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| Event type

Featherweight, Greco-Roman (≤55 kilograms), Men

Date 5 August 2012
StatusOlympic
LocationExCeL, Newham, London (North Arena 2)
Participants19 from 19 countries
FormatSingle elimination tournament. Competitors losing to the finalists entered repechage tournament for bronze medals.

In a field of strong competitors, Hamid Soryan of Iran and Rövşən Bayramov of Azerbaijan stood out as the two wrestlers most likely to reach the final match of the men’s featherweight Greco-Roman wrestling event. Soryan was a five-time World Champion (2005-2007, 2009-2010) and a strong prospect to win Iran’s first Olympic gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling. He had taken the past season off, however, allowing Bayramov to claim the title of reigning World Champion. Both were veterans of the 2008 Games, but had never met at the Olympics, as Soryan was defeated by eventual gold medalist Nazyr Mankiyev in the quarterfinals. Bayramov had survived to the final match, although he too was outclassed by Mankiyev and forced to settle for silver. With Mankiyev having bowed out of defending his crown, the opportunity was ripe for either wrestler to capture the crown.

Up through the final, Bayramov never suffered a single point in his matches, making him appear to be the strongest contender for gold. Soryan struggled somewhat against his first opponent, Arsen Eraliyev of Kyrgyzstan, but managed to avoid taking any more points in the quarter or semi-finals. The first period of the final went scoreless for 90 seconds, necessitating a par terre finish where Soryan was able to score for two points. In the second period, Soryan converted one of Bayramov’s attacks into a point advantage, which was all he needed to claim his nation’s first Olympic Greco-Roman crown.

In the first bronze medal match, Hungarian Péter Módos defeated Denmark’s Håkan Nyblom in three periods. Each round went to par terre and, although the Dane successfully defended in the first period, he was penalized for a leg grab and lost the round 0-3. Módos was unable to defend when on the bottom, giving the second round to Nyblom and extending the match to a third period. Scoreless at the end of 90 seconds, and with their points and cautions tied, a ball was drawn to determine which competitor would choose the positions in the final par terre. Módos won and chose to be on top, successfully scoring on Nyblom and earning the podium spot. The second bout, between Mingiyan Semyonov of Russia and Choi Gyu-Jin of South Korea, was more straightforward but far more aggressive. After a heated exchange in the first period, which Semyonov won 3-1, the Russian clenched the bronze medal by successfully defending in the second period’s par terre.

PosWrestlerNOC
1Hamid SourianIRIGold
2Rövşən BayramovAZESilver
=3Péter MódosHUNBronze
=3Mingiyan SemyonovRUSBronze
=5Håkan NyblomDEN
=5Choi Gyu-JinKOR
7Li ShujinCHN
8Gustavo BalartCUB
9Spenser MangoUSA
10Kohei HasegawaJPN
11Arsen EraliyevKGZ
12Aleksandar KostadinovBUL
13Viuhar RahimovUKR
14Abouhalima Al-Sa'idEGY
15Yun Won-CholPRK
=16Elbek TazhyieuBLR
=16Ayhan KarakuşTUR
=16Elmurat TasmuradovUZB
19Fouad FajariMAR

Round One (5 August 2012)

Winner of each match advanced to round two. Losers to eventual finalists advanced to repêchage round one.

Match #1 Fouad FajariMAR Bye
Match #2 Håkan NyblomDEN Bye
Match #3 Elbek TazhyieuBLR Bye
Match #4 Kohei HasegawaJPN Bye
Match #5 Hamid SourianIRI Bye
Match #6 Arsen EraliyevKGZ Bye
Match #7 Elmurat TasmuradovUZB Bye
Match #8 Péter MódosHUN Bye
Match #9 Gustavo BalartCUB Bye
Match #10 Ayhan KarakuşTUR Bye
Match #11 Yun Won-CholPRK Bye
Match #12 Choi Gyu-JinKOR Bye
Match #13 Aleksandar KostadinovBUL Bye
Match #14 Li ShujinCHN Viuhar RahimovUKR Decision (6 - 2)
Match #15 Rövşən BayramovAZE Mingiyan SemyonovRUS Decision by shutout (2 - 0)
Match #16 Spenser MangoUSA Abouhalima Al-Sa'idEGY Decision (6 - 1)

Round Two (5 August 2012)

Winner of each match advanced to quarter-finals. Losers to eventual finalists advanced to repêchage round one.

Match #1 Håkan NyblomDEN Fouad FajariMAR Decision by shutout (6 - 0)
Match #2 Kohei HasegawaJPN Elbek TazhyieuBLR Decision by shutout (4 - 0)
Match #3 Hamid SourianIRI Arsen EraliyevKGZ Decision (6 - 3)
Match #4 Péter MódosHUN Elmurat TasmuradovUZB Decision by shutout (4 - 0)
Match #5 Gustavo BalartCUB Ayhan KarakuşTUR Decision by shutout (4 - 0)
Match #6 Choi Gyu-JinKOR Yun Won-CholPRK Decision by shutout (3 - 0)
Match #7 Li ShujinCHN Aleksandar KostadinovBUL Decision (4 - 2)
Match #8 Rövşən BayramovAZE Spenser MangoUSA Decision by shutout (8 - 0)

Quarter-Finals (5 August 2012)

Winner of each match advanced to semi-finals. Losers to eventual finalists advanced to repêchage round two.

Match #1 Håkan NyblomDEN Kohei HasegawaJPN Decision by shutout (5 - 0)
Match #2 Hamid SourianIRI Péter MódosHUN Decision by shutout (3 - 0)
Match #3 Choi Gyu-JinKOR Gustavo BalartCUB Decision (2 - 2)
Match #4 Rövşən BayramovAZE Li ShujinCHN Decision by shutout (5 - 0)

Semi-Finals (5 August 2012)

Winner of each match advanced to final. Losers advanced to repêchage final.

Match #1 Hamid SourianIRI Håkan NyblomDEN Decision by shutout (6 - 0)
Match #2 Rövşən BayramovAZE Choi Gyu-JinKOR Decision by shutout (3 - 0)

Repêchage Round One (5 August 2012)

Winner of each match advanced to repêchage round two.

Match #1 Arsen EraliyevKGZ Bye
Match #2 Mingiyan SemyonovRUS Spenser MangoUSA Decision by shutout (3 - 0)

Repêchage Round Two (5 August 2012)

Winner of each match advanced to repêchage final.

Match #1 Péter MódosHUN Arsen EraliyevKGZ Decision by shutout (3 - 0)
Match #2 Mingiyan SemyonovRUS Li ShujinCHN Decision by shutout (3 - 0)

Repêchage Final (5 August 2012)

Match #1 Péter MódosHUN Håkan NyblomDEN Decision (5 - 3)
Match #2 Mingiyan SemyonovRUS Choi Gyu-JinKOR Decision (4 - 1)

Final Round (5 August 2012)

Match 1/2 Hamid SourianIRI Rövşən BayramovAZE Decision by shutout (3 - 0)