Sadulaev beats Kurbanov 5-3, takes Russia's 97kg Worlds spot
The eight-time World and Olympic champ is back on Russia's World Team at 97kg.
Abdulrashid Sadulaev beat Magomed Kurbanov 5-3 in Russia's 97kg wrestle-off and will be the country's World Championships entry at the weight, as scheduled earlier this week. GlobalWrestOrder called it first, noting Kurbanov is ranked No. 5 and won Russian Nationals. Sadulaev now walks into what both GlobalWrestOrder and Jon Kozak describe as one of the deepest brackets the weight has ever had.
How the five points came
Per Kozak, Sadulaev scored off a stepout, a shot clock, a takedown and a failed challenge. The one flashpoint was a Kurbanov double leg that GlobalWrestOrder said could have been called four. Both accounts landed in the same place, that two was the correct call. Kozak wrote that there was a "Little bit of controversy, but I think they got the right call..."
Little bit of controversy, but I think they got the right call...
The bracket he is walking into
Justin Basch laid out the field. Sadulaev joins fellow Olympic champions Tazhudinov, Snyder and Yazdani at 97kg. Kozak counts four Olympic champs and five World champs in the bracket now that Sadulaev is in it.
For an eight-time World and Olympic champion, the question is not credentials. GlobalWrestOrder said Sadulaev looks healthier than he did at RAF, then raised the only thing that matters between now and the Worlds, whether he can round into peak form against that field.
Things to watch
Sadulaev's draw at the World Championships, and whether the 97kg bracket produces the Sadulaev versus Tazhudinov rematch the seeding could set up.
Kurbanov, the reigning Russian national champ at the weight, is left without a Worlds spot after the 5-3 loss. Nobody has said what comes next for him.
can he get to PEAK shape in time for the World Championships in one of the toughest brackets of all time?
joining fellow Olympic Champions Tazhudinov, Snyder, and Yazdani in an absolutely loaded weight class
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