China's Meng Lili, top, wrestles with Canada's Martine Dugrenier, bottom, at the women's wrestling 67kg final at the World Wrestling Championships in Budapest, Hungary on Friday, Sept. 30. 2005
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Montreal's Dugrenier collects silver at world wrestling championships
Canadian Press
September 30, 2005
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China's Meng Lili, top, wrestles with Canada's Martine Dugrenier, bottom, at the women's wrestling 67kg final at the World Wrestling Championships in Budapest, Hungary on Friday, Sept. 30. 2005 |
BUDAPEST, Hungary (CP) - Martine Dugrenier of Montreal won a silver medal in the 67-kilogram division Friday, earning Canada its third medal at the world wrestling championships.
Dugrenier, 26, won three matches en route to the gold-medal bout, where she lost to China's Lili Meng. Earlier in the day, she defeated Eri Sakamokto of Japan in the round of 16, then dispatched American Katie Downing in the quarter-finals before beating Ashlea McManus of Britain in the quarter-finals.
It was Dugrenier's first world championships appearance.
In the 72-kilogram class, Ohenewa Akuffo of Brampton, Ont., defeated Mariya Orlova of Uzbekistan in the round of 16 but went on to lose to Anita Schaetzle of Germany in the quarter-finals.
Meng's victory over Dugrenier was the second gold of the tournament for the Chinese women and helped them secure second place in the team competition.
"There was a tournament in China where I felt in great shape, so I came to Budapest for the victory," said Meng, who won the world title at 62 kilograms in 2001. "Now I don't want to think about anything else except resting."
Iris Smith of the United States won the gold medal in the 72-kilogram division.
Smith upset defending and five-time world champion Kyoko Hamaguchi of Japan in a fiercely contested match which went the full three periods.
"I think my gold was important for the team," said Smith, a sergeant in the U.S. Army and part of its World Class Athlete Program. "I wanted to hear the national anthem and see my flag raised.
"It feels good," said Smith, who had tears in her eyes during the medal ceremony. "I was raised religious and I prayed before every match."
Japan won the women's team competition with 61 points. China was second (52) and the United States third (42).
The world championships continue Saturday with the men's Greco-Roman events at 66, 74 and 84 kilograms.
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Canadian Tonya Verbeek wins bronze at world wrestling championship
Canadian Press
Friday, September 30, 2005
Jessica Bechtei of Germany (red) competes with Tonya Verbeek of Canada(blue) during their women's under-55kg quarter-final match at the World Wrestling Championship in Budapest September 29, 2005. |
BUDAPEST, Hungary (CP) - Tonya Verbeek of Beamsville, Ont., won Canada's second bronze medal in as many days Thursday at the world wrestling championship.
Verbeek, an Olympic silver medallist, rebounded from a semifinal loss to eventual gold medallist Saori Yoshida of Japan and defeated Ludmila Cristea of Moldova, 6-0, 9-2 for bronze in the 55-kilogram freestyle class. Carol Huynh of Hazelton, B.C., won bronze in the 48-kilogram class Wednesday.
Yoshida defeated China's Su Lihui to win her third straight world title without conceding a single point in five matches. She is undefeated in international competition.
"I was a little bit nervous because I know that other people have been watching and studying me," said Yoshida. "I will keep working hard until the 2008 Beijing Olympics."
Yoshida was heavily favoured to win. She beat Verbeek for Olympic gold in Athens last summer and Verbeek lost 3-0, 1-0 to her in Thursday's semifinals.
Verbeek defeated Jessica Bechtel of Germany, 2-0, 7-0 in the quarter-final and American Tina George 6-0, 6-0 in the round of 16.
Emily Richardson of North Vancouver finished eighth in the 59-kilogram class after losing her quarter-final bout 3-0, 2-0, to Ida-Theres Karlsson of Sweden.
Tara Hedican of Guelph, Ont., placed eighth in the 63-kilogram division after falling 1-0, 5-0 to China's Jing Ruixue in the round or 16.
The world championships continue Friday with Montreal's Martine Dugrenier competing in the 67-kg division and Ohenewa Akuffo of Brampton, Ont., in the 72-kilogram class.
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Hamaguchi settles for silver at worlds
Saturday, October 1, 2005 at 07:16 JST
BUDAPEST — Kyoko Hamaguchi missed out on a sixth title and settled for silver in the women's 72-kilogram class at the world wrestling championships Friday.
Five-time world champion Hamaguchi, bronze medalist at last year's Olympic Games in Athens, lost 2-1 to Iris Smith of the United States in the final after giving up a decisive point advantage midway through the final period. "I thought I got the point," Hamaguchi said, referring to the judges' decision based on video footage to award Smith what proved to be the decisive point following an exchange of attempted throws.
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Iran barred from hosting international wrestling matches:
Iran Focus
Tehran, Iran, Jul. 20 –
Iran will no longer be permitted to host international wrestling events because of its refusal to allow women to take part in bouts as well.
The head of Iran’s Wrestling Federation announced that FILA, the main international body in charge of wrestling competitions, had banned the Islamic Republic from hosting games for all international and Asian championships.
The ban was put in place since Iran refused to host women’s competition in the framework of wrestling tournaments. Iran’s theocratic leaders have restricted women’s sports to a few fields deemed permissible under the country’s strict religious rules.
Iran to host 2006 World Freestyle Wrestling Championships
Tehran, Oct 1, IRNA-
The world wrestling's governing body FILA Friday announced that Iran would host the 2006 World Freestyle Wrestling Championships, reported the English-language daily Tehran Times in its Saturday's edition.
In a FILA board of directors' meeting in Budapest, capital of Hungary, attended by FILA supremo Rafael Martinetti, Iran was officially named as the host to the next year's prestigious sporting event.
Turkey and Hungary had also offered their bids.