Only two athletes from FIAS 1 didn’t manage to get a gold medal, and only one of them, 88 kg sport sambist Aslan Kurbanov will return to his homeland without a medal. In his first bout Kurbanov was injured heavily and had to quit the bout. 

The first gold medal of the day for the Russian team was claimed by Ramed Gukev. He managed to grab a 3-0 victory against Armenian Aram Aghajanyan who was cheered by the crowd. Though the defeat, Aghajanyan was happy for his first world medal. 

“Sometimes the home crowd helps and sometimes it prevents, but this time I think the crowd helped me to win the silver medal, and I hope in the future I will be able to change the color of the medal to gold”, said Aghajanyan to the journalists.

The other FIAS 1 athlete to defeat a home crowd favorite was Sheikh-mansur Khabibulaev. In the middle of the final bout of combat sambo 64 kg weight category he held a counterattack take down against Vahagn Grigoryan and won the bout 4-0. In the interview to Insidethegames Khabibulaev said that the home crowd cheering for their favorite even motivated him, and that it was a pleasure to battle in that atmosphere. 

“It’s amazing that the people love this sport and cheer the athletes so actively”, said the athlete. He said that the political situation in the Middle East didn’t let him fully concentrate on the preparation, and it was difficult for him to battle on the mat. “I hope the peace will soon be established and innocent people and children will not die”, said Khabibulaev.

Zhamalbek Asylbek Uulu was one of the two athletes who broke Russia’s dominance on the day 2. In the semifinals of the 88 kg weight category of sport sambo Asylbek Uulu defeated Vahagn Chalyan from Armenia, and in the finals managed to break Kazakhstan’s hope of gold medal defeating Yelaman Koishybayev in a narrow battle.

It was a day of joy for Belarussian athlete Daniela Zhdan who won the gold medal in women’s sport sambo 65 kg weight category. She claimed 5 unanswered points against Mongolian Sunjidmaa Tsog-Ochir and became world champion. In the interview with Insidethegames she thanked for the good organization of the tournament saying that also helped her to win the title.

“I am happy that I managed to win. Before the final bout my arm was injured, and there was a hesitation, if I would be able to battle with full strength. Now I am going to recover from the injuries and will see what happens next”, said Zhdan.

The other three gold medals will go to Russia. Mukhtar Gamzaev faced a strong resistance only in the semifinal bout against Uzbekistan’s Lutfilla Saydamatov. In the final bout he won with total victory Togtokhbayar Nyamkhuu from Mongolia and claimed the gold medal.

Kseniia Zadvornova was happy to win the gold in the 72 kg weight category of Women’s Sambo. Earlier this year she won the second CIS Games in Belarus defeating Anzhela Zhylinskaya in the final bout. Zhylinskaya had a chance for revenge in Yerevan, but again lost in the final 3-9. 

“This victory was so important for me. I am turning 25 at the end of this year and I wanted to celebrate my birthday as a world champion”, said Zadvornova to Insidethegames. “The final bout was the most difficult, I have faced Anzhela in the CIS Games final, she is a European champion, it was difficult to battle against her”, added Zadvornova.

Zadvornova has also had a successful career as a judoka but doesn’t know if she will return to that sport again. “This Olympic cycle is over for me, and in the future we will see”, concluded the athlete.

The last but not the least man to win the gold in the day two of the competitions was Artem Osipenko. In the battle of the giants Osipenko managed to defeat Romania’s Ilie Natea with a painful hold. In the semifinals, Natea defeated returning world champion from Bishkek Bekbolot Toktogonov (Kyrgyzstan), but was powerless against Osipenko. The latter became a 10 time world champion.

“I remember all my championships from first which was claimed in 2010 in Uzbekistan to the last here in Armenia. I remember every my bouts in that championships”, said Osipenko to Insidethegames.

There are seven weight categories left for the third and the last day of the competitions. Tomorrow athletes will compete in Men’s Sport Sambo 79 and 98 kg, Women’s Sport Sambo 80 and +80kg and Combat Sambo’s 71, 88 and +98 kg weight categories.