In hindsight, Jia Long’s failure to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games looks even more surprising. The Chinese wrestler was at the Tokyo Olympics, won a world silver in 2022 and was an Asian champion in 2023. Yet, she failed to book a ticket to Paris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, since missing the Paris Games, Long has put together one of the strongest runs in Women’s Wrestling with a world title, a world bronze and an Asian title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Entering the Budapest Ranking Series at 68kg, Long was among the favorites. The field, however, was one of the toughest assembled for a Ranking Series event, featuring European silver medalist Alina Shauchuk of Bulgaria, Olympic silver medalist and Asian champion\u00a0Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan, European bronze medalist Kateryna Zelenykh of Romania, European champion Nesrin Bas of Turkiye, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Long opened with a 10-0 win over compatriot Li Zelu but was quickly tested by young Sophia Schaefle of Germany, escaping with a close 4-2 win. Shauchuk awaited her in the quarterfinals and the Belarus wrestler got the first takedown to lead 2-0. However, Long used her powerful gut-wrench to complete an 8-2 win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
European champion Bas also managed to score two points on Long but could not sustain the pressure as Long won 7-2 to set up a final against Zhumanazarova, who had a simpler path to the final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aptly, the marquee match between Zhumanazarova and Long, Asian champions at 68kg and 72kg respectively, was scheduled as the last match of the session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Long was aware of Zhumanazarova’s defensive tactics but gave a taste of her own medicine in the gold medal bout. In the first period, Long got on a single leg attack and finished with a takedown. She then used her trademark high gut-wrench to expose Zhumanazarova and open up a 4-0 lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second period went scoreless as Long shut down Zhumanazarova’s offense, whatever little there is, keeping her lead for the win as the clock expired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The gold medal capped an impressive campaign for Long as she builds towards 2026 World Championships and the 2028 Olympic Games, the only major event at which she is yet to win a medal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India’s Neha captured her second straight Ranking Series gold medal at 59kg, edging Abigail Nette of the USA, 6-4, in the final. Nette struck first with a stepout to take a 1-0 lead, but it was short-lived as Neha responded with a double-leg takedown for two points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just before the break, Neha used a snap to score a go-behind before adding a turn. Although Nette managed a reversal, Neha still carried a 6-2 lead at the break. Nette completed a single-leg takedown in the second period to cut the lead to 6-4, but Neha closed out the bout without giving her another opening, upgrading the silver medal she won in Budapest last year to gold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The United States secured the 65kg gold medal after an all-American final. Unheralded Reese Larramendy upset her senior teammate Jennifer Page Rogers 7-1, to claim her first international medal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two were involved in an early scramble, with Larramendy emerging on top for the opening takedown and a 2-0 lead. Page was then put on the activity clock but failed to score, giving Larramendy a 3-0 advantage at the break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Page opened the second period with a stepout to cut the deficit to 3-1 and continued to pressure Larramendy toward the zone. During one exchange, Page appeared to force Larramendy out of bounds, but the action was allowed to continue as the officials did not award a stepout. Larramendy capitalized by scoring a takedown to extend her lead to 5-1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Larramendy sealed the victory when Page attacked the legs but was countered for two points, completing a 7-1 victory and earning the first international medal of her career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Canadian Ana Godinez claimed the 62kg gold medal after India’s Mansi was forced to withdraw through injury in the final. However, her toughest test came much earlier against European champion Grace Bullen of Norway, who had defeated Godinez, 11-0, in the bronze medal bout at the Paris Olympics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trailing 6-4, Bullen scored a takedown and secured the fall but Godinez challenged the call. While the takedown was upheld, the fall was overturned after it was evident that Bullen had locked her hands behind Godinez’s head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bullen held a 6-6 criteria advantage and needed only to protect it for the final 12 seconds. Godinez, however, scored a late stepout to secure a 7-6 victory and advance to the semifinals, where she defeated Veranika Ivanova of Belarus 13-7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two Greco-Roman finals on Friday both ended in 1-1 criteria victories, with Dinislam Bammatov of Russia winning at 67kg and Moustafa Alameldin of Egypt taking the 77kg title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Greco-Roman, when a wrestler is called passive, his opponent receives one point and a par terre opportunity. If both wrestlers score only from passivity and the bout ends 1-1, the wrestler who scored first wins on criteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alameldin, the 2024 U20 world champion at 67kg, completed a successful move up to 77kg. He claimed a 1-1 criteria victory over former U17 world champion Alexandru Solovei of Moldovia in the final. But before the final, Alameldin completed a stunning 8-0 victory over Hungarian Levente Levai in the quarterfinals and then held off Sergei Kutuzov of Russia 2-2, in the semifinals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At 67kg, Bammatov faced U23 world champion Mohamed Abdelrehim of Egypt in the final and earned the first passivity point. Abdelrehim received par terre in the second period, but neither wrestler scored from the position, allowing Bammatov to retain the criteria advantage and secure the title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
59kg<\/strong> BRONZE: Othelie HOEIE (NOR) df. Altyn SHAGAYEVA (KAZ), 3-3 62kg<\/strong> BRONZE: SAVITA (IND) df. Irina KUZNETSOVA (KAZ), 14-5 65kg<\/strong> BRONZE: Gulnura TASHTANBEKOVA (KGZ) df. Virginia JIMENEZ (CHI), 8-2 68kg<\/strong> BRONZE: No\u00e9mi SZABADOS (HUN) df. Alina SHEVCHENKO (RUS), 5-3 67kg<\/strong> BRONZE: Ruslan BICHURIN (RUS) df. Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADAA (AUS), 13-6 77kg<\/strong> BRONZE: Danil GRIGOREV (RUS) df. Aleksa ILIC (SRB), 1*-1 In hindsight, Jia Long’s failure to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games looks even more surprising. The<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[91],"class_list":["post-14962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-wrestling"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
GOLD: NEHA (IND) df. Abigail NETTE (USA), 6-4<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BRONZE: Mariia VYNNYK (UKR) df. Alexis JANIAK (USA), 8-1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GOLD: Ana GODINEZ (CAN) df. MANSI (IND), via inj. def.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BRONZE: Grace BULLEN (NOR) df. Veranika IVANOVA (BLR), 6-4<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GOLD: Reese LARRAMENDY (USA) df. Jennifer PAGE ROGERS (USA), 7-1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BRONZE: Birgul SOLTANOVA (AZE) df. Miki ROWBOTTOM (CAN), via fall (10-0)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GOLD: Jia LONG (CHN) df. Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ), 4-0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BRONZE: Zelu LI (CHN) df. Nesrin BAS (TUR), 5-4<\/p>\n\n\n\nGreco-Roman<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
GOLD: Dinislam BAMMATOV (RUS) df. Mohamed ABDELREHIM (EGY), 1*-1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BRONZE: Din KOSHKAR (KAZ) df. Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM), via inj. def.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GOLD: Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY) df. Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA), 1*-1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BRONZE: Sergei KUTUZOV (RUS) df. Levente LEVAI (HUN), 6-2<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"