66 kg:
Last year's World finalists Ramzan Shahin of Turkey and Gendry Garzon of Cuba will meet in the first round. Expect to see an exciting match here with attacks, counter-attacks, flurries and trips. Hopefully Garzon shows a little more heart than his Cuban counterpart Quintana. If he does I believe he will win this match.
2007 Junior World Champion Mehdi Taghavi will take on Canada's Veranes Garcia. Taghavi is real tough and I see him advancing.
Ikematsu of Japan, 3rd at the 2003 World Championships will be taking on last year's Bronze Medalist and 2006 Silver medalist Otar Tushishvili of Georgia. The Georgian is extremely powerful, while Ikematsu is very slick. Look for the Georgian to advance here.
Young of Korea will be taking on veteran and multiple World Champion Serafim Barzakov of Bulgaria. Barzakov is has a lead leg high crotch that catches guys and has great defense. His specialty is cradling guys off of their attacks. He is getting up there in age and doesn't appear as sharp as he used to be, but I see him advancing here.
2007 European champion Albert Batyrov of Belarus will take on North Korea's Song Chun Yang. Batyrov has good stuff and has recent wins over Shahin and Irbek Farniev of Russia. I look for Batyrov to advance here, but it will be a tough bout.
USA's Doug Schwab will be taking on 2006 World Bronze medalist Andrey Stadnik of the Ukraine. Stadnik is very experienced and has recent wins over both Murtazaliev and Farniev. Schwab is a goer and can wear his opponents down but is limited in his technique and shows almost zero par terre offense. I don't see him beating Stadnik.
The winner of this bout will face India's Sushil Kumar whose best performance was 4th at the 2003 World Championships at 60 kg.
2003 World Champion Irbek Farniev will be taking on Armenia's Suren Markosyan. 2nd in the 2003 Junior worlds at 60 kg, this will be Markosyan's first Senior World level tournament. Farniev is experienced, fast, and flexible with a solid par terre attack. He tends to have conditioning issues, but he looked absolutely fantastic at this year's World Cup with wins over both Stadnik and Garzon. Farniev advances.
Semi Finals:
Andrey Stadnik, Ukraine v. Irbek Farniev, Russia
Geandry Garzon, Cuba v. Otar Tusishvili, Georgia
Finals: Farniev v. Garzon
Gold medal: Gendry Garzon, Cuba
