Canadian wrestler Erica Wiebe loses semifinal at Individual World Cup in Serbia
[ad_1]
In a stunning loss, reigning Olympic wrestling champion Erica Wiebe of Stittsville, Ont., dropped a 2-1 semifinal decision to 2017 world champion Yasemin Adar of Turkey on Tuesday at the Individual World Cup in Belgrade, Serbia.
Wiebe, who secured a spot for the Tokyo Olympics at the Pan Am qualifier in March, will wrestle in Wednesday’s repechage for a chance to advance to the bronze-medal match in the women’s 76-kilogram division.
The 31-year-old Wiebe, who lives and trains in Calgary, was defeated by fall after taking a 1-0 lead on a passivity call at the event that replaced this year’s world championships due to coronavirus concerns.
In the quarter-finals earlier Tuesday, Wiebe won 10-0 by technical superiority over Zsanett Nemeth of Hungary.
In September 2019, Wiebe lost to Epp Maee of Estonia in the dying seconds of her quarter-final match at the world championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
But she rebounded nine months ago in Ottawa, where Wiebe soundly beat Genesis Rosangela Reasco Valdez of Ecuador 6-0 in the 76 km semifinal at the Shaw Centre to book her ticket for the Olympics that was rescheduled to next summer because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
WATCH | Erica Wiebe wins Pan Am semifinal to secure Olympic spot:
The Stittsville, Ont., secures the right to defend her Olympic title with a semifinal win in the 76-kilogram weight class at the 2020 Pan-American Olympic Wrestling Qualification Tournament. 2:29
Adar, 29, was fresh off winning the women’s 76 kg bracket at last week’s International Poland Open Grand Prix in Warsaw. The physical education teacher is also a four-time European champion.
In August 2017, Adar was the first Turkish woman to appear in a final at worlds and the first to win wrestling gold.
[ad_2]
SOURCE NEWS