
Portugal — Chaves
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Romania and Georgia Dominate First Stop of Beach Wrestling World Series
Georgia and Romania asserted themselves as the world’s premier beach wrestling nations Saturday in Chaves as they combined to win 6 of 8 available gold medals in men’s and women’s wrestling.
The Georgian squad was led by 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Dato MARSAGISHVILI who dominated the -90kg competition over the course of the two-day competition to take gold. Marsagishvili was also awarded “Best Move of the Tournament” after back-arching his quarterfinal opponent for what fans thought was the most spectacular technique of the weekend.
“I’m very happy to be involved in beach wrestling,” said Marsagishvili. “This is my first time and I was really excited to win. Beach wrestling is amazing; it’s like a celebration atmosphere, which had me smiling.”
Levan KELEKHSASHVILI (60kg) and Davit KHUTSISHVILI (80kg) also took home gold medals for their efforts, each winning 3-0 in their final’s bouts.
Team Georgia would have won all four medals, were it not for Iannis KARGIOTAKIS (GRE) who used a front head pinch to twist an undersized Mamuka KORDZAIA (GEO) for a match-ending three-point move and a spot in the night’s +90kg finals.
Oyan NAZARIANI (AZE) ended Kargiotakis’ upset run, executing a dominating 3-0 performance to take the +90kg title.
On the women’s side the Romanians - who won four gold medals at the 2018 World Championships in Dalyan -- were once again tops in their division, winning three of the event’s four women’s categories.
The small European nation was led by Georgiana FILIP (60kg) who used two takedowns and a three-point throw in the finals to win that match, 5-0.
“We are used to mat wrestling, but we also practice a lot for the beach events,” said Filip. “We are focused on qualification for the World Beach Games and hope to be in Rio for the next World Beach Series event.
The Romanian squad, who is also competing next week at the 2019 European Championships in the Olympic style of women’s wrestling, were boosted by a workwoman-like performance of 50kg megastar Stefania PRICEPUTU. Though shorter than most her opponents, Priceputu used a combination of intensity, heavy hand pressure and snap downs to earn the gold and 1000 CHF.
Greece earned the +70kg title with a comeback performance by Aikaterini PITSIAVA, who trailed 2-0 late in her match with Diana VLASCEANU, but bullied her way to a 3-2 gold medal.
The next stop on the Beach Wrestling World Series will be May 10-11 in Rio de Janerio. The points from the Chaves and Rio stops will be determining which wrestlers and nations qualify for the 2019 ANOC World Beach Games in October.
UWW Beach Wrestling
UWW, then known as FILA, codified the form of beach wrestling in 2004. Beach wrestling is standing wrestling done by wrestlers, male or female, inside a sand-filled circle measuring 7 meters (23 ft) in diameter. The style originally mirrored the rules used before the use of wrestling mats, and beach wrestling has been regarded as the oldest version of international competitive wrestling. The international rules have been modified in 2015 by UWW, with the current rules allowing wrestlers to score points via takedowns, pushing their opponent out of bounds, or bringing the opponent down to their back.
Beach Wrestling World Series 2019
Chaves, Portugal March, 29-30
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil May, 10-11
Odessa, Ukraine August, 9-10
Zagreb, Croatia September, 7-8
Weight classes
Men: 70 kg, 80 kg, 90 kg, and +90kg
Women: 50 kg, 60 kg, 70 kg, and +70kg
Trending
Participants
ULLAH
CONSTANTIN
CONSTANTIN
TASKOUDIS
COMAN
COMAN
DOS SANTOS SILVA
AROUZMANIDIS
DE MATOS OLIVEIRA DE MORAIS CA
ABBASPOURREIKANDEH
DA SILVA PASSOS
LOPES FRAGA
ILYASLI
YUCEL
KELEKHSASHVILI
KELEKHSASHVILI
YUSUBOV
YUSUBOV
KHUTSISHVILI
KHUTSISHVILI
PAPADOPOULOS
HASSAN TABAR JELODAR
MINZALA
MINZALA
PEREZ QUINTANA
KOULOUCHIDIS
BRITO GOMES
VAFAEIPOUR
INAM
ALIYEV
NOBRE DO CABO PEREIRA
PALAGHIA
PALAGHIA
SAMARTSIDIS
SAMARTSIDIS
OZKAN
MARSAGISHVILI
GARCIA PEREZ
ANDRADE DA SILVA
KRIARIDIS
KARGIOTAKIS
KORDZAIA
KORDZAIA
ANDRIADZE
CHINTOAN
CHINTOAN
RAHMANI
NAZARIANI
NAZARIANI
CUBA VAZQUEZ
SAHIN
ALIOGLU
GOMES TEIXEIRA VIEIRA
BARBOSA VITO DA SILVA
PRICEPUTU
PRICEPUTU
FAMA TRISTAO
FILIP
KESSLER
RODRIGUES
JOSUE CUNHA
POPESCU
COSTA SILVA
PEREIRA BRAZIO
PEREIRA BRAZIO
DOGDU
PITSIAVA
PITSIAVA
VLASCEANU
Draw
FILIP
FAMA TRISTAO
KESSLER
RODRIGUES
JOSUE CUNHA
OZKAN
SAMARTSIDIS
KRIARIDIS
ALIYEV
ANDRADE DA SILVA
MARSAGISHVILI
GARCIA PEREZ
PALAGHIA
NOBRE DO CABO PEREIRA
KELEKHSASHVILI
CONSTANTIN
DE MATOS OLIVEIRA DE MORAIS CA
ABBASPOURREIKANDEH
AROUZMANIDIS
TASKOUDIS
YUCEL
DA SILVA PASSOS
ILYASLI
COMAN
DOS SANTOS SILVA
LOPES FRAGA
SAHIN
KARGIOTAKIS
CHINTOAN
RAHMANI
KORDZAIA
NAZARIANI
ANDRIADZE
CUBA VAZQUEZ
YUSUBOV
MINZALA
BRITO GOMES
HASSAN TABAR JELODAR
KHUTSISHVILI
KOULOUCHIDIS
PEREZ QUINTANA
PAPADOPOULOS
PRICEPUTU
BARBOSA VITO DA SILVA
GOMES TEIXEIRA VIEIRA
ALIOGLU
PITSIAVA
VLASCEANU
POPESCU
PEREIRA BRAZIO
DOGDU
COSTA SILVA
Keep on wrestling!
Keep on wrestling!
Keep on wrestling!
Keep on wrestling!
Results
DE MATOS OLIVEIRA DE MORAIS CA
ABBASPOURREIKANDEH
DE MATOS OLIVEIRA DE MORAIS CA
KELEKHSASHVILI
CONSTANTIN
DE MATOS OLIVEIRA DE MORAIS CA
GOMES TEIXEIRA VIEIRA
BARBOSA VITO DA SILVA
GOMES TEIXEIRA VIEIRA
PRICEPUTU