On the sixth competitive day of the 2025 World Games, the combat sambo competitions began. The Ukrainian team won three medals in this sport - all 'gold', reports 'Glavkom' citing 'Suspilne Sport'.
Five representatives from Ukraine participated in the tournaments: three men and two women. Yevgeniya Pozdnyaya in the under 65 kg category and Angelina Lisenko in the under 72 kg category finished their performances in the quarterfinals. However, Andrey Kucherенко (under 71 kg), Vladislav Rudnev (under 79 kg), and Petr Davidenko (under 88 kg) reached the finals.
The first medal for Ukraine was brought by Andrey Kucherенко, who won 'gold' in the under 71 kg category. The sambist defeated the 'neutral' Russian Roland Zinnatov in the final: right from the start, after a head strike, he sent his opponent into a knockdown and led the match to victory with a score of 6:1.
The second 'gold' was won by Vladislav Rudnev: in the final of the under 79 kg category, he faced the 'neutral' Russian Ovanes Abgarian. At the beginning of the fight, the athletes were even and could not score, but ultimately the Ukrainian launched a series of attacks and achieved a convincing victory - 3:0.
Last among the Ukrainian sambists was three-time bronze medalist of the world championships Petr Davidenko (under 88 kg). The Ukrainian's opponent was also a 'neutral' sambist Abusupiyan Alihanov. At the midpoint of the fight, Davidenko allowed his opponent to score a point, but at the end of the match, he executed a throw and a hold, winning 4:1.
Thanks to the successes in sambo, Ukraine now has 26 medals at the 2025 World Games, of which 11 are gold.
Successful Performance of Ukraine at the European Youth Olympic Festival
Ukraine entered the top 10 in the overall medal standings of the European Youth Olympic Festival, finishing in 10th place. The arsenal of the Ukrainian team includes: 5 gold, 8 silver, and 10 bronze medals.
This is the second most successful performance for Ukraine in the history of participation in the Festivals, starting from 1993! More medals were won by the 'blue-yellow' team only in 2019 - then there were 25 awards.
The Ukrainian sambists conquered the 2025 World Games, winning three 'gold' medals in combat sambo. They also performed successfully at the European Youth Olympic Festival, finishing 10th in the standings among 23 countries, winning 5 gold, 8 silver, and 10 bronze medals. A great recognition for our athletes!