In the last major Senior event prior to the Olympic Games, Kyrgyzstan came away with three golds, Serbia grabbed two, and Mateusz Bernatek (72 kg, POL) and Lukas Ahlgren (82 kg, SWE) likewise earned tournament titles. The 2024 Wladyslaw Pytlasinski Memorial (Warsaw, POL), which began on Thursday and wrapped on Sunday, attracted a handful of top Greco-Roman competitors but it was the aforementioned group of stars who stole the show. The event also featured several athletes who are expected to contend for medals when the Olympic Games gets underway in Paris later this summer.
Reigning two-time World Champions Zholaman Sharshenbekov (60 kg) and Azkhol Makhmudov (77 kg) were summarily dominant for Kyrgyzstan. Both won each of their matches by way of technical superiority to further add onto what were already sparkling ledgers. Sharshenbekov, 24, has not dropped a match in two years. The last time he tasted defeat was in the final of the ’22 Pytlasinski Memorial. That loss came at the hands of continental rival and highly-decorated Kenichiro Fumita (JPN). Sharshenbekov, who throughout the previous Olympic cycle was playing catch-up to Fumita, defeated the Japanese competitor for gold at the ’23 Worlds in Belgrade.
25-year-old Makhmudov was runner-up to ’23 World bronze Nao Kusaka (JPN) at this year’s Asian Championships and before that had placed 8th at Vehbi Emre in March (TUR). Prior to Vehbi Emre, Makhmudov’s most recent defeat was, like Sharshenbekov, at the ’22 Pytlasinski where he had earned bronze.
KGZ also had Amantur Ismailov (67 kg) walk away with gold from Warsaw. After having his hand raised following a tough decision over ’22 World gold/two-time bronze Mate Nemes (SRB) in the opening round, Ismailov won his next two and then received a forfeit in the final from teammate Razzak Beishkeev, who was a Cadet World champ in ’21. Ismailov qualified 67 kg for Kyrgyzstan in Paris at the European Olympic Qualifier this past April.
Serbia had a pair of title winners, as well — ’23 World bronze Georgij Tibilov, who secured an Olympic quota at 60 for SRB last month in Istanbul — and ’21 U23 World champ Aleksander Komarov (87 kg), who earned a Paris berth in April. Tibilov competed at 63 kg in Warsaw, his first showing in the non-Olympic weight since Zagreb in January.
Bernatek & Ahlgren
’17 World silver Bernatek earned his first gold from his home country’s annual summer showcase in five years. He was challenged in Round 1 of his pooled bracket by Sweden’s Christoffer Dahlen but would record consecutive VSU’s over Aleks Razor (UKR) and Adomas Grigaliunas (LTU), respectively. Bernatek, 30, has now made nine appearances at the Wladyslaw Pytlasinski Memorial and claims two golds and three bronze from the event.
And then there is Ahlgren, who was making his Pytlasinski debut in ’24. Though he wound up with gold, Ahlgren only had two matches (round-robin bracket) as he was declared the champ via forfeit on the part of countryman Timmy Skoeld. But in the round prior, Ahlgren earned a hard-fought 4-2 decision over fellow Scandinavian Jonni Sarkkinen (FIN). In April, Sarkkinen had one of the more impressive showings of the season when he shocked ’22 World runner-up Zoltan Levai (HUN) en-route to qualifying 77 kg for the Olympics.
Olympic Berths at Pytlasinski
All told, there were 12 placewinners at the ’24 Wladyslaw Pytlasinski Memorial who earlier this season secured berths on behalf of their nations for the Paris Olympics. They are (in order of qualified weight category):
60 KG
Abdelkarim Fergat (ALG)
Zholaman Sharshenbekov (KGZ)
Georgij Tibilov (SRB)
67 KG
Amantur Ismailov (KGZ)
77 KG
Azkhol Makhmudov (KGZ)
Jair Cuero Munoz (COL)
Jonni Sarkkinen (FIN)
87 KG
Aleksandr Komarov (SRB)
Carlos Munoz Jaramillo (COL)
97 KG
Uzur Dzhuzupbekov (KGZ)
Mindaugas Venckaitis (LTU)
130 KG
Yasmani Acosta Fernandez (CHI)
2024 Wladyslaw Pytlasinski Memorial
June 20-23 — Warsaw, POL
FULL PLACEWINNERS
60 kg
GOLD: Zholaman Sharshenbekov (KGZ)
SILVER: Nikita Dementiev (UKR)
BRONZE: Abdelkerim Fergat (ALG)
BRONZE: Gracjan Jedut (POL)
63 kg
GOLD: Georgij Tibilov (SRB)
SILVER: Mairbek Salimov (POL)
BRONZE: Michal Tracz (POL)
BRONZE: Oleksandr Hrushyn (UKR)
67 kg
GOLD: Amantur Ismailov (KGZ)
SILVER: Razzak Beishekeev (KGZ)
BRONZE: Gregorz Kunkel (POL)
BRONZE: Maksym Yevtushenko (UKR)
72 kg
GOLD: Mateusz Bernatek (POL)
SILVER: Henrik Christoffer Dahlen (SWE)
BRONZE: Adomas Grigaliunas (LTU)
BRONZE: Aleks Razor (UKR)
77 kg
GOLD: Azkhol Makhmudov (KGZ)
SILVER: Patryk Bednarz (UKR)
BRONZE: Jaire Cuero Munoz (COL)
BRONZE: Artur Politaev (UKR)
82 kg
GOLD: Lukas Ahlgren (SWE)
SILVER: Jonni Sarkkinen (FIN)
BRONZE: Timmy Skoeld (SWE)
BRONZE: Ihor Zakharchuk (POL)
87 kg
GOLD: Aleksandr Komarov (SRB)
SILVER: Carlos Munoz Jaramillo (COL)
BRONZE: Islam Aliev (POL)
BRONZE: Szymon Szymonowicz (POL)
97 kg
GOLD: Vladlen Kozliuk (UKR)
SILVER: Mindaugas Venckaitis (LTU)
BRONZE: Fedi Rouabah (ALG)
BRONZE: Uzur Dzhuzupbekov (KGZ)
130 kg
GOLD: Yasmani Acosta Fernandez (CHI)
SILVER: Dominik Krawczyk (POL)
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