From: Tim Foley [email protected] Subject: Mishin Leads Charge of Ageless Masters on Greco-Roman World Rankings Date: May 5, 2016 at 8:59 AM To: [email protected] Mishin Leads Charge of Ageless Masters on Greco-Roman World Rankings By William May // Photos: Sachiko Hotaka and Gabor Martin CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (May 5) – Ageless warrior Alexej MISHIN (RUS) led the charge of 30-something masters onto and up the United World Wrestling rankings for Greco-Roman wrestling in the month of April. Even with a number of younger wrestlers eager to qualify the 85kg category for Russia, the 37-year-old master was dispatched to Zrenjanin and turned away world champion Melonin NOUMONVI (FRA) as well as 2014 junior world runner-up Denis KUDLA (GER) for the tournament title and an Olympic berth. And so, April became the month of the “ageless masters” as a handful of veterans took advantage of their chances to qualify their countries for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games – while improving their places on the Greco-Roman rankings. Mishin, in and out the rankings in 2015, made the biggest leap of April, going from unranked to No.5 and gave Russia its sixth berth to Rio 2016 in the classic style. Ionut PANAIT (ROU) // Photo by Sachiko Hotaka Along with Mishin, 35-year-old Ionut PANAIT (ROU), a European silver medalist in 2010 at the “tender” age of 29, ended a five-year hiatus from competition and won Rio 2016 qualification at 66kg in Ulaanbaatar. His victory lifted him to No.15 in the rankings. Tero VAELIMAEKI (FIN), 34, was second to Panait and advanced to No.10 at his “home” category of 71kg, while 30-year-old Edgaras VENCKAITIS (LTU) earned a berth in Rio via a special wrestle-off between bronze medal winners. Meanwhile, 32-year-old Kristijan FRIS (SRB) got the hometown crowd going in Zrenjanin with second place at 59kg to climb three places to No.16, while Stig Andre BERGE (NOR), also 32, was runner-up a week later in Ulaanbaatar to go from unranked to No.9 in the featherweight rankings. In a battle of 2014 world champions at 75kg, 33-year-old Peter BACSI (HUN) defeated Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARM), 7-0, in the opening round on his way to the title, a ticket to Rio and No.10 in the rankings. London 2012 silver medalist Heiki NABI (EST), who turns 31 in June, won the 130kg title at the European qualifier in Zrenjanin to edge up to No.10. Wrestlers in the rankings are listed by name, country code, most notable or most recent result over the last 12 months, and their position in the previous rankings. Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) // Photo by Gabor Martin 59kg – 2014 world bronze medalist Stig Andre BERGE (NOR) slipped by European bronze medal winner Dmitriy TSYMBALIYUK (UKR), 3-1, in Ulaanbaatar to re-join the rankings No.8 after tumbling out of the poll one month ago. 1. Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) – World No.1 (1) 2. Rovshan BAYRAMOV (AZE) – World No.2 (2) 3. Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ) – GGP Final No.1 (3) 4. Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.3 (4) 5. Mingiyan SEMENOV (RUS) – Europe No.1 (6) 6. YUN Won-Chol (PRK) – World No.3 (5) 7. Soslan DAUROV (BLR) – World No.5 (7) 8. Arsen ERALIEV (KGZ) – World No.5 (8) 9. Stig Andre BERGE (NOR) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.2 (Not Ranked) 10. KIM Seung-Hak (KOR) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.1 (nr) 11. Ivo ANGELOV (BUL) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.5 (10) 12. Shinobu OTA (JPN) – Asian OG Qualifier No.2 (12) 13. Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS) – Ivan Poddubny No.3 (9) 14. Ibragim LABAZANOV (RUS) – Ivan Poddubny No.1 (11) 15. Kanybek ZHOLCHUBEKOV (KGZ) – Asia No.1 (13) 16. Kristijan FRIS (SRB) – European OG Qualifier No.2 (19) 17. Saman ABDVALI (IRI) – Asia No.2 (14) 18. WANG Lumin (CHN) – Hungarian GP No.3 (16) 19. Haitham FAHMY (EGY) – Africa-Oceania OG Qualifier No.1 (nr) 20. Dmitry TSYMBALIYUK (UKR) – Europe No.3 (17) Frank STAEBLER (GER) // Photo by Gabor Martin 66kg – 2014 junior world champ Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) fashioned a 3-0 win over Hungarian Grand Prix runner-up Dawid KARECINSKI (POL) for one ticket to Rio while Beijing 2008 Olympian Ionut PANAIT (ROU) ended a five-year hiatus with a victory in Ulaanbaatar for another. 1. Frank STAEBLER (GER) – World No.1 (1) 2. RYU Han-Soo (KOR) – World No.2 (2) 3. Artem SURKOV (RUS) – World No.3 (3) 4. Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) – Hungarian GP No.1 (4) 5. Islambek ALBIEV (RUS) - Europe No.1 (5) 6. Davor STEFANEK (SRB) – Europe No.2 (6) 7. Migran ARUTUNYAN (ARM) – Nikola Petrov No.1 (7) 8. Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) – European OG Qualifier No.2 (12) 9. Tarek Aziz BENAISSA (ALG) – All-African Games No.1 (8) 10. Hasan ALIYEV (AZE) – Europe No.3 (9) 11. Mehdi ZEIDVAND (IRI) – Asia No.3 (10) 12. Dominik ETLINGER (CRO) – Hungarian GP No.3 (11) 13. Wuileixis RIVAS ESPINOZA (VEN) – Pan Am OG Qualifier No.1 (13) 14. Miguel MARTINEZ PALACIOS (CUB) – Pan America No.1 (14) 15. Ionut PANAIT (ROU) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.1 (nr) 16. Edgaras VENCKAITIS (LTU) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.3 (nr) 17. Artak MARGARYAN (FRA) – Hungarian GP No.3 (20) 18. Mateusz BERNATEK (POL) – European U23 No.1 (16) 19. David KARECINSKI (POL) – Hungarian GP No.2 (17) 20. Istvan LEVAI (SVK) – Zagreb Open No.2 (15) Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) // Photo by Gabor Martin 71kg – Third time was the charm for Tero VAELIMAEKI (FIN). Having never finished better than 22nd in qualifiers in 2004 and 2008, Vaelimaeki forged four wins at 66kg in Ulaanbaatar to book his first trip to the Olympic Games. Vaelimaeki, who divides his time between 66kg and 71kg, joins the rankings at No.10. 1. Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) – World No.1 (1) 2. Balint KORPASI (HUN) – Europe No.3 (4) 3. Afshin BYABANGARD (IRI) – Asia No.1 (3) 4. Adam KURAK (RUS) – World No.3 (5) 5. Varsham BORANYAN (ARM) – Europe No.1 (10) 6. Aleksandar MAKSIMOVIC (SRB) – Europe No.2 (11) 7. Zackarias TALLROTH (SWE) – World No.3 (6) 8. Mathias MAASCH (GER) – Paris GP No.1 (7) 9. Armen VARDANYAN (UKR) – World No.2 (2) 10. Tero VAELIMAEKI (FIN) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.2 (nr) 11. Danijel JANECIC (CRO) – LIG Int’l No.3 (12) 12. Ramin TAHERISARTANG (IRI) – Asia No.1 (13) 13. Yunus OZEL (TUR) – Europe No.5 (16) 14. Tomi HINOVEANU (ROU) – Europe No.5 (17) 15. Justin LESTER (USA) – Farrell Memorial No.2 (8) 16. Timur BERDIEV (BLR) – World No.5 (9) 16. Timur BERDIEV (BLR) – World No.5 (9) 17. Zoltan LEVAI (HUN) – Zagreb GP No.1 (14) 18. Darkhan BAYAKMETOV (KAZ) – Asia No.3 (15) 19. Abou Halima ABOU HALIMA (EGY) – Africa No.1 (18) 20. Yunus Emre BASAR (TUR) – Vehbi Emre No.1 (19) Roman VLASOV (RUS) // Photo by Gabor Martin 75kg – Peter BACSI (HUN) opened in Ulaanbaatar with a win over fellow world champ Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARM) and marches to victory in Ulaanbaatar for No.10 in the rankings. Julfalakyan follows up for third place and a berth in Rio to hold onto No.11. 1. Roman VLASOV (RUS) – World No.1 (1) 2. Doszhan KARTIKOV (KAZ) – Asia No.1 (2) 3. KIM Hyeon-Woo (KOR) – GGP Final No.1 (3) 4. Mark MADSEN (DEN) – World No.2 (4) 5. Andrew BISEK (USA) – World No.3 (5) 6. Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (GEO) – Europe No.1 (6) 7. Viktor NEMES (SRB) – Europe No.2 (7) 8. Elvin MURSALIYEV (AZE) – Europe No.5 (8) 9. Chingiz LABAZANOV (RUS) – Ivan Poddubny No.1 (9) 10. Peter BACSI (HUN) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.1 (14) 11. Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARM) – Ulaanbaatar OG Qualifier No.3 (11) 12. Saeid Mourad ABDVALI (IRI) – Takhti Cup No.1 (10) 13. YANG Bin (CHN) – Hungarian GP No.1 (18) 14. Karapet CHALYAN (ARM) – Europe No.3 (12) 15. Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO) – Zagreb GP No.1 (13) 16. Pascal EISELE (GER) – Europe No.1, 80kg (15) 17. Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO) – European U23s No.1 (16) 18. Geordan SPEILLER (USA) – Hungarian GP No.3 (15) 19. Zied AIT OUAGRAM (MAR) – Africa-Oceania OG Qualifier No.1 (nr) 20. Neven ZUGAJ (CRO) – Hungarian GP No.3 (20) Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) // Photo by Gabor Martin 80kg – World silver medalist Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) takes over the top spot with a win at the European under-23 meet. World champ Selcuk CEBI (TUR) slips to No.2 after a fifth-place finish at 75kg in Ulaanbaatar. 1. Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) – European U23 No.1 (1) 2. Selcuk CEBI (TUR) – World No.1 (2) 3. Evgeni SALEEV (RUS) – Ivan Poddubny No.1 (3) 4. Rafik HUSEYNOV (AZE) – GGP Final No.2 (5) 4. Rafik HUSEYNOV (AZE) – GGP Final No.2 (5) 5. Viktor SASUNOVSKI (BLR) – World No.2 (4) 6. Edgar BABAYAN (POL) – Europe No.2 (10) 7. AISHAN Aishan (CHN) – Asia No.2 (8) 8. Aslan ATEM (TUR) – Europe No.3 (9) 9. Ramazan ABACHARAEV (RUS) – Ivan Poddubny No.1 (11) 10. Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL) – Europe No.3 (12) 11. Laszlo SZABO (HUN) – Zagreb GP No.2 (6) 12. Pavel POMINCHUK (BLR) – Hungarian GP No.1 (13) 13. Raibek BISULTANOV (DEN) – Hungarian GP No.2 (14) 15. Yousef GHADERIAN (IRI) – World No.3 (17) 16. Ashkat DILMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ) – Asia No.3 (18) 17. Aleksander SHYSHMAN (UKR) – Takhti Cup No.3 (16) 18. Rafik MANUKYAN (ARM) – Takhti Cup No.1 (19) 19. Mahdi FALLAHHAMIDABADI (IRI) – Ukraine Int’l No.1 (20) 20. Cheney HAIGHT (USA) – Pan America No.1 (nr) Zhan BELENYUK (UKR) // Photo by Gabor Martin 85kg – Athens 2004 gold medalist Alexej MISHIN (RUS) defeated 2014 world champ Melonin NOUMONVI (FRA) and 2014 junior world runner- up Denis KUDLA (GER) to bound from unranked to No.5 in the rankings.