Great Britain finished 17th out of the 51 countries competing.
Our best finish in modern history at the
World Championships

Overall, the World Championships were very successful for Great Britain and a clear milestone in the progression of our programme and team. The event represents a clear and distinct improvement in the standards that our wrestlers can achieve and let’s now hope we can now build on this success.

The team was accompanied by National Coach, Nikolai Kornieiev

First Day Round-Up:  Krastanov narrowly misses out on a medal, while Rattigan bows out amid pure farce!

British wrestler Krasimir Krastanov has narrowly missed out on a medal on the first day of competition at the World Championships in Herning, Denmark.

Bulgarian born Krastanov, who moved to England three years ago and now lives in Manchester, finished fifth in the 55 kilogram freestyle tournament after losing out to Ridzan Gadzhiev in the bronze medal match. 

Earlier, he lost to the eventual gold medal winner Kyong Il-yan of North Korea in the round of 16, and by virtue of losing to the eventual champion, was then able to compete for one of the two bronze medals. 

After victories over Naranbaata Bayaraa of Mongola, and then Mykola Aivazian of Ukraine, he missed out on his medal chance by losing 5-3 to Gadzhiev.

“No medal, but fifth in the world is a fantastic achievement,” said GB Wrestling chairman Malcolm Morley. “Obviously we’re disappointed that Krasi couldn’t go that one step further, but he put in a fantastic display, and we’re very proud of him.”

Earlier, there was controversy over the second round exit of Bristol’s Leon Rattigan in the 96kg freestyle tournament. Rattigan was actually declared the winner against Germany’s Oldrik Wagner – but was then made to fight an extra round, following protests from Wagner’s corner.

Explained Morley: “It was complete farce, and a real sickener for Leon – he’s devastated he never made it to the last eight. Essentially he was winning his match, and when the whistle went to signal the end of it, he stopped wrestling, but Wagner didn’t, and scored two points to tie the scores. 

“The Germans then protested they never heard the whistle amid the noise of the spectators, and though Leon’s arm was raised to signal a victory, Wagner was awarded the points, and Leon was then made to fight a decisive third round.

“He was so down after all the kurfuffle, Wagner got the better of him and took the victory- but it was pure farce, and I really feel for him.”

Britain has three other wrestlers taking part at the world championships: Jatinder Rakhra, Mike Grundy and Yana Rattigan. They are in action on Tuesday.
 

Second GB wrestler secures top five World Championship finish

British wrestler Yana Rattigan has become the second British wrestler of the World Championships in Denmark to narrowly miss out on a medal. 

But like teammate Krasimir Krastanov two days earlier, she nevertheless secured a top five finish, which Malcolm Morley, the chairman of GB Wrestling, described as “a fantastic achievement”.

Rattigan, who was born in Ukraine, but came to England two years ago and is now settled in Manchester, went all the way to the semi-finals in the women’s 48k division, beating opponents from India, Tunisia, Canada, before losing out to her sister-in-law, and the eventual gold medalist, Mariya Stadnyk, representing Azerbaijan.

She then fought Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Balushka for the bronze medal, but her one time compatriot came out on top.

“It’s a fantastic achievement by Yana, who’s only 22, and performed brilliantly on the world stage to finish fifth,” said Morley. “We’re very proud of her, and it’s a great boost for British wrestling, and I am sure her success will rub off on the rest of the GB international squad.”

Michael Grundy made it through to the second round in the men’s 74kg division, while in the 60k, Jatinder Rakhra was beaten by eventual gold medalist Besik Kudukhov of Russia in the first round, and then lost his first round match in the repecharge.

Great Britain finished 17th out of the 51 countries competing.
Our best finish in modern history at the
World Championships

Overall, the World Championships were very successful for Great Britain and a clear milestone in the progression of our programme and team. The event represents a clear and distinct improvement in the standards that our wrestlers can achieve and let’s now hope we can now build on this success.

The team was accompanied by National Coach, Nikolai Kornieiev

• BBC Sport News Report
• World Championship Youth Reporter news item
• Results page
• Personal report by Yana Stadnick
• 2009 World Championships, Denmark, Official Report (0.08MB)
• 2009 World Championships Herning Denmark Media Releases (0.11MB)
• 2009 World Championships media briefing prior to departure (0.03MB)