Elmurat Tasmuradov (UZB) is a definitive talent who has carved out an extremely impressive career. Aside from earning a bronze at this year’s Olympics, the 24-year old has collected medals from a host of other big-time events, including the Worlds, the Golden Grand Prix, the Poddubny…the list goes on. The 2015 Asian Championships stick out, as well. It was a sterling overall performance for Tasmuradov. He tech’ed his way to the finals, victimizing this year’s Olympic silver medalist Shinobu Ota (JPN) in the process. A nice run, without a doubt.
To capture his gold, Tasmuradov had to do battle with Yun Won-Chol (PRK), a hard-nosed yet technical brawler who turns every match into a dogfight. Only, there wouldn’t be a lot of suspense in this one. Tasmuradov compiled all of his match-winning points in the first period en-route to a 9-4 victory. Two challenges were involved, also, simply because the bodies flying around the mat made the scoring all-the-more confusing. Now, if you have seen Elmurat Tasmuradov wrestle before, chances are you already know what kind of athlete he is. But some of the body-work he exhibited in this bout are on another level.
The first action of note is Tasmuradov’s defense to an arm-spin attempt. Yun got warned for passivity so naturally, as is custom for him, he responded by trying to go big (you really have to love that about this guy). Tasmuradov holds on, Yun looks to hip it over once more, and then Tasmuradov keeps holding on and basically clotheslines him before scrambling all the way out. He’d be given two following a challenge.
The funny part is, that is nothing compared to what Tasmuradov pulls off next. Plenty of Greco Roman wrestlers have shown off incredible scrambling ability, but the body adjustment the Uzbek makes here is astounding.
It takes a lot of confidence to move your body like this, no?
That is almost a standing Granby roll for crying out loud. And he holds on the entire time while posting off of his free arm. The clip is a little short, but you can make out Yun complaining at the end of it. (He’s a notorious sore loser but again, that is something to love about him.) The result for this whole deal was two for Tasmuradov and two for Yun and a 4-2 Uzbekistan lead.
The last bit of scoring isn’t quite as dynamic as the first two, but is still indicative of the overall theme.
Yun snaps for a front headlock and then changes his grip for a semi-loose reverse chest lock. Tasmuradov once more holds on and basically arches with the attempted hold as Yun creates pressure over the top. This would be good for four points and then another tacked on, as PRK challenged and lost. The score at the end of the period was 9-2. Yun would pick up a takedown in the second frame to show some life, but he would never get any closer.
Despite the fact that all of Tasmuradov’s scoring was capped in the first period, it is still an entertaining match to check out. It isn’t as though there is a giant disparity in ability between these two competitors in a wrestling-sense. But when it comes to contorting one’s body to not only avoid trouble but also, pick up some points, Tasmuradov put on a master class.
