Chaffee – hero of the evening

The biggest surprises came from the Americans. Tim Bresnan impressed everybody with his great calm. When Semerenko ran off the stage in anger after being beaten by Bresnan, Tim just waited for things to unravel. Nothing could unbalance him. Dave Chaffee was a picture of calm preparation for fighting before facing Tsyplenkov and beating him.

Who is the American who came to the Nemiroffs for the first time and beat Denis Tsyplenkov, who was so far almost undefeated?

Dave is 36 years old and works as a corrections officer. In his free time he likes to play poker and spend time with his family.

I decided to ask Dave about his impressions from his fight with Tsyplenkov.

When I approached you to congratulate you for your fight, you seemed to be in shock. Were you as surprised with your win as he rest of the world that watched the fight?

I was very excited with my win! I couldn’t entirely believe it yet. I knew that if I struck in a correct way, I could beat Denis, me and Tim talked about fighting Denis and ways to beat him before the tournament, in case we should draw him.

I saw the movie from the fight many times. There is this moment when you’re chalking up your palms and elbow before the fight and the camera’s on you. You’re looking at Tsyplenkov and your face seems to be saying “I will get you!”. What were you thinking at that moment? You looked very determined and certain of your goal.

I know the moment you’re talking about. When Denis slipped out on purpose so close to the pad, I knew I should have won, I was super amped! I wanted to show Denis he was in for a war! I think he felt that. He must have been very surprised, as no one has challenged him in a long time this way.

I talked to many people after that fight, most were excited that you beat the undefeated Tsyplenkov; they spoke kindly of you and wished you another win. Could this be a sign of people being tired of predictable fights and victories from the Eastern block fighters? Is it USA time now?

I think that people like to root for the underdog. Denis was on the pedestal for a long time. Most people thought that he could not be beat. As I mentioned in my first interview – I thought different.

You came to Europe for the first time and bam! You put on a great show, pulled an upset, especially among the Eastern European fighters. Just like Tim Bresnan. You made an uproar, but you were both so still and calm, on the outside at least. What was going on inside you?

I might have seemed calm on the outside, but I was very excited! I just beat the number one in the world of armwrestling! It’s moment like these that you realize that hard work pays off! Everyone wanted a photo with me and to shake my hand, it was amazing! Great feeling!

OPEN without Tsyplenkov

Shock and disbelief from Andrey Pushkar after Tsyplenkov vs Chaffee. Pushkar couldn’t say much in an interview after that fight. Usally talkative and smiling, Andrey was quiet this time, present only in body. After Dave won, the whole audience went wild. I was in the commentators booth at that moment with Igor Mazurenko. Shame that nobody took our photo then, our faces must have looked really surprised.

Pushkar won the OPEN in right arm. Would he have won had Tsyplenkov not resigned from participating? Just the fact that he resigned was a great surprise to his fans.

Denis quitting from the OPEN is proof that he can be defeated. Maybe now European fighters will really start wrestling him, instead of laying down for him, and Denis will stop being the superman. If he ever fights Devon, Todd, Bresnan, Chaffee, Brzenk, Matt Girdrer 9who’s getting back in game) in 5 of 6, he’s bound to loose – said Christian Binnie.

Fair game or art of avoiding confrontation?

There were also some bad emotions present. Denis and Andrey giving up the arm at the table met with bad audience reaction. Was it saving strength for later or art of avoiding confrontation? What’s the opinion of fans and fighters themselves?

Artur Głowiński: We have here a situation where USA is fighting Europe. Pushkar and Tsyplenkov fight each other all year and know one another. It was no point for them getting tired. They wanted to face the Americans and show who’s school of wrestling is best. So they did what they did.

In football, if one team gave up a match, it would be unacceptable, what about here?

Artur Głowiński: It wasn’t about money here, this was a war between continents. I understand that. But then, you should never give up a fight, that’s why everyone was booing.

I don’t support this kind of behavior either, but I understand why they did that. To beat USA, to not loose at their own field in Europe.

Sergey Popov: They didn’t want to get pumped out, so they gave up the matches, if they didn’t, they couldn’t fight on in the very next match.

Is that fair in your opinion?

Popov: I think so. That’s sport. It’s an art of balancing your power equally. It’s strategy, everyone uses it. Now an American has entered the equation and Tsyplenkov doesn’t know what to do. He has a lot of thinking to do now, because now there’s a guy who can put pressure on him. This never happened before.

Is what Andrey and Denis did fair?

Tim Bresnan: Of course not. Armwrestling is not a team game. There’s no friends here to give up the match to. Dave fought hard every time, no one gave up the arm to him.

Christian Binnie: I agree with Tim. We came here to fight, so let’s fight. If I had to fight one of my friends, I would.

Piotr Szymanowski “Peszy”: I’m surprised with this question and it’s not an easy one to answer. . Even Igor Mazurenko gave up the arm to Sławek Głowacki at the Worlds. Well, maybe not gave up, but didn’t really struggle. So it is an obvious element of the game, but the audience might not like it. As long as there is no money in it, that’s ok. Because that would be the worst, if fighters from one country decided to split the dough afterwards. What would be a scandal. But if they give up because they have no chance anyway – that may be just the nature of armwrestling. Audience has the right to be mad. The USA – Russian war is the salt of this tournament.

So there is a war?

Of course. That’s the intrigue behind every tournament. Now everyone expects for someone to topple Tsyplenkov over.

What does Denis’s coach say about that?

Is giving up the arm a technique or is it avoiding confrontation? We decided to ask Denis’s coach, Kote Razmadze.

Those two know each other very well. Pushkar tried to fight Denis all out many times and always lost. Only in certain moments, when it was obvious that Denis was tired, everyone went in for broke. This happened in 2011, when Pushkar took 1^st place in Professionals’ Cup in left arm, after Denis fought Babaev. It’s hard fights like this that grind Denis down.

But don’t you think that being champion means fighting, not threatening everyone so that they give up? Modestas was a guy like that. He went in to fight and fought Denis, and wasn’t beaten in one move.

That’s right. Modestas Grigaitis has a long forearm, uncomfortable for Denis. That’s why this fight took longer. Modestas was one of the few who proved that you can take the best on.

So why was it that some fought and some gave up?

Those who won’t fight know they can’t win, they can only get hurt. They want a good score in their category. Thanks to the 2 losses system they can fight in B group and go quite far with 1 loss. Dave Chaffee and Modestas Grigaitis took on the fight because they didn’t know their opponent well enough to give up.

But armwrestling is all about fighting! The hero of this tournament, Prudnyk, fought Zoloev and others and entered into the OPEN anyway. And what’s more, weighing 86 kg, he took 2^nd place and Pushkar himself said of him that he was the only fighter whom he really felt. So his arm must be ready for wars. He’s not prepared for one opponent only. It’s enough to just fight!

Yes, but Denis is not prepared for long struggles. He resigned from open because he didn’t want to lose to weaker opponents.

Europe vs USA?

There were also some controversies about refereeing. Americans think there are differences in European way of refereeing.

I don’t understand why the judge kept closing my fingers inside during referee grip – said Christian Binnie. –Instead of wrapping the fingers around the opponent’s palm, the referee pushed the fingers inside the palm. I never saw that happen, and I’ve been fighting for a long time. I said to my opponent then: you’ll win. I knew I couldn’t fight this way. In another match, the ref told me to first put my elbow on the pad and then grab the opponent’s arm, not the other way round. That meant I had to fit to my opponent’s elbow and palm. Why not the other way round? Why couldn’t we grip and then set our elbows comfortably?

Nemiroff World Cup 2013 is behing us, now we are waiting for the Zloty Tur. Who'll win the Professionals' World Cup this time? Find out this weekend!

Iza Małkowska