MHSN

that was completely unexpected. Sarkkinen lost to some weak wrestlers recently but today came out of nowhere to win the quota for Finland.

I saw some bad calls before but I think that was the first robbery of the day. at least to me that was a leg foul which would disqualify Akbudak. feel sorry for Gutu. he wrestled his heart out but just ran out of energy at the end to score one more point.

so France will have at least 1 male wrestler in the Olympics. feel sorry for Sahakyan, he was slightly the better wrestler but lost 3-3 on criteria.

60kg quotas for Moldova and Turkey. Ciobanu won the quota yesterday after the draw. but what about Enes Basar ? where was this guy before ? he is 30 now and was never impressive at 63kg and now one weight down he beat 3 (and I can say 4) very tough opponent to qualify. his defense in first period was top notch, Allahiarov could turn anybody else in that position but not Basar, not today.

a bit of free time so let's take a look at freestyle draw. unlike Greco, it's mostly between Russian wrestlers and about who gets the better Russian which is a shame anyway. 57kg: this weight usually belongs to Asia, and a few of top European wrestlers are already qualified making this competition a bit of weak I think 4 or 5 wrestlers have a chance in top half. Atli is the biggest name but I think he is past his prime, Egorov won the Euro two years ago but still he wasn't convincing since then. we also have Dingashvili, but I think the host wrestler Rzazade has the better chance here bottom half is much easier but still I can't see a clear favorite, beside the Suisse wrestler everybody else has a chance. but I think it will be between Vangelov, Lehr and Tsiutryn. BUL and GER have a better chance since they have a bye in the first round. still my pick 65kg top half looks much easier. almost everybody (except the Suisse) has a chance. but I think the winner of first round match between Clarke and Arushanian should be the main favorite. Sacultan had a great run last year and almost won a quota , he has to beat Naim (BUL) to reach the SF. we also have the Georgian wrestler who is not good enough as far as I know but still Islam Dudaev has an easy path to the SF most probably against Haji Aliyev. but it won't be that easy for Aliyev, he hast to beat the French/Russian guy and later TUR/BLR. Aliyev is aging but still I think he is good enough, I say 74kg: Frank Chamizo is not as good as before but he got a good draw in top half. I think he is already in QF against Kuramagomedov or Elbakidze. won't be easy but I think he can handle it to meet Bayramov (or maybe Shapiev) in the SF. I still consider Chamizo the favorite bottom half is harder with 3 big favorites, Demirtas, Kadi and Salkazanov along side few more solid wrestlers like Diacon, the American guy Finesilver and drug cheat Khadjiev. but I think one of those 3 will take it. I pick Kadimagomedov but Salkazanov has the luxury of facing only the winner of TUR/BLR match which gives him a good advantage, still I say 86kg: almost all favorites are in the top half. Gocen, Gamkrelidze and Makoev are all good but I think the winner Naifonov/Kurugliev match in the QF will win the quota. these 2 guys are just much better. they wrestled a lot in Russia and Naifonov usually ended up winning by the narrowest possible margin. he didn't wrestle much recently, therefore I'm thinking about picking Kurugliev but then I can't forget their previous head-to-head results in bottom half, Ramezanov is getting good results since his move to 86kg, he has a good German wrestler in the first round and then probably Nurmagomedov. he is a 3 time world medalist at 92kg, he wasn't good in his first 86kg try but I'm sure there is a good reason why Azerbaijan still picked him. another favorite here is Myakhailov (UKR) he is also new to this weight, he was very good at 79, not sure how he can handle the heavier opponents, his previous 86kg experiences weren't good, last not least is Magamadov. for some time he was considered the next big thing, he makes it clear that he is not THAT good but still good enough to win a quota for the Olympic host. my picks 97kg: the Great Tank is not here but I think it's still easy for Zhabrailov to win the quota. but he was a last minute replacement, not sure if he is ready to wrestle. I think Thiele (GER) is his only real challenge. in bottom half we have Baran, Baitcaev, Nurov and Hushtyn for the quota. hard to pick between them. but let's say 125kg: the possible SF match between Ligeti and Khramiankov will most probably determine the quota. Ligeti won their last encounter. but I think it will be 50/50. in bottom half I think 4 wrestlers have a chance. I pick Meshvildishvili without hesitation but Khubulov is good too. Ithink it will be between them, with Khotsianivsky and Conyedo behind them, Conyedo lost to almost everybody and its dog last Olympic cycle but ended up winning and Olympic bronze never count him out when it comes to the OG. my picks I can't believe I'm giving 4 quotas to Azerbaijan and 3 to Belarus, I don't think that happens, some of them will lose.

of course I watched the entire Euro but obviously I can't remember every single match. (just checked the results and see what happened between them) but nah Greco is not like that. it's not like freestyle. it's mostly about one moment, one mistake. age is not in Sahakyan's favor but he has the technic and quality to score big points if the opportunity presents itself

I say he is the favorite, but Sahakyan at the age of 500 is still dangerous. it won't be walk in the park

so, that was an interesting session of wrestling. some surprises as expected, I think only 87kg went as planned. 60kg: vs / vs 67kg: vs / vs 77kg: vs / vs 87kg: vs / vs 97kg: vs / vs 130kg: vs / vs to me the there are only 2 very surprising semifinalists, Germany 97 and Finland 77. I can't remember if I ever seen this German guy before . I have to check his old results but I know nothing about him, he did great and he has a shot for the quota. I also have to say that the order of matches played a big role. Selcuk Can was dead tired after two very hard matches and Sylla simply manhandled him in the QF. or our flying Dutchman Sterkenburg was literally dead after two hard battles and had nothing in his tank for the 3rd match.

yeah I'm watching, just one time singlet grabbing (2pts caution + 1 pts for a lost challenge) and that was enough. one mistake is enough in close matches even though I have to say he is not that good anymore.

biggest upset of the day so far, Murtazaliev just lost to a guy from Germany of course it was a lucky 1-1 win but still Murtazaliev was great in Euro Champ but today he gassed early and couldn't score. Savolainen is also out. that opens the door for Kakhelashvili to maybe win a quota.

he wasn't impressive in his first match, just stole a lucky 1-1 win (I hate it whenever a match ends with the scoreline) but none of the guys in his half is better than him, probably not the favorite but he has a chance

no huge surprise so far but Nemes and Tibillov are already out. Nemes tried every dirty trick to find a way but simply none of them worked and Tibilov surprisingly lost like an amateur by 4 back to back gut-wrenches. some guys I would considered as favorites didn't look good in their first matches, I think we will have some surprising quota winners.

Finally home now let's take a look at Greco brackets but keep in mind European competitions in Greco-Roman is very competitive , there are only few clear favorites. most of the quotas are hard to predict 60kg: Asian totally dominated this weight at worlds, which means we were supposed to see the whole Europe here, but Nazaryan (BUL) is absent and Armenia is not here too. still a very unbalanced draw makes the situation more interesting in top half Ciobanu couldn't dream of a better draw. his first round is a bit tricky but I think he has a clean path to the semifinal with the guy from BLR as his only half serious rival. he does stupid mistakes sometimes but barring that I can't see him losing the quota. bottom half is a completely different story with Allahiarov, Mammadli, Abuladze, Tibilov, Basar and couple more solid wrestlers like Arnaut. we have 3 World medalists from 63kg with two of them facing each other in the first round, Turkey is using a different guy after Kerem Kamal losing in Euro. I'm not sure if that was a good idea but Basar will face Tibilov and the winner gets Kinsinger (2020 Olympian) Mammadli is the current European Champion and he is wrestling at home which will give him a better chance. World Champion L. Abuladze will face Arnaut in the 2nd round and possibly Allahiarov in QF. lots of 50/50 matches in this half but my picks are 67kg: balanced draw we have few "good" wrestlers in top half, Vancza, Nehoda, Amaev, Nasibov and even Thoresen. it's hard to pick one, Nasibov is an Olympic silver medalist but he never "shined" after Tokyo, Amaev won a bronze in Euro in his first serious 67kg competition and Nehoda had some decent results in VehbiEmre tourney few weeks ago. I think one of these 3 guys will get it. I think Bichurin (RUS) and Can (TUR) are top favorites in bottom half. we also have Mihut and Chkhikvadze facing each other in first round. the winner most probably goes to the SF and needs one more win. Can is my pick here but he has to beat world medalist Sleiva first (terrible at 67kg) and Bichurin and Sylla (FRA) who is also good. it will be really hard for Can to win 3 tough matches. but still my picks 77kg: top half is harder, 72kg World Champ Ghanem will wrestle the Russian Tulubaev and the winner gets Nemes and the winner gets my favorite guy Gutu, we also have former World 82kg Champion Akbudak in this half with Kamenjasevic. I'm going to cross Ghaem off, he was terrible in this new weight in Euro Champ. I think it will be between SRB, RUS or TUR, also I see a small chance for CRO but I hope Gutu wins it Nemes is really hard to score on, he is a tough guy, sometimes very boring I see two clear fovorites in bottom half, Levai and Lomadze . maybe only 1 or 2 wrestlers like Kuvatov or Liakh can challenge them. my picks 87kg: I see 3 big names in top half, Abbasov, Bisultanov and Komraov. Bradu and Huklek are OK but I don't think they have a realistic chance to qualify. Bisultanov was great until his injury, I'm not sure about his current shape but if he is ready he can beat anybody. Abbasov is getting too many chances by Azerbaijan but he always chokes in important matches, therefore I think European Champion Komarov is the main favorite here. it will be between him and Bisultanov IMO we have some solid wrestlers in bottom half but I think it will down to AIN/AIN semifinal match, Alirzaev won a tournament in Turkey recently. but Maskevich is very technical and can score big number if he gets his chance in par-terre. also we have the tricky Kessidis (the conman) there might be a slim chance for Khetsuriani or Mukubu. my picks are 97kg: Murtazaliev is a last minute change for Russia and oh boy this kid made me wow in European Champ. the top half is really hard but if he wrestlers as good as that tournament, that's his quota to lose. he also has a not-so-hard path to the SF (only has to beat a mediocre AZE wrestler) but the first quarter is insane with Savolainen, Kakhelasvili, Szoke and Kobliashvili, whoever survives this brutal quarter will be a bit tired too, makes things easier for Murtazaliev no favorite here, everybody in bottom half can consider himself lucky. I'm very surprised with Turkey's entry, this guy was terrible so far, not sure why they are sending him! Venckaitis and Kajaia are favorite "on paper" but they are simply not good enough. Venckaitis had a dream run at Worlds but lost 3 matches and finished 6th and Kajaia is too old. even the Netherlands has a chance for quota here, or maybe Austria. it's really hard for me to pick one but I try something new this time , I say 130kg: I see 7 tough guys are in bottom half, any of them can steal a 1-1 win, Kuosmanen (FIN) beat our very talented young wrestler few weeks ago, so I know he is in good shape. Georgia is trying a new guy, you never can underestimate GEO in heavyweight. we also have Chernetsky and that Romanian guy with a long name. any of them can win the quota. but Fredrikas (LTU) has a bye and an easier road to the SF. as I said a 1-1 win is always possible in Super heavyweight, everybody has a chance here, and I mean really everybody Semenov is the clear favorite in bottom half. he will face the most boring man on the planet Heiki F. Nabi in the QF (Nabi will try for a 1-1 win. that's for sure) he has to beat the winner of Kandelaki/Marvik too. Kandelaki can be dangerous sometimes. still I say

Nope. USA has 3 other much better athletes in other weights Beside that in this case IWF will decide wich weight will receive a wild card or reallocation

Brackets are out. Im not at home right now. Hopefully i can write something about it at midnight

In weightlifting there is always chance for reallocation. Anybody ranks 11 to 13 or even 14 and 15 still has a realistic chance Beside the obvious reason (doping) injuries also happen alot in this sport

it's not started yet https://www.iwf.net/scoreboard/graphics/get_scoreboard_IWF.html

whoever achieves it first

73kg looks very interesting with Rahmat Erwin and Shi Zhiyong (hopefully healthy) battling but unfortunately I won't be able to watch it if someone wants to make a list after it, there was only 1 significant result from Group B or C, Briken Calja with 333kg which put him in 13th place Karem Ben Hnia (currently 14th) is guaranteed a place in Paris since there is nobody from Africa and Oceania in Group A to challenge him. (he beats the athlete from Madagascar by just 1 kilo) lots of athletes are remaining in Group A but most of them are already in Top 10, there won't be much changes anyway. the big question is about Shi Zhiyong , I assume he has to win the event to convince the Chinese coaches.

you will have it in 2 or 3 hours, has not happened yet

Abdulrashid Sadulaev is out of Euro qualifiers. His name had been replaced with Zhabrailov who is still good enough to win the quota but far from guaranteed Thats pathetic

Women's 59kg quotas and next in line: this is a bit messed up because Ukraine should be banned from the Olympics (still not a sure thing). China might not pick up this weight as well. (Luo Shifang broke the WR but injured herself in the process, not sure how serious it was) and when it comes to realocation, USA will pick 3 other weights, this Belgian girl is also qualified at 49kg!! she is currently 59kg but still I don't how is the order of things, can she wait for a reallocated quota in this weight (which she prefers) or she has to confirm her 49kg quota first ? MHL has the continental quota for now (she might even get into top 10)

61kg quotas, no change in top 10 even though some of them improved their results and next in line in case of reallocation:

Rustam Djangabaev (6th in current ranking at +102kg) is tested positive for doping, his name had been removed from the World Cup start list, which means he is not going to Paris 2024 anyway that's his 2nd time, we won't see him for a while, maybe forever.

You mean you can't see that in the ranking list ? I took a screenshot 20 minutes ago and I still can see the sign, but if you change the month to February (to see the previous month's ranking) that sign disappears, which means it's something new. that can be just a mistake though