To Our Friends in Wrestling Around the world
By William May
(Japan Amateur Wrestling Federation, Public
Information Committee
Kyodo World Services, senior sports writer:wmay52@hotmail.com)
SASAMOTO ADVANCES TO C'SHIP BRACKET AT GRWORLDS
MOSCOW (September 21) - Japan's Makoto Sasamoto posted a pair
of wins at 60 kg and advanced to the championship
bracket of the 2002 greco-roman wrestling
world championships in Moscow on September
21. Sasamoto came from behind for a 3-2 win
over Australia's Plamen Tchovkanov in his
opening match at Universal Sport Hall CSKA
and then overwhelmed Stig-Andre Berge of
Norway with a technical fall to book a place
in the first round of the championship tournament.
The knockout phase of the competition in
four weight categories -- 60 kg, 74 kg, 96
kg and 120 kg -- will be held September 22,
the final day of competition.
Sasamoto, seeking to improve on his
seventh place finish at the 2001 world championships,
will meet Asledin Khudoyberdiev of Uzbekistan
for a chance to advance to the quarterfinals
-- and perhaps further. In his first match,
Sasamoto overcame an early two-point deficit
against Tchovkanov to post a 3-2 victory.
Tchovkanov converted on a passivity call
with a two-point gut wrench in the first
period, but the Japanese ace answered back
with a one-point gut wrench and then one
more for two points in the second three minutes
to
secure the win.
Against Berge, Sasamoto scored with a
single-arm throw only 25 seconds into their
second-round match and quickly converted
with a gut wrench and front headlock-and-turn
for a 7-0 lead on his way to an easy win
over the 19-yaer-old Norwegian.
Japan's two other entries in the second
half of the world championships -- Olympic
silver-medal winner Katsuhiko Nagata and
Yusuke Morikaku -- however, were unable to
advance beyond the preliminary groups. Japan
did not have an entry at 120 kg. Nagata,
floored with a touch of the flu earlier in
the week, hammered out a 4-0 win over Daniel
Schnider of Switzerland in his first match
at 74 kg, but could not get a grip on former
junior world champion Vladimir Shtskikh of
Ukraine in his second match and went down
5-1. Nagata won the silver medal at 69 kg
at the Sydney Olympics two years ago, but
failed to advance out of the preliminaries
at the world championships for a second year
in a row.
Morikaku, barely tipping the scales at
90 kg, lost to China's Liu Hao 6-0 in the
first round of matches at 96 kg and was then
saddled with a pair of losses by technical
superiority to finish a long difficult day
at the office.
In other action on the second day of
competition, Swedish wrestlers won two of
the three titles up for grabs with 2001 world
champion at 76 kg Ara Abrahamian capping
the day with a three-point bodylock-and-throw
to win the 84-kg crown over hometown favorite
Aleksandr Menshikov. Abrahamian kept the
championship match against the 1998 world
champion close throughout the regulation
six minutes and unleashed a high back-arching
throw off the whistle to start extra time,
sending Menshikov rolling over his shoulders
for three points and the come-from-behind
win.
At 66 kg, Sweden's Jimmy Samuelsson,
who took fourth place at 69 kg a year ago
in Patras, Greece, went all the way for the
crown this year after forging a 3-0 win over
2001 junior world champion Farid Mansurov
of Azerbaijan. Geidar Mamedaliyev got the
home crowd going in the first championship
final with a 4-0 win over Turkmenistan's
Nepes Gukulov for the title at 55 kg, but
that would be the lone bright spot of the
evening for local fans.
Manuchar Kvirkvelia of Georgia threw
Russia's Maksim Semenov for a 4-2 win and
the bronze medal at 66 kg. Mohamed Ibrahim
Abdel Fatah of Egypt, the 2001 World Cup
champion, needed extra time but got the lift
and drop he needed to claim a 5-0 win in
6:56 over Armenia's Levon Geghamyan. Abdel
Fatah's medal was the first world-level medal
won by a wrestler from Africa -- and Egypt
-- in 50 years. In the bronze medal match
at 55 kg, Hassan Rangraz of Iran, last year's
world champion, took the bronze medal with
10-0 technical fall win at 4:39 over Ashot
Khachaturyan of Armenia.
Earlier in the day, Rangraz appeared
to have another technical fall against Gukulov
in the semifinals, but let up too soon and
was caught on his back for a shocking loss
by fall.
![](../2001/back.gif)