We have seen Denis vs Pushkar many times and Denis was the winner of these meetings in most of the times. But most of those times were when Pushkar was still pulling WAF events while Denis was pulling only pro events. Some may not get what I mean but it sure makes difference. After Pushkar stopped pulling WAF events he became stronger and now is no 1 in the world.

Denis had been gone for a few years already with an exception that he had pulled Michael Todd in US. I was not expecting Denis to come back after a long absence and beat Michael Todd but he did. The truth is that Michael has made some mistakes in that match but still we can not take anything from Denis' victory. What I try to say, that when someone is gone from armwrestling for a long time it takes a while to reach to the top again but it was not the case with Denis.

Pushkar seemed in a great shape when he beat Michael at Zloty Tur armfight. He would have lost the armfight if he did not figure out the shoulder pressure. He did not want to try that move because years ago when Michael beat him 6-0 that move did not work. But this time he had to try again after the score was 0-2. He looked powerful in that event. I try to compare Denis and Pushkar by mentioning their last armfights that both were against Michael Todd. Of course Michael's shape may not be the same in those armfights. In my opinion Michael that pulled against Pushkar was better shape than Michael that pulled against Denis. So, it is not easy to compare Pushkar and Denis by those armfights.

Till today we usually saw that Pushkar hits Denis with an outer side pressure and both pullers lose their wrist but Denis wins by arm strength. That is what we usually saw. Pushkar does not try to go inside against Denis because Denis' hook is stronger than Pushkar's.

I believe that the way Pushkar to beat Denis is a wrist controlled side pressure similar to the way that Dave Chaffee beat Denis years ago at Zloty Tur. In the final Denis got lower at the table to unable Dave's wrist to make it an unorganized battle which Dave was not experienced about. If Pushkar does not hit outside but a straight side way than I believe his chance to win will be big. I don’t believe that Denis can hook Pushkar even if Pushkar does not hit out but side way. If Pushkar wins in such style then Denis may try to pull in the way that he pulled against Dave by lowering himself at the table. In such case both pullers will lose their wrist control and Denis will have advantage by having stronger arms. But of course, it will not be easy. And to counter this movement Pushkar needs to pull as he did against Michael Todd in last 4 rounds. He needs to finish Denis with a dead wrist pressure if Denis is going lower with a wide angled arm position. I remember Michael Todd pinning Denis such way a few times. All these are the possibilities of such armfight. Judging by their previous matches Denis seems to be favorite but Pushkar's current shape may change everything. Still they are the same pullers and their technical abilities have not changed much as far as I follow. Neither of the pullers are considered as technical masters but powerful pullers.

I give the edge to Pushkar but Denis always has chance to win against anyone.

Engin Terzi