BELGRADE, Serbia (November 6) – The last time Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) was in Belgrade, he shot to prominence with a gold medal performance at the Individual World Cup.
But there was no fairytale ending Saturday as Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ) upgraded his senior World Championships silver to gold at the U23 Worlds in the Serbian capital, continuing to become one of the most exciting wrestlers around the world.
“The gold is better than silver [in Oslo],” Akmataliev said. “Even though I lost in Oslo I am thankful to God. I won the gold because we waited and prepared for this a lot. Not only us but the whole Kyrgyzstan [waited for this].”
His 10-2 win was perhaps the highlight of the five freestyle finals that were held on day six of the tournament. Azerbaijan, Greece, Russia and Iran won one gold medal each with five more to be decided Sunday.
But the high-profile 70kg final between the two superstars lived up to the billing as Tevanyan managed to keep the Kyrgyz star silent for the first period. He began a double-leg attack to expose Akmataliev and get two points. But the Kyrgyz wrestler was also awarded two for putting Tevanyan in danger.
Just before the end of the first period, Akmateliev scored a stepout to lead 3-2 at the break. It was also the first sign of Tevanyan
slowing down.
A minute into the second period, Akmateliev scored another stepout. In the next minute and a half, he scored two more stepouts and Tevanyan was finding it exceedingly difficult to break his opponent’s defense.
He made a final burst of energy with a duck-under but Akmateliev was quick to turn it into a takedown and gut which gave him the 10-2 win.
“We were prepared for the final and everything went according to our plan,” he said. “I am happy that the tactics that we choose worked.”
Born in the Naryn region of Kyrgyzstan, Akmataliev shocked the world when he pinned Ilyas BEKBULATOV (UZB) at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Almaty earlier this year.
Life has only looked upward since then as he made his Olympic debut. He, however, could not win a medal in Tokyo. But that experience helped him iron out the flaws.
“After I won against Bekbulatov, I got more supporters not only from Kyrgyzstan but other countries as well,” he said. “I prepared for the Olympics but destiny was not there for me in Tokyo. But thank god now I have good results. I learned a good lesson there We had prepared a lot and I was in good shape both mentally and physically. But after Belgrade win, I will prepare harder to get more medals.”
The 22-year-old, who finished fifth at the last U23 Worlds, won the silver in Oslo and now the gold in Belgrade at 70kg and will have to decide to wrestle at an Olympic weight for Paris.
“We have not decided yet [about the Olympic weight 65kg to 74kg]. It will be on the coaches to decide in which weight I can win,” he said.
But he joins a list of Kyrgyzstan stars who have won a World Championships including two-time world champion Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ).
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