In Kazakhstan today, day two of the UWW World Wrestling Championship. Kazakhstan is the World's largest landlocked country. Today, Nur-Sultan, the country's capital, hosts at the Barys Arena. Normally home to the Barys Astana Hockey Team, the Barys has been readied for this yearly event. This year's competitions began yesterday, and will be held through next Sunday, September 22nd. The 2019 world championships serve as the first qualification event for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The top six finishers in each Olympic weight category in Astana will secure an Olympic qualification for their nation, with the remaining qualification spots earned at continental competitions and a “Last Chance Qualifier” during the 2020 competition calendar. Featured at this tournament are the world championships in Men's Freestyle and Greco Roman Wrestling. These championships have been held almost annually since 1904, in various locations. Wrestlers compete according to their various weight classes. Both Men's Competitions, as well as the women's freestyle competition, have ten weight classes, which vary among the competitions. Championship as well as third place matches will be contested on these days. Rio Olympic champion Artur ALEKSANYAN moves into the world finals for the fifth time in his career after beating Giorgi Melia of Georgia, 3-1. His record in the world finals is 3-1. The Armenian hasn't dropped a gold medal bout since the 2013 World Championships. Meanwhile, Olympic champions Kyle Snyder and Jordan Burroughs headline the U.S. team at the world wrestling championships. Snyder, a Rio Olympic champion, and Burroughs, a London 2012 gold medalist, each looks to avenge losses at last year’s worlds. For Snyder, that likely means a third meeting with Russian Tank Abdulrashid Sadulayev in the 97kg division. Snyder beat Sadulayev in the final two years ago, dubbed the Match of the Century between two Olympic champions. Last year, Sadulayev stunningly pinned Snyder in 68 seconds to even their series. Burroughs earned all four of his world titles in odd years. Last year, he fell to Russian Zaurbek Sidakov in the quarterfinals but took the bronze. Also returning are world champions Adeline Gray (76kg), J’Den Cox (freestyle 92kg) and Kyle Dake (freestyle 79kg). Argentina vs. Spain in the World Cup final might be a matchup you would expect in soccer, but on Sunday they'll compete for the crown in basketball at the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China. Led by former NBA veteran Luis Scola, Argentina has made a Cinderella run to the final by taking down Serbia and France in the knockout stage. They are the first country to reach a World Cup final without an active NBA player this century. As for Spain, they took down Poland and Australia to reach the final, the latter victory coming in a double-overtime thriller. Reigning NBA champion Marc Gasol was the hero in that semifinal win, and is looking to add another title this summer. After winning their first World Cup title in 2006, Spain failed to reach the semis in either of the past two tournaments. Now, they're back in the final, and have a good chance to capture their second crown. Spain needed two overtimes to dispatch Australia in the quarterfinals, so they arrived by a squeak. Ricky Rubio and Marc Gasol have led the way throughout the tournament, and they should have some fantastic matchups in the final going against Facundo Campazzo and Scola. Spain is slightly favored in this championship game. Perrenial champions the USA have had an uneven championship, rocky might be a better word, but in the end beat Poland to take seventh place in the tournament. Congratulations to France, who have taken third place, and condolences to Australia, who took fourth. Another champion will be crowned in Spain today, in the Vuelta a Espana later this afternoon. As far as Aussie Rules Football, lots of action as the Grand Final approaches. The semi finals will be contested next weekend. More later... -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "omnisport" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/omnisport/1435730888.5042749.1568556610368%40mail.yahoo.com.
