On the second day of the World Cup in Nur Sultan, a medal drawing was planned in the four non-Olympic weight categories of Greco-Roman wrestling. The Russian team had a chance to start the tournament immediately with two gold medals. In weight up to 63 kg, the world title was to be defended by Stepan Maryanian in the fight with the Japanese Sinobu Otoi, and in the category up to 72 kg Abuyazid Mantsigov was supposed to fight with Uzbek Aram Vardanyan.
The Russian team had the opportunity to replenish the piggy bank with another bronze medal. Vitaly Kabaloev, who did not suffer a single defeat this year before the World Cup, ended up in the consolation finals in weight up to 55 kg. In the semifinals, the Russian wrestler confidently led with a score of 4: 1 in a fight with the Chinese Cao Ligo, but 35 seconds before the end he missed the thigh and lost on the carcass.
Before the decisive fights of Marianyan and Mantsigov, in the afternoon on the carpet of the Barys Arena preliminary fights took place in three Olympic weight categories. According to their results, not only the finalists were determined who will continue the struggle for gold on Monday, September 16, but also the first owners of quotas for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. At the World Championships, they receive all the winners, as well as losers in the battles for bronze.
In the weight category up to 67 kg, another reigning world champion Artyom Surkov played. He was incredibly lucky with a draw - three other gold contenders - German Frank Stöbler, Korean Ryu Han Su and Cuban Ismael Borrero - were in one half of the net, and the American wrestler reached the finals. Surkov, without any problems, held the first two fights, having won early victories, and only in a meeting with Mate Nemesh from Serbia did the Russian citizen have to suffer and go further only thanks to points for the passivity of the opponent. In the semifinals, Surkov was again a cut above the opponent and defeated the Danish Fredrik Bierrichus on the carcass.
At the same time, Musa Yevloyev confidently made his way to the finals, who had already won a year ago in the weight category up to 97 kg. He again did not experience problems on the way to the finale, delighting the audience with beautiful throws of rivals. In the semifinals, the Russian did not leave a chance to last year's bronze medalist Mikhail Kajaj from Serbia, ending the fight with him with a beautiful throw through himself for the carpet. Yevloyev will play gold in a duel with Arthur Aleksanyan - the Olympic champion and three-time world champion, whom he won a year ago in the semifinals.
On Sunday, young Alexander Komarov suffered an unfortunate defeat. The 20-year-old wrestler reached the 1/8 finals, beating two rivals in the stalls, but stumbled in a meeting with Rustam Assakalov. The 35-year-old representative of Uzbekistan by that time managed to throw other rivals twice on the carcass, including the current world champion Metekhan Bashar from Turkey. Komarov led in a duel with him, but also fell back on the carpet.
Unfortunately, Assakalov in the semifinals could not defeat the Hungarian Viktor Lerints, and the Russian remained without a chance to win the bronze and the Olympic license.
In the first of the two Russian finals of the evening, Stepan Maryanian met with Japanese Shinobu Ota, the silver medalist of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The Russian was immediately punished for the pass by transfer to the stalls, but managed to break out of the grip of an opponent. After a short pause due to the contact lens that fell out of the Japanese, Marianyan was in a very dangerous position to capture, but he was able not only to escape again, but also to make a four-point throw, taking the score 4: 1.
Alas, the incumbent world champion could not bring the fight to victory. Ota grabbed Maryanian by the neck and in this position made several shots at once, gaining nine points in a row. The fight was not completed ahead of schedule, but there was no way to win back, and the first medal won by the Russian team was silver in weight up to 63 kg.
But the continuation of the final session was more successful. Abuyazid Mantsigov in the final fight with the representative of Uzbekistan Aram Vardanyan did not leave a single chance. At one stroke, the Russian wrestler made three successive throws, which brought him an early victory and the title of world champion, which he could not win last year. Mantsigov now has the moral right to go to a heavier weight - up to 77 kg - and next year try to compete with two-time Olympic champion Roman Vlasov.
“I was 100% tuned, I was confident in my abilities and, by the will of the Almighty, I managed to win. The first and last fights are always the most difficult, but I managed to finish the final ahead of schedule. Last year I was not enough, I became the fifth. After that, I was motivated, waited a long time for victory and prepared for it. Due to the fact that I trained hard a lot, in the finals I managed to win so easily. This is my biggest victory in my career, ”said Mantsigov after the final fight.