas LORINCZ (Hungary), the runner-up to KIM in London, finds himself on top of the heap at 66kg after handily winning the European crown there.

 

Another London silver medalist Rustam TOTROV (Russia) took a second place at the Vehbi Emre Grand Prix tourney in February, but Artur ALEKSANYAN (Armenia), a bronze medal winner in London, won the European championship at 96kg and sits on top of the rankings.

 

Meanwhile, Olympic Games bronze medal winner and defending world champion Riza KAYAALP (Turkey) won the Vehbi Emre crown in Istanbul and followed up with his third European title at 120kg.

 

As is often the case in the first year of a new Olympic cycle, a number of the familiar names are missing — either having left their shoes at the middle of the mat or taking a breather from the demands of high-level training and competition.

 

In their place, a host of new names and faces, each with their own Olympic hopes and dreams, appear in the senior ranks

 

In these inaugural FILA rankings, consideration was given to international results from the end of the London 2012 Games with a special eye on the continental championships and the Golden Grand Prix events. Results from other international and some domestic events were taken into consideration. Each weight category featured top 10 rankings.

 

The FILA international rankings by weight category for Greco-Roman:

 

55kg – Elbek TAZHYIEV (Belarus) edged two-time defending champion Elchin ALIYEV (Azerbaijan) in three periods for his first European championships crown and was second in the Vehbi Emre Golden Grand Prix tourney in Istanbul.

 

Spenser MANGO (United States), the U.S. entry at the London 2012 Olympic Games, defeated Pan America champion Max NOWRY (United States) at the recent U.S. Open competition and enters the rankings at No.10.

 

60kg – No clear leader in this group of London Olympians and Rio 2016 wannabes. Ivo ANGELOV (Bulgaria) won his first European championship title with a 2-0 triumph over Ivan KUYLAKOV (Russia), a two-time former champion at the rugged Ivan Poddubny tourney.

 

Elmurat TASMURADOV (Uzbekistan) prevailed in a quarterfinals free-for-all with WANG Lumin (China), 2-1 (5-0, 0-7, 6-0) and then came from behind to defeat Abdol Mohamed PAPI (Iran) for the title in the Asian championships.

 

66kg – Olympic Games silver medalist Tamas LORINCZ (Hungary) went all the way to China one year ago to qualify for London 2012 and has since never looked back. LORINCZ won his second European title in March with a semifinal win over fellow Olympian Atakan YUKSEL (Turkey) and a 2-0 (1-0, 3-1) triumph over Adam KURAK (Russia) in the championship match.

 

KURAK, winner of the prestigious Poddubny tourney in January, came from behind to defeat 2010 world champion at 60kg Hassan ALIYEV (AZE) in the European semifinals 2-1 (0-6,3-0, 1-0) in Tbilisi, Georgia.

 

74kg – Olympic and world champion Roman VLASOV (Russia), at 22 years, is in a world of his own, winning his second European championship title with wins over 2007 world champion Yavor YANAKIEV (Bulgaria) and fellow London Olympian Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (Georgia).

 

KIM, the Olympic champion at 66kg in London, defeated defending champion Hadi ALIZADEH POURNIA (IRI) for the Asia crown.

 

84kg – Athens 2004 Olympic Games champion Alexej MISHIN (Russia), at 34, won his sixth European title and third Poddubny crown to take the top spot in the 84kg rankings ahead of two-time former world champion at 74kg Selcuk CEBI (Turkey).

 

Revai NADAREISHVILI (Georgia), 2011 junior world champion, defeated Olympic semifinalist and countryman Vladimir GEGESHIDZE (Georgia) on his way to a pair of runner-up performances in the two Golden Grand Prix events for Greco-Roman wrestling.

 

Meanwhile, London Olympic champion Alan KHUGAEV (Russia) advanced to the semifinals of Vehbi Emre and then defaulted on his next two bouts to finish fifth. KHUGAEV, however, won the recent Adriatic Trophy in Croatia.

 

96kg – Olympic Games bronze medalist Artur ALEKSANYAN (Armenia) was steady on his way to a second European championship winning five bouts by a combined score of 27-1, including a 2-0 (2-0, 2-0) triumph over Vehbi Emre winner Cenk ILDEM (Turkey).

 

Olympic silver medalist Rustam TOTROV (Russia) fell to ILDEM in the finals of Vehbi Emre 0-2 (0-1, 0-1), but won at the Adriatic Trophy meet.

 

120kg – London 2012 bronze medalist and defending world champion Riza KAYAALP (Turkey) captured the Vehbi Emre title in front of a hometown crowd in Istanbul and then stopped Hungarian GGP winner Evgeni ORLOV (Ukraine) in Tbilisi for his third European championship belt.

 

Two-time world bronze medal winner Nurmakhan TINALIEV (Kazakhstan) capped his stroll through the field in the Asian championships with a 2-0 (3-0, 1-0) triumph over Poddubny winner NIE Xiaoming (China).

 

Meanwhile, five-time world silver medalist Mihaly DEAK BARDOS (Hungary) has apparently given way to junior world champ Balint LAM (Hungary) after a stellar career including four trips to the Olympic Games.

 

The 38-year-old ironman, however, still has enough in the tank to take a third place in the Hungarian Golden Grand Prix.

Weight

 

Rank

 

Wrestler

 

Country

55kg/121 pounds

1 Elbek TAZHYIEV Belarus

2 Elchin ALIYEV Azerbaijan

3 Bekhan MANKIEV Russia

4 CHOI Gyu-Jin Korea

5 Ivan TATARINOV Russia

6 Shota TANOKURA Japan

7 Faith UCUNCU Turkey

8 YUN Won-Chol DPR Korea

9 Kanybek ZHOLCHUBEKOV Kyrgyzstan

10 Spenser Mango United States

60kg/132 pounds

1 Ivo ANGELOV Bulgaria

2 Elmurat TASMURADOV Uzbekistan

3 Ivan KUYLAKOV Russia

4 Istvan LEVAI Slovakia

5 Lenur TEMIROV Ukraine

6 Kamran MAMMADOV Azerbaijan

7 Abdol Mohamed PAPI Iran

8 Revaz LASHKHI Georgia

9 Ismael BARRERA MOLINA Cuba

10 WANG Lumin China

66kg/145.5 pounds

1 Tamas LORINCZ Hungary

2 Adam KURAK Russia

3 Hasan ALIYEV Azerbaijan

4 KIM Ji-Hun Korea

5 Alexander CASAL HINOJOSA Cuba

6 Rasul CHUNAYEV Azerbaijan

7 Mehdi ZEIDVAND Iran

8 Manukhar TSKHADAIA Georgia

9 Atakan YUKSEL Turkey

10 Yerbol KONYRATOV Kazakhstan

74kg/163 pounds

1 Roman VLASOV Russia

2 KIM Hyeon-Woo Korea

3 Hadi ALIZEDAH POURNIA Iran

4 Yavor YANAKIEV Bulgaria

5 Zurabi DATUNASHIVILI Georgia

6 Bozo STARCEVIC Croatia

7 Alexi BELL CABALLERO Cuba

8 Seref TUFENK Turkey

9 Mark MADSEN Denmark

10 Pascal EISELE Germany

84kg/185 pounds

1 Alexej MISHIN Russia

2 Selcuk CEBI Turkey

3 Revazi NADAREISHVILI Georgia

4 Vladimir GEGESHIDZE Georgia

5 Artur SHAHINYAN Armenia

6 Rustam ASSAKALOV Uzbekistan

7 PARK Jin-Sung Korea

8 Taleb Nariman NEMATPOUR Iran

9 Gilberto PIQUET HERRERA Cuba

10 Alan KHUGAEV Russia

96kg/211 pounds

1 Artur ALEKSANYAN Armenia

2 Cenk ILDEM Turkey

3 Rustam TOTROV Russia

4 Mikhail KAJAIA Georgia

5 Yasmany Daniel LUGO CABRERA Cuba

6 AN Chang-Gun Korea

7 Vladislav METODIEV Bulgaria

8 Yerulan ISAKOV Kazakhstan

9 Davoud GILNAYRANG Iran

10 Melonin NOUMONVI France

120kg/264.5 pounds

1 Riza KAYAALP Turkey

2 Evgeni ORLOV Ukraine

3 Nurmakhan TINALIEV Kazakhstan

4 NIE Xiaoming China

5 Guram PHERSELIDZE Georgia

6 Bashir Asgari BABAJANZADEH Iran

7 Ramon Antonio GARCIA Dominican Republic

8 Iosif CHUGOSHVILI Belarus

9 Emin OZTURK Turkey

10 Mihaly DEAK BARDOS Hungary

 

Unofficial Team Rankings

Based on FILA tournament scoring (10-9-8-8-6-6-4-3-2-1)

1. Russia, 60

2. Georgia, 42

3. Turkey, 39

4. Korea, 35

5. Azerbaijan, 29

6. Iran, 27

7. Bulgaria, 22

8. Cuba, 20

9. Armenia, 16

10t. Ukraine, 15

10t. Uzbekistan, 15

12. Belarus, 13

13. Kazakhstan, 12

14. Hungary, 11

15. China, 9

16. Slovakia, 8

17t. Croatia, 6

17t. Japan, 6

19. Dominican Republic, 4

20. DPR Korea, 3

21t. Denmark, 2

21t. Kyrgyzstan, 2

23t. France, 1

23t. Germany, 1

23t. United States, 1

*-tournament points are not released by FILA and are calculated independently by Britt Malinsky.

 

About the Rankings

William May has been active in wrestling across three continents for more than 40 years as a competitor, coach, referee and journalist. William wrestled with the Minnesota Wrestling Club (USA) in the early 1970s and went to Japan as an English teacher and later a sportswriter for 16 years with the Kyodo News Service in Tokyo. In Japan, William continued to wrestle and coach at Kokushikan University in Tokyo. He also collaborated with the magazine, Japanese Wrestling Monthly, and later the website of the Japan Wrestling Federation. In 2002, William moved to Czech Republic where he teaches English, writes for the JWF website, and coaches at a local wrestling club in Kladno. In 2008 and 2012, William worked as the “Sports Information Specialist” for wrestling at the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympic Games. He can be reached on his Facebook page or by email, wm4wr@outlook.com .

 

(For more information please contact FILA at 41.21 312 84 26 or Bob Condron, Press Officer, condron@fila-wrestling.com)