We are back in Turkey for this fifteenth and special edition of East vs West! Hold on tight, as 9 titles will change hands tonight, there will be no shortage of emotions!
Hungarian Brigitta Ivanfi opens the dance by welcoming the return of Irina Gladkaya after years of absence. It will be a welcome worthy of the name, which will see the two champions exchange rounds until a 3-2 for Brigitta.
We remain at the same weight, but moving on to the men’s category, Danil Ustinov (KZ), WAF 75kg world champion, challenges Azat Srapyan (ARM), 70kg world champion, for the 70kg title of East vs West. Despite a very promising start by Azat, it will be Ustinov who will prevail, also thanks to a technical problem that saves him from certain defeat, finally concluding on 4-3 for the Kazakh athlete.
And it’s the return of another legend Oguzhan Kocak (TR) who clashes at 105kg against the now darling of the public Nugzari Chikadze (GEO). Nugzari shows how choosing an athlete of such high caliber as the first match after years of break is not the best strategy, a decisive 4-0.
And it’s also another Turkish athlete who debuts on this stage, Omer Kozakoglu, who clashes with the Russian Artur Makarov for the world title at 77kg. Title that remains firmly in the enormous hands of Makarov, who leaves no room for his very young challenger, who will surely come back stronger in the future. 4-0 for Makarov.
We are at the second and last women’s match of the evening, Carolina Petterson (SE) demands revenge, will Dimitrina Petrova (BG) be able to defend the title? The answer is given to us from the first round, Dimitrina is not willing to step down from the throne so quickly, 4-0 for the Bulgarian athlete.
The impressive Betkili Oniani is at her first defense of the 95kg left arm title, the challenger? The great Oleg Zhok, champion of the 85kg, who in the second edition of this league had already beaten the Georgian. In this rematch, however, things will go very differently, it will be Betkili who gets his revenge, and successfully defends the title with relative ease with 4 pins to 0.
In what could be considered the moment of maximum amazement of the evening, Yoshinobu Kanai (JP), after years of absence, returns to the top of the category, giving the American Toddzilla Todd Hutchings a hard time. Todd will eventually manage to win the match, but with a score of 3-2 snatched with tooth and nail.
Let’s go back to putting a title on the line! Ibragim Sagov (RU) vs. Rino Masic (HR). Rino Masic arrives confident in this match, given by many as an underdog, he had predicted to have superior resistance, and so it was. Sagov takes a 2-0 lead, Rino recovers 3-2, Sagov with a thrust of the hips reaches 3-3, but it is precisely, Rino Masic, who wins 4-3, and is crowned the new champion at 115kg.
Vitaly Laletin, the Russian giant of over 140kg and 2 meters, against the Kazakh Georgi Dzeranov, “the caveman”. Georgi has made spectacular progress in the last period, but will it be enough? The match ends in a handful of minutes, of which just over 2 seconds of effective pull, no one is able to stop Vitaly. 4-0.
Let’s move on to a compatriot of Vitaly, the surgeon Georgi Tautiev questions the title of the Georgian Irakli Zirakashvili. The start seems promising, but Irakli shows himself superior as soon as the straps are put on. His strength is such that Tautiev is forced to retire due to wrist pain, the last rounds are then awarded by default to Irakli for a 4-0.
Michael Todd (USA) continues his ascent, the obstacle in his path? Genadi Kvikvinia. The two athletes had already met, about 2 years ago, and then Genadi had managed to assert himself 3-0. But this time the three rounds won will be Michael to reach them, despite the two rounds fought and finally taken by Genadi. 3-2 final on a razor’s edge.
The incredible Davit Samushia (GEO) in his tenth title defense against Dimitri Maiorov. This is also a match that we have already seen played out, but then Maiorov had just returned from a long absence, now, after months, he certainly boasts a better shape. The match opens with a very fast and incredible pin by Dimitri, will this be the fall of the multiple champion? Samushia is quick to remind us why he is now considered unbeatable, he recovers successfully and asserts himself in a dominant manner, even more than in his previous match. 4-1 Davit.
We go up again to 115kg, this time on the left arm. The demolisher Alizhan Muratov (KZ), the only athlete to have never lost even a round in his many matches, challenges the champion of the higher category Ivan Matyushenko.
Despite the heroic efforts of Ivan, who will manage to give us hope in the first and last round, Alizhan confirms his uniqueness. Despite the 10kg less than his opponent, 4-0 without ever losing control.
And now the last match of the evening, Oleg Petrenko, in his first defense of the 105kg title, against Canadian Devon Larrat. Thanks to the water cutting technique, Devon manages to weigh in at 105kg, but to be 120kg during the match. This advantage is insurmountable, and allows him to dominate Petrenko, pushing himself to the limits of sportsmanship and raising, as always, a lot of criticism.
4-0 Devon Larrat, new champion at 105kg.
