Over a 100 top fighters of world format, crowds of spectators, amazing fights at the highest, professional level and bouts that will definitely go down in history of the Professionals' World Cup. Denis Cyplenkov from Russia winning in left arm and John Brzenk from USA in right, Polish fighter – Lucjan Fudała from Jaworzno winning for the first time in cup rivalry (gold in left arm in up to 95 kg category) – that's what Nemiroff World Cup looked like in 2008 – November, in Warsaw hotel Hilton by the Casino Olympic.
Besides the European representations: Poland (organizer), Great Britain, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine. Lithuania, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, Italy, Sweden, Bulgaria, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland, we could also see contestants from other parts of the world, like Turkey, Japan or USA. The prize money was 20 000 $.
The first category was up to 63 kg. The left arm was dominated by Russians – Alexey Polyakov and Aleksander Berezov, who placed first and second respectively. In right arm, the silver medal went to a Japanese fighter, Hiroshi Kotera, and the strongest man of the world in this category was Valiantsin Babrovich of Belarus. The third place in this category went to Polish fighters: Rafał Fiołek in left and Bartłomiej Bednarski in right.
12 wrestlers fought in 70 kg - 2nd place in left and third in right went to Vitaly Kalmykov from Russia. 2nd place in right went to a Polish wrestler – Dawid Bartosiewicz. An experienced wrestler from Russia - Roman Tsindeliani, proved to be the best in both arms.
Over 20 wrestlers from eight different countries entered the 78 kg category. Among them were many great champions: Lubomir Jagnesak (Slovakia) Kazimir Iskandorov and Artem Kotchian (Russia) or Artem Taynov from Ukraine. Kazimir Iskandorov and Artem Taynov met in the left arm final. Both were very strong and incredibly fast, which guaranteed a great show even before the fight. The fight was long and very dynamic. After Iskandorov's attack, Taynov had to defend very close to the pad. As a result, he went on to a victorious attack and won the gold of this tournament. Lubomir Jagnesak from Slovakia was the strongest in right arm, he outclassed his opponents, winning all his fights quickly. Artem Kotchain from Russia came second, and Kazimir Iskandorov from Russia took bronze.
The 86 kg category, like the rest of the categories at the „Nemiroff World Cup 2008”, was stacked with renown and titled wrestlers, like Radosław Dobrovic (Slovakia), Oleh Matskevich (Belarus), Drsun Order (Turkey) or Pascal Girard (Switzerland). Radosław Bobrovic had a great start, he brought two medals home (gold in left and silver in right). The only Swiss wrestler showed a great fight – Pascal Girard, , who started in right arm only, won first place on the podium. Third places went to eastern fighters: left to Alexey Kashpey from Belarus, right to Eduard Sedyuk of Ukraine.
This edition of Nemiroff World Cup in female category was dominated by the Ukrainian, Viktoria Ilushyna, who beat rival after rival easily, as befits a World Champion. In left arm, silver went to Veronica Bonkova of Bulgaria, and bronze to Felicia Rydsted from Sweden. In the second day, the wrestlers from Sweden and Bulgaria “switched” medals between 2nd and 3rd place.
Everyone waited for the male fights in up to 95 kg. Especially for the legend, John Brzenk from USA, Besides the American, there were other famous names: Taras Ivakin from Ukraine, Aleksandr Drushchits from Russia, or Peter Kovacs from Hungary. For the first time in this category, in left arm, the Professionals' World Cup went to a Polish wrestler – Lucjan Fudała. The third place went to Alexandr Drushchits.
The uncontested champion of the +95 kg category in both arms, without a shadow of a doubts, was Denis Cyplenkov from Russia.This 26 year old fighter, with a monstrous frame and bear – like size had a great debut in a tournament of this repute. The vice-champion in left went to Christian Binnie from USA, and bronze to Viacheslav Sharagovich of Belarus. The 2nd place in right arm went to Tim Bresnan from USA, and third – to Hungarian, Gyorgy Szasz.
The OPEN category is the most anticipated moment of each tournament. It is an answer to the question – who is the strongest in the world? Only the strongest in the three heaviest categories can enter this one. The left was dominated by Denis Tsyplenkov, winning his category (+95 kg), as well as OPEN. The second strongest in left was Alexey Semerenko from Ukraine, beating Alexandr Drushchits from Russia in the semi-finals. Most of the spectators anticipated the “monster” from Russia to also dominate the right arm. To anyone in this category, beating Denis was impossible. He just made a joke of them and pinned them all.
Paweł Podlewski