Jana Vašková and Oliver Kurek are world champions!
Slovakia was represented at the Mas-Wrestling World Championship in Kyrgyzstan by five participants: Ema Mišovčíková, Janka Vašková, Oliver Sidoryak fr om Bardejov, Oliver Kurek and Tomas Majer fr om Banska Bystrica.
On the first day of the championship, Saturday, November 30, Janka Vašková competed in the weight category up to 85 kg, Tomas Majer up to 105 kg and Oliver Sidoryak up to 105 kg.
Janka Vašková performed excellently, defeating all her opponents in the round robin system. In the first round, she defeated Abduzoyirova Mokhinur from Russia with a score of 2:1, in the second, Panina Tatyana from Kazakhstan - 2:0 and in the third, Mongolian athlete Battyas Dashnyam - 2:0. These victories secured the gold medal for Janka. She confirmed her title of 2018 world champion and became a two-time world champion.
Tomas Majer failed to make it into his 90 kg weight class, so he had to move up from 92 kg to the 105 kg category, wh ere he had to fight eight opponents who were 13 kg heavier. The competition was held on a two-loss system.
In the first round, Tomas lost 1:2 to Erlan Yerkebulan fr om Kazakhstan. After this loss, he moved to Group B, wh ere he lost to Georgian athlete David Zumadze 0:2 and was forced to leave the competition. He ended up seventh in his category. Tomas did not disappoint us - despite being underweight, he showed a quality fight against strong opponents.
Oliver Sidoryak started in the 105 kg weight category with eight opponents, wh ere he also competed according to the system up to two losses. In the first round, the draw determined his opponent to be the Russian mas-wrestler, three-time world champion Dmitry Popov, to whom he lost 2:0 and therefore he was able to fight in group "B" for third place. In the second round, his opponent was the Chinese athlete Soi Inchadan, whom he won cleanly - 2:0. In the third round, the fight for third place began. He met with the Georgian participant David Zumadze, whom he defeated with a score of 2:0 and won the bronze medal for Slovakia. Oliver competed well and won his first medal at the World Mas-Wrestling Championship.
On the second day, Sunday, December 1, Ema Misovcikova competed in the 55 kg weight category and Oliver Kurek in the 80 kg category.
Ema Misovcikova competed with 8 opponents until she lost twice. She was very unlucky when the draw determined her opponent in the first round to be the champion of Yakutia and Russia, two-time world champion Natalia Chernogradskaya, to whom she lost 2:0 and therefore could only fight for third place in Group B.
In the second round, she beat Kazakh athlete Valeria Sharnina 2:0 and in the fight for third place, she beat Adolara Khaitbaeva from Uzbekistan 2:0 and won the bronze medal for Slovakia. Ema performed very well and this medal is also her first medal at the World Championships.
Oliver Kurek competed in the 80 kg weight category with nine opponents. The competition, as in the previous weight categories, was held according to the system up to two losses. Oliver gradually defeated all his opponents in individual matches: in the first round - Nigerian participant Samuil Alade 2:0, in the second - participant from Kazakhstan Erzhan Yuusupov 2:0 and in the semi-finals he defeated Zakariyas Shioka, a mas-wrestler from Angola 2:0. In the final, he met the current champion of Yakutia and Russia Andrey Vinokurov, with whom, one can say, he easily dealt and won with a dry score of 2:0. He won the gold medal for Slovakia and became the world champion. Before that, he won the silver medal of the world championship twice in 2023 and 2022. It was his best performance and he became the second Slovak competitor in history and the first male to win a gold medal and the world title for Slovakia.
At the end of the championship, also on Sunday, December 1, the World Mas-Wrestling Championship among men and women in the absolute weight category was held.
Janka Vaskova fought in the women's category with nine rivals. The competition was held according to the system up to two losses. Janka competed confidently and one by one defeated all opponents in individual fights: in the first round - Mokhinur Abduzoyirova from Russia 2:0, in the second - Rami Aroydzh from Pakistan 2:0, in the semi-finals Eldana Bolotbekova from Kyrgyzstan 2:0. In the final, she met with the Kyrgyz athlete Adel Madanbaeva, whom she won 2:1. Jana won the gold medal, so defended the 2021 title and became a two-time absolute world mas-wrestling champion.
Our small team of only five participants, compared to teams from Russia (13 athletes) and Asian countries - Mongolia (14 athletes), Kazakhstan (15 athletes), Kyrgyzstan (17 athletes), Uzbekistan (17 athletes) achieved great historical success, receiving a total of 5 medals - 3 gold and 2 bronze.
In the team standings, Slovakia out of 20 participating countries took 5th place with 34 points. At the same time, Mongolia scored 43 points, Uzbekistan - 54 points, Kyrgyzstan - 105 points and Russia - 133 points.
Only three countries won gold medals and world champion titles among men and women, including Slovakia. Russia - 9, Kyrgyzstan - 4 and Slovakia - 3.
For their successful performance and the medals they won, our athletes deserve great gratitude and congratulations.
