2017 World Championships preview in women’s freestyle at 69 kg/152 lbs.
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Tamyra Mensah secures a single leg attack against 2012 World champion Elena Pirozhkova of the United States at the 2017 Women’s World Team Trials in Las Vegas. Photo by John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com
Date of competition: Thursday, August 24
2016 Olympic champion Sara Dosho of Japan returns, and is a strong favorite to win her first Senior World gold medal. She won medals at the previous three World Championships, a silver in 2014 and bronze medals in 2013 and 2015. Dosho also boasts titles at the World University Games and the 2011 Junior World Championships. In her only major event since Rio, Dosho won the 2017 Asian Championships, her third career Asian gold medal.
2016 Olympic bronze medalist Elmira Syzdykova of Kazakhstan is also expected to enter. A 2011 Junior World bronze medalist, Syzdykova has been very active since Rio, competing in six events and winning four medals. She did fall out of the medals at the Asian Championships this year, placing fifth.
2012 Olympic champion and 2016 Olympic silver medalist Natalia Vorobieva of Russia has not competed since Rio and is not expected in Paris. Russia will probably send Anastasia Bratchikova, the 2017 European champion who was also third at the Klippan Lady Open in Sweden this year. A 2008 Junior World champion, Bratchikova did not medal in her two previous appearances at the Senior Worlds, with a best finish of fifth in 2013.
2016 Olympic bronze medalist and 2012 World champion Jenny Fransson of Sweden has competed twice since Rio, wrestling in the India Pro League and taking a silver on the home mats at the Klippan Lady Open. Others competing for Sweden this year were Alexandra Sandahl, who did not medal at the Europeans, or Moa Nygren, who was second at the German Grand Prix.
2014 World champion Aline Focken of Germany was a disappointing ninth at the Rio Olympic Games. She was third at the 2015 World Championships and was a two-time Junior World medalist. Focken has won four international medals in 2017, including golds at the Poland Open and the Dan Kolov in Bulgaria.
Mariya Mamashuk of Belarus was a 2016 Olympic silver medalist at 63 kg, but has been successful up at 69 kg this season. She won silver medals this year at the European Championships and the Poland Open at her new weight class.
Nasanburmaa Ochirbat of Mongolia has won three World bronze medals, in 2008, 2011 and 2013. She was fifth in the 2015 World Championships, and placed eighth at the 2016 Olympic Games. She won a pair of international medals in 2017, a silver at the Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix in Russia and a bronze at the Mongolia Open.
Host France has a medal hopeful, Koumba Larrouque, who won a bronze medal at the 2017 European Senior Championships and gold medals at the 2017 European Junior Championships and the 2017 European U23 Championships. A 2016 Junior World champion, Larrouque also added golds at the Grand Prix of Paris and the respected Klippan Lady Open in 2017.
Competing in her first Senior World Championships is rising talent Tamyra Mensah of the United States. Mensah won the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials but did not compete because the weight class did not get qualified for Rio. She has competing at a high level this year, with gold medals at the Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix in Russia and the Grand Prix of Spain. Mensah won two WCWA national titles competing for Wayland Baptist, and was a 2014 University World silver medalist.
China has options at this weight class. 2008 Olympic champion Wang Jiao has moved down from 72 kg, where she was also fifth at the 2012 Olympics. Down at 69 kg, Wang was third at the 2017 Poland Open and won a bronze at the 2016 Asian Championships. Zhou Feng, a 2015 World silver medalist and 2016 Olympian, was a bronze medalist at the 2017 Asian Championships. Yue Han was a 2016 Junior World silver medalist, and has won a gold and a bronze at the Junior Asian Championships.
2017 Pan American champion Olivia DiBacco of Canada is in her first Senior Worlds. She has won three other gold medals since the beginning of this season, capturing the German Grand Prix, and the two top international events in the USA, the Bill Farrell International and the Dave Schultz Memorial. DiBacco was also second in 2017 Canada Cup.
Ukraine is expected to bring Alla Belinskaya, who was second at the 2017 Ukrainian Memorial and third at the 2017 Poland Open. Another option is 2010 World bronze medalist Alla Cherkasova, a 2016 Olympian who has three medals this season, a gold at the Ukrainian Memorial, a silver at the Dan Kolov in Bulgaria and a bronze at the European Championships.
Azerbaijan is led by Elis Manolova, who won the recent Islamic Solidarity Games title and was also third at the 2017 Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix in Russia. Manolova was a competitive fifth at the 2017 European Championships and is a former Junior World bronze medalist.
Viktorya Bobeva of Bulgaria has been fifth in the last two European U23 Championships. 2016 World University champion Buse Tosun of Turkey should be in the battle. 2017 African champion D Kemasuodei of Nigeria is also a top hopeful. 2017 Junior World silver medalist Yudaris Sanchez of Cuba is a top young star.
Others to watch include 2017 Pan American Championships silver medalist Dailaine Gomes dos Reis of Brazil, 2017 Asian bronze medalist Park Hyeon-Yeong of Korea, 2017 Junior World bronze medalist Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan and 2017 Nordic champion Danute Domikaityte of Lithuania.
With Olympic champion Sara Dosho of Japan in the field, everybody else has a star to aim for. In the first year of the new Olympic cycle, it will be interesting to see who steps up and establishes themselves for the run up to Tokyo 2020.
UWW AUGUST WORLD RANKINGS AT 69 KG
1. Sara DOSHO (JPN)
2. Natalia VOROBIEVA (RUS)
3. Anastasia BRATCHIKOVA (RUS)
4. Koumba LARROQUE (FRA)
5. Jenny FRANSSON (SWE)
6. Olivia DiBACCO (CAN)
7. Aline FOCKEN (GER)
8. Maria MAMASHUK (BLR)
9. Alla CHERKASOVA (UKR)
10. Tamyra MENSAH (USA)
11. Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ)
12. Masako FURUICHI (JPN)
13. Buse TOSUN (TUR)
14. Elis MANOLOVA (AZE)
15. ZHOU Feng (CHN)
16. Martina KUENZ (AUT)
17. Khanum VELIEVA (RUS)
18. Yudaris SANCHEZ RODRIGUEZ (CUB)
19. Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU)
20. Danute DOMIKAITYTE (LTU)
RECENT WORLD AND OLYMPIC RESULTS
2016 Olympic Games
69 kg/152 lbs. - Gold – Sara Dosho (Japan); Silver – Natalia Vorobieva (Russia); Bronze – Elmira Syzdykova (Kazakhstan); Bronze – Jenny Fransson (Sweden); 5th – Enas Ahmed (Egypt); 5th – Dorothy Yeats (Canada); 7th – Buse Tosun (Turkey); 8th – Nasanburmaa Ochirbat (Mongolia); 9th – Aline Focken (Germany); 10th – Gilda Maria De Oliveira (Brazil)
2015 World Championships
69 kg/152 lbs. - Gold – Natalia Vorobieva (Russia); Silver – Feng Zhou (China); Bronze – Sara Dosho (Japan)
Bronze – Aline Focken (Germany); 5th – Nasanburmaa Ochirbat (Mongolia); 5th – Jenny Fransson (Sweden); 7th – Elmira Syzdykova (Kazakhstan); 8th – Enas Moustafa (Egypt); 9th – Martina Kuenz (Austria); 10th – Elena Pirozkhova (USA)
2014 World Championships
69 kg/152 lbs. - Gold – Aline Focken (Germany); Silver – Sara Dosho (Japan); Bronze – Natalia Vorobieva (Russia); Bronze – Laura Skujina (Latvia); 5th – Jenny Fransson (Sweden); 5th – Diana Gonzalez (Mexico); 7th – Alina Makhunia (Ukraine); 8th – Dorothy Yeats (Canada); 9th – Leidy Izquierdo (Colombia); 10th – Agnieszka Wieszczek-Kordus (Poland)
2013 World Championships
67 kg/147.5 lbs. - Gold – Alina Stadnik-Makhynia (Ukraine); Silver – Stacie Anaka (Canada); Bronze – Nasanburmaa Ochirbat (Mongolia); Bronze – Sara Dosho (Japan); 5th – Zhanting Zhou (China); 5th – Aline Focken (Germany); 7th – Laura Skujina (Latvia); 8th – Leidy Izquierdo Mendez (Colombia); 9th – Gozal Zutova (Azerbaijan); 10th – Veronica Carlson (USA)
2012 World Championships
67 kg/147.5 lbs. - Gold – Adeline Gray (USA); Silver – Dorothy Yeats (Canada); Bronze – Yan Hong (China); Bronze – Yoshiko Inoue (Japan); 5th - Alina Stadnik-Makhynia (Ukraine); 5th - Kaur Navjot (India); 7th - Darya Khamdiyeva (Kazakhstan); 8th - Nadya Sementsova (Azerbaijan); 9th - Irina Bogdanova (Russia); 10th - Ilana Kratysh (Israel)
2011 World Championships
67 kg/147.5 lbs. - Gold - Luozhuoma Xi (China); Silver - Oyunsuren Banzragch (Mongolia); Bronze - Yoshiko Inoue (Japan); Bronze - Adeline Gray (USA); 5th - Alina Makhynia (Ukraine); 5th - Burcu Orskaya (Turkey); 7th - Martine Dugrenier (Canada); 8th - Iryna Ysyrkevich (Belarus); 9th - Nadya Sementsova (Azerbaijan); 10th - Natalia Kuksina (Russia)
2010 World Championships
67 kg/147.5 lbs. - Gold – Martine Dugrenier (Canada); Silver – Elena Shalygina (Kazakhstan); Bronze –Ifeoma Iheanacho (Nigeria); Bronze –Alla Cherkosova (Ukraine); 5th – Mami Shinkai (Japan); 5th – Nadya Sementsova (Azerbaijan); 7th – Burcu Orskaya (Turkey); 8th – Maria Selmaier (Germany); 9th – Ying Chen (China); 10th – Yanira Morales (Cuba)
2009 World Championships
67 kg/147.5 lbs. - Gold - Martine Dugrenier (Canada); Silver - Julia Bartnovskaia (Russia); Bronze - Ifeoma Ihenacho (Nigeria); Bronze - Nadrakh Odonchimeg (Mongolia); 5th - Adeline Gray (USA); 5th - Yoshiko Inoue (Japan); 7th - Kateryna Burmistrova (Ukraine); 8th - Zumrud Gurganhajiyeva (Azerbaijan); 9th - Maher Hasan Salem Doaa Ahmed (Egypt); 10th - Ji-Eun Kim (Korea)
Date of competition: Thursday, August 24
2016 Olympic champion Sara Dosho of Japan returns, and is a strong favorite to win her first Senior World gold medal. She won medals at the previous three World Championships, a silver in 2014 and bronze medals in 2013 and 2015. Dosho also boasts titles at the World University Games and the 2011 Junior World Championships. In her only major event since Rio, Dosho won the 2017 Asian Championships, her third career Asian gold medal.
2016 Olympic bronze medalist Elmira Syzdykova of Kazakhstan is also expected to enter. A 2011 Junior World bronze medalist, Syzdykova has been very active since Rio, competing in six events and winning four medals. She did fall out of the medals at the Asian Championships this year, placing fifth.
2012 Olympic champion and 2016 Olympic silver medalist Natalia Vorobieva of Russia has not competed since Rio and is not expected in Paris. Russia will probably send Anastasia Bratchikova, the 2017 European champion who was also third at the Klippan Lady Open in Sweden this year. A 2008 Junior World champion, Bratchikova did not medal in her two previous appearances at the Senior Worlds, with a best finish of fifth in 2013.
2016 Olympic bronze medalist and 2012 World champion Jenny Fransson of Sweden has competed twice since Rio, wrestling in the India Pro League and taking a silver on the home mats at the Klippan Lady Open. Others competing for Sweden this year were Alexandra Sandahl, who did not medal at the Europeans, or Moa Nygren, who was second at the German Grand Prix.
2014 World champion Aline Focken of Germany was a disappointing ninth at the Rio Olympic Games. She was third at the 2015 World Championships and was a two-time Junior World medalist. Focken has won four international medals in 2017, including golds at the Poland Open and the Dan Kolov in Bulgaria.
Mariya Mamashuk of Belarus was a 2016 Olympic silver medalist at 63 kg, but has been successful up at 69 kg this season. She won silver medals this year at the European Championships and the Poland Open at her new weight class.
Nasanburmaa Ochirbat of Mongolia has won three World bronze medals, in 2008, 2011 and 2013. She was fifth in the 2015 World Championships, and placed eighth at the 2016 Olympic Games. She won a pair of international medals in 2017, a silver at the Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix in Russia and a bronze at the Mongolia Open.
Host France has a medal hopeful, Koumba Larrouque, who won a bronze medal at the 2017 European Senior Championships and gold medals at the 2017 European Junior Championships and the 2017 European U23 Championships. A 2016 Junior World champion, Larrouque also added golds at the Grand Prix of Paris and the respected Klippan Lady Open in 2017.
Competing in her first Senior World Championships is rising talent Tamyra Mensah of the United States. Mensah won the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials but did not compete because the weight class did not get qualified for Rio. She has competing at a high level this year, with gold medals at the Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix in Russia and the Grand Prix of Spain. Mensah won two WCWA national titles competing for Wayland Baptist, and was a 2014 University World silver medalist.
China has options at this weight class. 2008 Olympic champion Wang Jiao has moved down from 72 kg, where she was also fifth at the 2012 Olympics. Down at 69 kg, Wang was third at the 2017 Poland Open and won a bronze at the 2016 Asian Championships. Zhou Feng, a 2015 World silver medalist and 2016 Olympian, was a bronze medalist at the 2017 Asian Championships. Yue Han was a 2016 Junior World silver medalist, and has won a gold and a bronze at the Junior Asian Championships.
2017 Pan American champion Olivia DiBacco of Canada is in her first Senior Worlds. She has won three other gold medals since the beginning of this season, capturing the German Grand Prix, and the two top international events in the USA, the Bill Farrell International and the Dave Schultz Memorial. DiBacco was also second in 2017 Canada Cup.
Ukraine is expected to bring Alla Belinskaya, who was second at the 2017 Ukrainian Memorial and third at the 2017 Poland Open. Another option is 2010 World bronze medalist Alla Cherkasova, a 2016 Olympian who has three medals this season, a gold at the Ukrainian Memorial, a silver at the Dan Kolov in Bulgaria and a bronze at the European Championships.
Azerbaijan is led by Elis Manolova, who won the recent Islamic Solidarity Games title and was also third at the 2017 Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix in Russia. Manolova was a competitive fifth at the 2017 European Championships and is a former Junior World bronze medalist.
Viktorya Bobeva of Bulgaria has been fifth in the last two European U23 Championships. 2016 World University champion Buse Tosun of Turkey should be in the battle. 2017 African champion D Kemasuodei of Nigeria is also a top hopeful. 2017 Junior World silver medalist Yudaris Sanchez of Cuba is a top young star.
Others to watch include 2017 Pan American Championships silver medalist Dailaine Gomes dos Reis of Brazil, 2017 Asian bronze medalist Park Hyeon-Yeong of Korea, 2017 Junior World bronze medalist Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan and 2017 Nordic champion Danute Domikaityte of Lithuania.
With Olympic champion Sara Dosho of Japan in the field, everybody else has a star to aim for. In the first year of the new Olympic cycle, it will be interesting to see who steps up and establishes themselves for the run up to Tokyo 2020.
UWW AUGUST WORLD RANKINGS AT 69 KG
1. Sara DOSHO (JPN)
2. Natalia VOROBIEVA (RUS)
3. Anastasia BRATCHIKOVA (RUS)
4. Koumba LARROQUE (FRA)
5. Jenny FRANSSON (SWE)
6. Olivia DiBACCO (CAN)
7. Aline FOCKEN (GER)
8. Maria MAMASHUK (BLR)
9. Alla CHERKASOVA (UKR)
10. Tamyra MENSAH (USA)
11. Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ)
12. Masako FURUICHI (JPN)
13. Buse TOSUN (TUR)
14. Elis MANOLOVA (AZE)
15. ZHOU Feng (CHN)
16. Martina KUENZ (AUT)
17. Khanum VELIEVA (RUS)
18. Yudaris SANCHEZ RODRIGUEZ (CUB)
19. Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU)
20. Danute DOMIKAITYTE (LTU)
RECENT WORLD AND OLYMPIC RESULTS
2016 Olympic Games
69 kg/152 lbs. - Gold – Sara Dosho (Japan); Silver – Natalia Vorobieva (Russia); Bronze – Elmira Syzdykova (Kazakhstan); Bronze – Jenny Fransson (Sweden); 5th – Enas Ahmed (Egypt); 5th – Dorothy Yeats (Canada); 7th – Buse Tosun (Turkey); 8th – Nasanburmaa Ochirbat (Mongolia); 9th – Aline Focken (Germany); 10th – Gilda Maria De Oliveira (Brazil)
2015 World Championships
69 kg/152 lbs. - Gold – Natalia Vorobieva (Russia); Silver – Feng Zhou (China); Bronze – Sara Dosho (Japan)
Bronze – Aline Focken (Germany); 5th – Nasanburmaa Ochirbat (Mongolia); 5th – Jenny Fransson (Sweden); 7th – Elmira Syzdykova (Kazakhstan); 8th – Enas Moustafa (Egypt); 9th – Martina Kuenz (Austria); 10th – Elena Pirozkhova (USA)
2014 World Championships
69 kg/152 lbs. - Gold – Aline Focken (Germany); Silver – Sara Dosho (Japan); Bronze – Natalia Vorobieva (Russia); Bronze – Laura Skujina (Latvia); 5th – Jenny Fransson (Sweden); 5th – Diana Gonzalez (Mexico); 7th – Alina Makhunia (Ukraine); 8th – Dorothy Yeats (Canada); 9th – Leidy Izquierdo (Colombia); 10th – Agnieszka Wieszczek-Kordus (Poland)
2013 World Championships
67 kg/147.5 lbs. - Gold – Alina Stadnik-Makhynia (Ukraine); Silver – Stacie Anaka (Canada); Bronze – Nasanburmaa Ochirbat (Mongolia); Bronze – Sara Dosho (Japan); 5th – Zhanting Zhou (China); 5th – Aline Focken (Germany); 7th – Laura Skujina (Latvia); 8th – Leidy Izquierdo Mendez (Colombia); 9th – Gozal Zutova (Azerbaijan); 10th – Veronica Carlson (USA)
2012 World Championships
67 kg/147.5 lbs. - Gold – Adeline Gray (USA); Silver – Dorothy Yeats (Canada); Bronze – Yan Hong (China); Bronze – Yoshiko Inoue (Japan); 5th - Alina Stadnik-Makhynia (Ukraine); 5th - Kaur Navjot (India); 7th - Darya Khamdiyeva (Kazakhstan); 8th - Nadya Sementsova (Azerbaijan); 9th - Irina Bogdanova (Russia); 10th - Ilana Kratysh (Israel)
2011 World Championships
67 kg/147.5 lbs. - Gold - Luozhuoma Xi (China); Silver - Oyunsuren Banzragch (Mongolia); Bronze - Yoshiko Inoue (Japan); Bronze - Adeline Gray (USA); 5th - Alina Makhynia (Ukraine); 5th - Burcu Orskaya (Turkey); 7th - Martine Dugrenier (Canada); 8th - Iryna Ysyrkevich (Belarus); 9th - Nadya Sementsova (Azerbaijan); 10th - Natalia Kuksina (Russia)
2010 World Championships
67 kg/147.5 lbs. - Gold – Martine Dugrenier (Canada); Silver – Elena Shalygina (Kazakhstan); Bronze –Ifeoma Iheanacho (Nigeria); Bronze –Alla Cherkosova (Ukraine); 5th – Mami Shinkai (Japan); 5th – Nadya Sementsova (Azerbaijan); 7th – Burcu Orskaya (Turkey); 8th – Maria Selmaier (Germany); 9th – Ying Chen (China); 10th – Yanira Morales (Cuba)
2009 World Championships
67 kg/147.5 lbs. - Gold - Martine Dugrenier (Canada); Silver - Julia Bartnovskaia (Russia); Bronze - Ifeoma Ihenacho (Nigeria); Bronze - Nadrakh Odonchimeg (Mongolia); 5th - Adeline Gray (USA); 5th - Yoshiko Inoue (Japan); 7th - Kateryna Burmistrova (Ukraine); 8th - Zumrud Gurganhajiyeva (Azerbaijan); 9th - Maher Hasan Salem Doaa Ahmed (Egypt); 10th - Ji-Eun Kim (Korea)
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