Istanbul, July 29, 8th edition of East vs West.
In these torrid summer months, what makes us shiver, more than the climate, is the specter of injury,
always lurking when performance is pushed to the limit.
And it is unfortunately the injuries that characterized East vs West 8, especially in the organization
phase.
The first match of the evening sees Mindaugas Tarasitas, a Lithuanian athlete residing in Denmark,
face Hristo Delidzhakov, a Bulgarian athlete called up on short notice, to replace the American
Doug Elrich, who in turn replaced the Latvian Janis Amolins, both withdrew due to physical
problems.
3-0 for Mindaugas, never in trouble and in total control.
The event continues with a women’s match, Elizhabet Mocek, making her first appearance on the
world stage, after qualifying for team U.S.A. against veteran Carolina Petterson. Despite her
superior brute strength, Elizhabet’s only 2 years of experience takes its toll, that she loses the match
0-3 without ever being able to express her strength.
Justin Bishop, a star athlete from Alabama faces Toms “brutal” Rotzis, a Latvian qualifier for the
May Finals.
Despite a start that seemed to favor the “West” team, Toms showed more and more dominance in
each round, establishing himself with a 3-0 thanks to his seemingly unstoppable toproll.
The fourth match seems to confirm the trend of this event, with a crushing victory of Lachlan Adair,
Australian n1, against Andrei Chipreanov, short notice replacement of the American Mike Ayello,
absent due to legal problems.
This was followed by the debut of rising star Rino Masic, multiple world champion of only 18,
against South African veteran Terrence Opperman.
After a quick 2-0, Rino allows Terrence to apply his strength, and for a brief moment it seems that
this choice turns out to be a mistake. But the Croatian athlete recovers the position and proves he
deserves the victory not only thanks to his speed. 3-0 for Rino Masic.
As the sixth match of the evening we see the clash between Chance Shaw, from Florida, and Oleg
Petrenko, a Ukrainian athlete.
Despite an initially favorable score for the American athlete, Oleg Petrenko totally reversed the
situation, easily winning 3 rounds one after the other, for a final score of 3 to 1 thanks to total hand
control.
First match on the left arm of the event, and first title match, Daniel Procopciuc vs Emil
Amirshadyan.
Daniel Procopciuc reigns supreme at 75kg. Emil had been the last armwrestler to have beaten
Daniel in 2019, but he failed to replicate the feat. Daniel therefore manages to avenge his defeat 4
years earlier, and to remove the last doubts about his dominance at this weight, with a crushing 3-0.
Returning to the “East vs West” matches, Pavlo Derbedyenyev flying the U.S. flag faces the Latvian
Sandris “panzer” Sedis. No one questioned Pavlo’s superior physical strength, but there were many
doubts about his endurance.
Unfortunately, the fears proved to be well founded, when, despite a 1-0 in favor of him, Sandris
began to make up ground, showing more and more dominance at each round and concluding with a
3-1 for Sedis.
Let’s now go up in weight to the super heavyweight category, to watch the Brazilian Wagner
Bortolato against the home favorite, Ferit Osmanli. Despite the high expectations of the Turkish
public, Wagner manages to impose himself completely, and after a totally one-sided match, he lets
himself go to one of the celebrations that made him famous, destroying the table and jumping into
the audience.
After a short break due to technical problems (thanks Wagner) the co-main event begins.
The match which was originally supposed to be Artyom Mozorov vs Levan Saginashvili, later
changed to Artyom Morozov vs Genadi Kvikvinia, due to Levan’s wrist injury, and again changed
to Artyom vs Georgi Tsvetkov, who replaces on short notice Genadi, later to a bicep tear in training.
Morozov himself doesn’t appear to be in top form, we see him 10kg down due to stomach problems.
Despite the very little notice of less than a week, Bulgarian Georgi Tsvetkov will eventually win the
match 3-0 thanks to his lethal toproll, proving that he deserves a place on that stage. How much the
lost weight affected Artyom’s performance remains a doubt that only a rematch could clarify.
Finally, here we are at the main event. Jerry Cadorette, team USA vs Ermes Gasparini, the Italian
gladiator.
Whoever wins this match will be awarded the title of number one in the world, due to the enforced
absence of Levan Saginashvili due to injury as noted above.
Despite a series of unforeseen events, such as Jerry’s chest injury first, and then Ermes’ shoulder
injury, in the end the paths of the two interim super heavyweight champions cross.
Jerry is one of those athletes who, even when he loses, makes his opponent leave his soul on the
table. His last two matches were both 3-2 victories lasting over 50 minutes, and both of his
opponents sustained injuries during the match. Nobody beats Jerry Cadorette easily.
But there’s always a first time. Ermes Gasparini gives us an impeccable performance, both on a
technical and performance level, winning the match in total dominance, and conquering the world
title.
Thus ends East vs West 8, an event marked by last-minute substitutions and generally one-sided
matches. The dominance of the “east” faction also continues with 6 wins against 2 losses compared
to the West, but East vs West 9 is less than a month away, and everything can change….
