A1 – one against all, all against one

Will anyone finally beat Denis Cyplenkov? Will Andrey Pushkar manage to do that? Will any of the two be threatened by Krasimir Kostadinov? What about Taras Ivakin’s come back? How far will Oleg Zhoch get? Tomorrow we’ll get to know the answers for some of these questions. The above mentioned athletes registered for the A1 Russian Open tournament in Moscow’s sports centre Dinamo today. They were most anticipated here as fans expect them to provide intensity and excitement.

Denis Cyplenkov is still number one in the +100kg class. Yet, tomorrow his era may come to an end. Although he’s still in top form, never before had he so many strong rivals waiting to take his place. Obviously, I mean Andrey Pushkar. This Ukrainian competitor using the hook technique walked away with victory at the last NEMIROFF WORLD CUP. What’s important Andrey is used to beating his opponents in next to no time. This athlete simply does not give his rivals a chance to actually fight with him. It’s highly likely that Cyplenkov and Pushkar will lock their left arms tomorrow. For sure, it’ll be the fight of the night.

Cyplenkov and Pushkar will confront each other in the final, unless Krasimir Kostadinow of Bulgaria prevents them from that. Form of the current world champion in the up to 100 kg class continues to improve. Krasimir came in second in the open class at NEMIROFF WORLD CUP 2012. Tomorrow, he’s likely to take revenge on Pushkar for his defeat in the final of the World Cup. But if not Kostadinov, then who can face Pushkar? During the Lviv Lion Cup, Pushkar found it pretty difficult to pull another competitor from Ukraine, Oleg Zhoch.

Following this tournament, Pushkar said: “If Zhoch puts on weight, he’ll be a tough opponent”. Mind you, Oleg pulls only with his left hand, which means that tomorrow will be his first and last day at this competition.

Also Taras Ivakin’s matches seem promising. His performance is important not only for his Ukrainian fans. If Ivakin does better than at the LION CUP in June, it will mean that returning to top form after a very long break is possible in the case of armwrestling.

Russian Open promises to be a top-level sports event. It’s also a tournament with the biggest prize pool in the world this year. Unfortunately, despite many famous athletes taking part in this event, it won’t be a competition on a global scale as athletes from the United States, Canada, Brazil, Poland, Turkey or western Europe won’t be competing in A1. So, for example, we won’t get to know the result of a very interesting match between Denis Cyplenkov, a very strong competitor, and Devon Larratt. We still have to wait for such fights. Maybe we’ll have to wait till the upcoming NEMIROFF?