2018 Tallinn Open – Kristjan Palusalu Youth Wrestling Tournament

31 Mar 2018

Homam Limam takes
57kg Junior (Under 21)
Bronze

The 2018 Tallinn Open – 30th Kristjan Palusalu Youth Wrestling Tournament, 31st March, is a youth tournament (up to and including juniors).

The tournament took place the week prior to the senior tournament of the same name, attended by Nicolae Cojocaru. (link)

The Tallinn Open is Europe’s largest youth wrestling tournament with over 2,000 participants. It is the 3rd largest in the world after Fargo USA (5,000 participants) and a tournament held in Iran (3,5000). 

Homam competed in Freestyle @ 57kg Junior (Under 21) and Abdullah Hannan also travelled as a training partner. Both stayed on after the tournament for a junior training camp.

Homam’s progress through the tournament: –

MATCH 1 vs. USA
Homam wins 12-2 (technical superiority 2nd round)

MATCH 2 vs FRANCE
Homam went behind in the first round and came back in the 2nd round to win 8-5. This was a tough match.

MATCH 3 vs RUSSIA
Both players were unbeaten to this stage. Should Homam win this match he would have had a chance to top the group.

Match 3 finished 14-4 in favour of the Russian after 5mins and 41 secs of regulation time. The score doesn’t tell the whole story, this match was an absolute battle of attrition. The Russian wrestler had nothing left and Homam tried but could not find a way to claw back the margin. After the encounter, Homam had to find a way to pick himself up.

The next stage was that Russia faced France (whom Homam beat earlier). Depending on how this match goes, who wins and how, determines Homam’s fate.  According to the group table, if France beats Russia by 10 clear points, Homam may be eliminated

The tournament followed the “Nordic System” whereby if a player loses two matches he is eliminated from the competition.

Russia then beat France 12-2, topping the group with Homam in second. Which meant Homam would play for Bronze later on in the day versus Finland

MATCH 4 vs FINLAND (Bronze medal match)

For Homam it was about getting over the loss mentally more than physically. Physically, Homam has a lot in the tank.

Homam blasts through the wrestler from Finland 10-0 in round 1.

For the future, Homam needs a way to summon that type of scoring ability when he goes down in tough matches. To live and learn!

Training Camp

Then began the real work. A 4 day camp started day after competition. 4 trainings a day:- 2x Greco Roman & 2x Freestyle. The Greco camp was lead by Team USA Snr Team coaches Matt “The Law” Lindland and Gary Mayabb.

Camp structure:

10-11.30 Greco
12-1.30 Freestyle
4-5.30 Greco
6-7.30 Freestyle

All about becoming a resilient wrestler – “Embrace the Grind!”

• Event Title: 2018 Tallinn Open – Kristjan Palusalu Youth Wrestling Tournament
• Start Date: 31 Mar 2018
• End Date: 1 Apr 2018
• Venue:
  Kalev Sports Hall
  12 Juhkental Street
  Tallinn
  Estonia
• Website:
• Contact:
• Email: