MHSN

Sassari finals
 
55kg: Cankaya vs Ayazci (last match of round robin)
60kg: Uyar vs Kim
63kg: Torba vs Ceker
67kg: Akhmedov vs Karakus
72kg: Kurak vs Korpasi
77kg: Kim vs Levai
82kg: Akbudak vs Gurpreet
87kg: Goktas vs Lorincz
97kg: Kakhelashvili vs Hancock
130kg: Yildrim vs Lam
 
there are some big names in the finals, but none of these finals are "super great" I think 97kg was the most interesting weight, Kakhelashvili beat Timoncini (in a probably Italian trial) and then Kajaia. Kurak/Korpasi also can be good but they wrestled once in the group round. the only mini surprise was at 67kg, Ryu Han-su lost to Karakus of Turkey. another important match was at 77kg when Kim Hyeon-woo destroyed Tamas Lorincz  8-0 !

The Sassari tournament started in Italy today which is a part of the ranking series events, there is a good live stream in UWW website. today is the whole Greco competition, tomorrow for women and Sunday for the  freestyle.
 
the level doesn't look great in Greco, only 2-3 countries send top wrestlers like South Korea and Hungary (plus some big names from Russia and Turkey) but in general we have something like 8 wrestlers in each weight. still we had some big matches already, Kim Hyeon-woo vs Lorincz was the biggest one so far.
 
but based on reports the level will be much better for the freestyle competition. Iran also sent a not-that-bad team. we were supposed to have our own trials at 125kg here in Italy by sending all 3 big names but they changed their mind about it. Alireza Karimi is going to be our only former World Medalist in this tournament.

Sassari finals
 
55kg: Cankaya vs Ayazci (last match of round robin)
60kg: Uyar vs Kim
63kg: Torba vs Ceker
67kg: Akhmedov vs Karakus
72kg: Kurak vs Korpasi
77kg: Kim vs Levai
82kg: Akbudak vs Gurpreet
87kg: Goktas vs Lorincz
97kg: Kakhelashvili vs Hancock
130kg: Yildrim vs Lam
 
there are some big names in the finals, but none of these finals are "super great" I think 97kg was the most interesting weight, Kakhelashvili beat Timoncini (in a probably Italian trial) and then Kajaia. Kurak/Korpasi also can be good but they wrestled once in the group round. the only mini surprise was at 67kg, Ryu Han-su lost to Karakus of Turkey. another important match was at 77kg when Kim Hyeon-woo destroyed Tamas Lorincz  8-0 !

The Sassari tournament started in Italy today which is a part of the ranking series events, there is a good live stream in UWW website. today is the whole Greco competition, tomorrow for women and Sunday for the  freestyle.
 
the level doesn't look great in Greco, only 2-3 countries send top wrestlers like South Korea and Hungary (plus some big names from Russia and Turkey) but in general we have something like 8 wrestlers in each weight. still we had some big matches already, Kim Hyeon-woo vs Lorincz was the biggest one so far.
 
but based on reports the level will be much better for the freestyle competition. Iran also sent a not-that-bad team. we were supposed to have our own trials at 125kg here in Italy by sending all 3 big names but they changed their mind about it. Alireza Karimi is going to be our only former World Medalist in this tournament.

21 year-old, 3 time european champion and world silver medalist Biliyana Dudova tried to commit suicide. She was found by her teammate with cut veins and the doctors were able to save her life.
 
No comment

I'm sure nobody misses AIBA judges
 
probably they can pick up some random people from the street.

I'm sure nobody misses AIBA judges
 
probably they can pick up some random people from the street.

The provisional entry doesn't matter at all. and China has a history of putting very low entries just for fun. they will fix it later
 
btw there are lots of Iranian names on that list. but it seems most of them are not going to Fiji ! our WL federation can't afford such a long and costly trip to Fiji. it will be only 2-3 weightlifters from Iran and even that's not a sure thing.

well, last year Alessio competed in the Rome GP in the -68kg class...so, it's not sure he has to go up to 80kg...
now I don't know if he can still make that weight or not, so we can only sit down and wait to see what he and his technical crew decide to do...

season 7 wow ! more than just "a little"
 
so let me spoil it for you. they will fix the elevator finally in the very last episode

am I the only fan of the Big Bang Theory here ? I was watching this for more than 10 years and It was like I know these characters in real life. I feel like someone who lost a friend already

Nope, My family was all about that show. I was a huge fan of the writing, setting, and actors. I really just hated the stupid laugh track. That last episode was great.

Big fan too
 

Disaster really. Only few wins. Four girls from this team have a world medal Still we have Nadica Bozanic in 63 tomorrow, but she is not in good shape this year

That was ugly, very ugly.  what a shame. Walkden won the gold 11-20 !! yes the loser scored double points as the winner, 1 cheap punch point + 10 cautions while Zheng scored 20 clean points. I can say half of those penalties were  nonsense. at some point it was like Sumo for Walkden. pushing Zheng out of the court with 2 hands, that's not legal but who cares.
 
even in UK almost half the spectators were booing Walkden  , that was one of the worst officiating in this sport I ever seen.

That was ugly, very ugly.  what a shame. Walkden won the gold 11-20 !! yes the loser scored double points as the winner, 1 cheap punch point + 10 cautions while Zheng scored 20 clean points. I can say half of those penalties were  nonsense. at some point it was like Sumo for Walkden. pushing Zheng out of the court with 2 hands, that's not legal but who cares.
 
even in UK almost half the spectators were booing Walkden  , that was one of the worst officiating in this sport I ever seen.

That's funny because nowadays it's kind of a joke here.
 
there is a famous book and a famous TV series based on that book called "My Uncle Napoleon" and the main character there had Anglophobia who thinks that UK (or as we call them England even though I know that's wrong) is responsible for everything bad happens it was true at some point if someone read the Iran's history.
 
nowadays it's kind of a joke. that people use it to taunt others who believe in consistory theories , "Yes, The English are behind it " even when a cat falls from the tree people still use this phrase

His draw isn't "that bad" actually. Badr Achab is different that Jaouad Achab, very young , I saw him in YOG final. won't be a problem for Seif Eissa if he is half ready. if I had to make a prediction I think his only "tough match" will be in quarterfinal which is normal, you have to expect at least one tough match before the medal round.
 
but yeah Abu Ghaush in this weight is surprising, if I'm not wrong his points still will be counted for his 68kg Olympic ranking. so that will be a smart move if he medals here but I doubt that. Rafalovich will be the favorite from that quarter.
 
btw it seems Iran has actually two teams in this tournament. because that "refugee team" is almost a complete team of Iranians !  each day when they publish the draw I see some more new names competing under the code "WT" ! this time Kasra Mehdipour. it seems the number of Iranian refugees are bigger than people from Yemen or Syria or Iraq where there are "real wars", of course by lying

It's very rare to see Lee Dae-hoon losing and this guy is such a nice person, there were at least couple of very dubious kyunggos against him and he lost it by 1 point at the end but he didn't protest even a bit. he is one of the best athletes ever in this sport and without doubt the best right now

Semifinals
 
Men's 58kg:
Braganca vs Plaza
Jang vs Guzman
 
Women's 46kg:
Tan vs Momenzadeh
Sim vs Khantikulanon
 
Women's 73kg:
Ble vs Lee
Kus vs Espinoza

Semifinals
 
Men's 58kg:
Braganca vs Plaza
Jang vs Guzman
 
Women's 46kg:
Tan vs Momenzadeh
Sim vs Khantikulanon
 
Women's 73kg:
Ble vs Lee
Kus vs Espinoza

as of now, 3 athletes are still without visa, Armin Hadipour received his visa Tuesday evening and will fly to UK tomorrow in the morning. he will arrive in the location couple hours before the weight-in. (what he will do in the competition after being under huge stress for 2-3 days and not sleeping well two nights before the competition is another question)
 
but it seems Mirhashem Hosseini is going to miss the competition he has to be in Manchester tomorrow afternoon for the weight-in and still no visa for him. and the last flight from Tehran to UK before the weight-in is 5 in the morning. soooo only couple hours left. two more are still in Tehran Sajjad Mardani and Erfan Nazemi.
 
women's team had no problem getting visa, and for the men's team, which is very young this time, only 3 of them had been to World Championships before, and these 3 are our only chances in the ranking to qualify for the Olympics, they had been to Manchester only few months ago for the World Grand Prix and all 3 of them finished on the podium. and surprisingly all 3 of them (plus another one Nazemi) denied visa in 1st and 2nd try. just a co-incidence ?
 
PS: from what I heard the whole Armenian team also denied visa
 
Iran's ambassador in UK is still hopeful
 

as of now, 3 athletes are still without visa, Armin Hadipour received his visa Tuesday evening and will fly to UK tomorrow in the morning. he will arrive in the location couple hours before the weight-in. (what he will do in the competition after being under huge stress for 2-3 days and not sleeping well two nights before the competition is another question)
 
but it seems Mirhashem Hosseini is going to miss the competition he has to be in Manchester tomorrow afternoon for the weight-in and still no visa for him. and the last flight from Tehran to UK before the weight-in is 5 in the morning. soooo only couple hours left. two more are still in Tehran Sajjad Mardani and Erfan Nazemi.
 
women's team had no problem getting visa, and for the men's team, which is very young this time, only 3 of them had been to World Championships before, and these 3 are our only chances in the ranking to qualify for the Olympics, they had been to Manchester only few months ago for the World Grand Prix and all 3 of them finished on the podium. and surprisingly all 3 of them (plus another one Nazemi) denied visa in 1st and 2nd try. just a co-incidence ?
 
PS: from what I heard the whole Armenian team also denied visa
 
Iran's ambassador in UK is still hopeful
 

One day before the competition, half of the Iranian team are still in Tehran and still without visa. this is funny that almost all of our top athletes (and not the youngsters) denied visa , Hadipour, Mardani and Hosseini they are all former world medalists, top 10 in World Ranking and had been to UK so many times before (the last time few months ago for the Grand Prix). I can't see any logical reason denying or delaying their visa .
 
I hope they get the visa in time but mostly I blame our own federations for not doing anything about it. Sending the whole team together (and not in pieces like this) or nobody at all.

This time Draws will be held daily after the weight-in for each weight. to avoid lots of not showing  / not making weight
 
here is the first day draw
http://www.worldtaekwondo.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Draw-Day-1-Manchester-2019-WTC.pdf