NG: You won 80k category easily at the A1. How do you think, what was missing for you to end up in the three in OPEN?

OZ: It wasn’t complicated to win my category. I prepared more for the OPEN, where I ended up in the eight. It was ok, but Farid was better prepared. His weight and strength gave him the win over me and made me weak. This is not a bad result for me, personally. Fourth in OPEN is good. It’s the second time I’m fourth in the OPEN. I’ll try to get to first three in the future.

NG: Are you preparing for WCs?

OZ: Yes, it will be my fifth Worlds. And I’ll do my best to do well.

NG: After Worlds, the next is Zloty Tur, will you fight?

OZ: Yes, I want to go to the Professionals’ World Cup, fight in the OPEN. From the information that I have there will be a great crew there, strong people from all over the world. Could be interesting.

NG: Who would you like to meet at the table in an armfight?

OZ: There are many fighters I’d like to meet. I’d like to test myself against Semerenko, Tokarev, and of course Larratt. I think it is worth it to prepare well for this tournament.

NG: After A1 and winning the armfight, many think Andrey Pushkar is the strongest in both arms now. What do you think?

OZ: I never doubted Andrey, I always thought he is number one. Even when he lost, I believed he was the strongest, and he proved me right!

NG: Alexey Voevoda is coming back to armwrestling soon. What do you think his chances are to be king again?

OZ: Just because he won the Olympics in bobsled doesn’t mean he will beat everyone in armwrestling, different sports, different training. I believe Alex is strong, but I don’t believe he will be the first. Nowadays, to be first, you need excellent physical, psychological and technical preparation. You can’t do that in one day. It’s not easy to get to the level of Pushkar, Tsyplenkov, and there are many more besides those two, like Osmanli, Tokarev, a couple Americans, and even “lightweights” like Zoloev. There’s no joking around with those guys.