Tim Hands of Five Point Move tells you everything you need to know about the final UWW Greco-Roman Ranking Series event, the Oleg Karavaev.

This coming Friday begins the 2019 Oleg Karavaev Memorial live from Minsk, Belarus. As the fourth and final United World Wrestling “Ranking Series” event of the year -- and not to mention one of only a few Senior Greco events left on the docket before the Worlds -- Karavaev could not hold much more importance for athletes and fans alike.

Of course, it is much more important for the athletes, particularly those who could use a noteworthy performance in effort to boost their respective rankings. 

Once a team event and now operating within a standard individualized format, Karavaev, like Sassari City before it, is a tournament in UWW’s Ranking Series that could use the status bump. The Hungarian Grand Prix (both this year and last) is and was always going to be a premier event anyway, with Croatia’s Grand Prix Zagreb Open slotting in just a half-tier beneath the Hungarian. 

It isn’t that Karavaev failed to offer some stiff competition previously; delegations from Russia, Belarus, Georgia, and Kazakhstan were around for the team format -- while last year’s offering brought forth a decent mix of stout World-caliber contenders and roster fillers. In either case, you got high-level Greco, but what you didn’t have is the allotment of World podium hopefuls (and past champs/medalists) that are scheduled to appear this time around. 

Another factor to consider this weekend: although there are three more Senior tournaments remaining after this one as mentioned above, Karavaev’s results will provide a sort of dataset/reference point for some participating countries when it comes to their World Team selection. Multiple entrants from the same nation in any given weight category (but especially for Olympic weights) tend to mean a little more during these, the proverbial “dog days of summer”. 

*Note: weight classes of entries not official. 

55 Kilograms

2018 Junior World bronze Vijay Vijay (IND) leads the fray while a pair of Russians who are buried on the depth chart -- recent Grand Prix of Spain winner Emin Sefershaev and Vladmir Zabeyvorota  -- will be around to make things interesting, with Sefershaev inching forward as the likely favorite. 

60 Kilograms

A weight class holding some potency. Kenichiro Fumita (JPN), Senior World champ in ‘17 before winning it all at U23 last year, is not in the running for a top-4 ranking, so even if he prevails here, at best he might find himself towards the bottom of the top-20. But he’ll want to sharpen up a little since his bronze at the Asian Championships, where he fell to Ri Se-Ung (PRK). Former Youth Olympic Games gold Ilkhom Bakhromov (UZB), who won the Hungarian Grand Prix at 55 this winter, is involved, as well, though he’s not a serious threat to the crown. One man who is? 2017 World bronze Kim Seung-Hak. The versatile tornado of technique could vault himself up to the second seed in September with a tournament victory. If not, he’ll stay locked in as the third seed and life will go on. Kazakhstan sent Zhanersik Sarsenbaev to the World Championships last year at 55 kilos -- but maybe they should have chosen Khorlan Zhakansha instead. Both are listed at 60 for Karavaev, and it is Zhakansha’s dynamic repertoire and ability to improvise the reason why most feel he holds more upside -- and is also more fun to watch. 

63 Kilograms

63 kilograms is not an Olympic weight class, which is a relative shame because at most big events, it is one of the very best. That is certainly the case here with multi-time World medalist/2016 Olympic bronze Elmurat Tasmuradov (UZB, world no. 2), 2016 Olympic silver Shinobu Ota (JPN), 2018 World bronze Sailike Walihan (CHN, world no. 5 at 60 kg), and Firuz Tukhtaev, who although doesn’t own World hardware, is on the come-up and medaled at the first two Ranking events this season.

‘17 World runner-up Meirambek Ainagulov will probably have a say in how all of this turns out. But Walihan is the wildcard; he’s not going 63 in September, so this is just a mechanism to get some matches in. That being said, he’s also not coming to mail it in and should provide some solid action, regardless of how he finishes. 

67 Kilograms

Two-time World Champion Ryu Han-Soo (KOR) is cemented as the #2 seed at the Worlds and is a can’t-miss proposition anytime he competes. The total package -- darting angles that lead to takedowns, arm throws, and from par terre is a master of his craft. Will he be challenged? Maybe, maybe not. 

Denmark’s Fredrik Bjerreehuus is searching for a breakthrough and 2014 World bronze Edgaras Venckaitis is tough, but not seen as an imminent threat. That honor goes to Tsuchika Shimoyamada (JPN) who first scored a win over Ryu on US soil at the Dave Schultz two years ago and then virtually blew his doors off last year at the Asian Championships. 

72 Kilograms

Returning World bronze Meirzhan Shermakhanbet (KAZ) is, like several others already mentioned, locked in to a top-4 seed, only, it’s not at this weight. Shermakhanbet won his medal last year at 67 and it is at that weight class where he fell to Ryu in the Asian Championships finals. With weight cutting off the table (if his listing here is indeed accurate), he will look to overcome a tough-but-not-crowded field that includes Asian Championships silver Gaoquan Zhang (CHN) and former Cadet World champ Arslan Zubairov, who took a bronze at Palusalu this year after finishing 5th at the Russian Nationals. 

77 Kilograms

Russia is delivering a trio of characters at 77 kilos and two of them have ties to Kamal Bey (Sunkist) -- 2018 Junior World champ Islam Opiev, who defeated Bey in their poorly-officiated Junior semifinal; and Rafael Yunusov, a notoriously dirty competitor with whom Bey was forced to deal at Zagreb this past winter. The other Soviet is ‘16 Junior World bronze Akhmed Kaytsukov, a rough customer in his own right who won this event last year. Other than that, there is not a ton going on in terms of Senior star power at 77, though hardcore fans will likely be interested in checking out if Pavel Liakh (BLR) has progressed more since moving up to this weight class for 2019. 

82 Kilograms

Right off the bat, 82 kilograms offers a pair of recent World runner-ups: Emrah Kus (TUR, world no. 1) and Viktar Sasunovski (BLR, world no. 4, bronze in ‘18). Kus’ silver was earned last year in Budapest and he also grabbed a third back in ‘13. He remains an offensive-friendly athlete, specifically from par terre where he prefers going to a reverse lift. As for Sasnovski, he holds a top-four seed already and with just a somewhat-passable showing, will leapfrog over the great Saied Abdvali (IRI) into the third spot. 

This tournament could be a proving ground for ‘18 U23 World silver Rajbek Bisultanov (DEN, world no. 6). It was he who reigned supreme at the Euros, edging both Kus and Sasunovski for the biggest Senior tournament win of his career. If Bisultanov can win a couple matches -- and finish ahead of Sasunovski -- he’ll be in position to steal that fourth seed. 

87 kg

The first question would be, ‘What does Rustam Assakalov have left?’ At 35 years of age, the 2015 World silver has not been terribly active though he did manage to put up a representative third at the Asian Championships. However, he is not a shoo-in entrant for Uzbekistan at the Worlds. Fellow World runner-up Radik Kuliev (BLR, ‘17) is in a much better spot. An intense pummeler with a grinding approach from top par terre, Kuliev had a solid showing in Hungary and is a strong candidate to at least qualify in Nur-Sultan. Turkey’s Dogan Goetkas appeared in the first three Ranking Series tournaments and got himself a silver in Sassari City. He and Azamat Kustubaev (KAZ) would be considered a step below Kuliev at the moment but that won’t matter much in this event. 

97 kg

It all falls on Fatih Baskoy (TUR, world no. 7) at Karavaev. The reigning University World champ (who fell to American G’Angelo Hancock in a thrilling final at the Hungarian GP) is sitting at 32 points and will easily overtake the fourth seed at the Worlds by placing here. And he should. 97 is not particularly strong and Baskoy’s primary challenges might come from countryman Suleiman Demirci, warhorse Siarhei Staradub (BLR), or Aleksandr Hrabovik (BLR). An argument could also be made for Ruslan Bekuzarov (RUS), another guy who should be in the mix depending on the draws. But all in all, this is Baskoy’s playoff. So long as he can avoid slipping on a banana peel, he’ll be in position to get those coveted points. 

130 kg

The landscape is interesting at heavyweight. 2018 World bronze Kim Min-Seok (KOR, world no. 4) has a 17 point lead over Muminjon Abdullaev (UZB), so it would take Kim basically washing out and Abdullaev winning gold for the pair to switch spots in the rankings. Probably not likely, especially since ‘18 World bronze Yasmany Acosta Fernandez (CHI, world no. 6) is lying in wait. But -- if Kim wins, he could hop over both Heiki Nabi (EST, world no. 3) and Adam Coon (NYAC/Cliff Keen, world no. 2). Belarus’ Kiryl Grischenko is riding high after emerging victorious at the European Games last month. That might mean something both here and regarding Belarus’ decision at heavyweight for September. China’s Lingzhe Meng -- pinned by both Cohlton Schultz and Adam Coon at the Junior and Senior Worlds last year, respectively -- is a solid competitor but has struggled this season.