The world wrestling championship in Belgrade had barely begun and a Russian, Abasgadzhi Magomedov, had already reached the final. The path of the UOR graduate Khasavyurt turned out to be the most powerful in the short tournament. Our athlete started with the quarterfinals, where he did not experience any particular problems with the Ukrainian wrestler Valentin Blesetsky.
Dominating the entire match (16:4 in points), our wrestler finished it with a successful takedown (pressing his opponent with both shoulder blades on the working area of the mat). Surprisingly, not a single political background emerged in anticipation of this struggle. They can’t force things in world sports when it’s not necessary. Or the sport is so masculine that there is no time for jokes.
A sport where we are welcome. What to expect from the 2023 World Wrestling Championships
In the semi-finals, Georgian opponent Shota Partenadze was defeated by one wicket. Here there was no longer a clear victory, but Abasgadji did not allow his opponent to doubt even once his unconditional superiority. 10:0 – numbers that clearly reflect the balance of power on the wrestling mat.
In the final, Magomedov had to fight with American wrestler Vitaly Orudzhev, whose father, Vugar Orudzhev, was a star of Soviet and Russian wrestling in the early 80s and 90s. It was then that Vugar became a bronze medalist. at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games as part of the United Team, and before this success he stood out at the 1991 World Championship, as well as in 1995, but already as a member of the Russian team. After such results, Vugar went to train in the United States. His son Vitaly was born there.
Photo source: International Wrestling Federation.
Orudzhev Jr. has not yet achieved worldwide success. He has gold in the 2021 and 2023 Pan American Championships. And also silver in the 2019 World Youth Championship. In the current championship in Belgrade, Vitaly covered the entire distance of the tournament, starting with qualification, where he managed to defeat his rival from Kazakhstan.
In the round of 16, Orudzhev faced multiple European Championship winner Bulgarian Stilyan Iliev. In the quarterfinals, the American had a difficult match with the Japanese Kodai Ogawa, but even here he outplayed his opponent and was able to retain the final victory (8-2). And already in the semifinals, Orudzhev defeated an athlete with a complex name and surname, Taiyrbek Zhumashbek Ullu. Not without problems, but the final result was quite decent (12:2).
In terms of comparing results, Magomedov has more experience and noticeably more titles than his opponent in the final. Abasgadzhi is the current world champion in the category up to 61 kg; In 2021, he brilliantly left none of his opponents a chance on the mat. By the way, two years ago, in the final, our fighter also faced a fighter from the United States, Dayton Fix. Thus, the Russian had another chance to prevent American wrestling from winning the world wrestling forum gold medal.
A stormy start by the American freestyle wrestler. A quick entrance and several attempts to turn the Russian over caused numerous technical questions from the teams’ coaching staff. At first Magomedov seemed to lead 2:1, but later Orudzhev received four additional points and the difference became 2:5. After a long match, the score changed to 4:7 in favor of the American Vitaly.
Photo source: International Wrestling Federation.
Two minutes before the end of the main time of the match, Magomedov made a good grab and took it to its logical conclusion, closing in on the American 6:7. However, after the next challenge the proportion equalized. 7:7. Oruzhev again made a good grab and again took the lead 7:9. As a result, 15 seconds before the end of the fight, the American earned another point for his activity and that was it, our fighter was given two-9:10, but the Russian had very little time. Failure. The gold this time went to the United States.
