Chichiashvili beats Finn, South Korean, and advances to semis

by HILLEL KUTTLER

ATLANTA (July 21) - Israeli wrestler Gocha Chichiashvili advanced yesterday to the Olympic semifinals in the Greco-Roman 82-kg. competition.

Chichiashvili defeated Finland's Tuomo Karila 2-0 and then overpowered Korea's Park Myung-Suk 4-1, which, along with a bye, shot him into Round 4.

Israel's other entries faired less well as swimmer Vadim Alexsev and shooter Alex Tripolski failed to advance.

The semifinals and gold-medal round in Greco-Roman wrestling will be held today.

Even though Chichiashvili is in the final four, he is not yet guaranteed a medal. Unlike in judo, where two bronze medals are awarded, in Greco-Roman wrestling, there will be a consolation round to determine the third-place finisher.

That round is also conducted in a final four format, including the fifth- and sixth-place finishers together with the losing semifinalists.

Chichiashvili scored four quick points against Myung-Suk, the 1996 Asian champion. But his earlier victory over Karila created controversy when Karila later charged the judges of favoring his opponent by awarding a point for grabbing Chichiashvili's leg and for not penalizing him for a similar violation.

"It was a regular trip. He grabbed my leg when I was lifting him and the referee said he didn't see it that way," Karila said afterwards. "When I was lifting the reverse lift, he took my leg and that's an illegal move."

Of the leg warning that cost him a point, Karila said, "of course it was pretty close to his leg, but I didn't grab with my hand and I didn't tie my legs together. So I don't agree with the referee."

Chichiashvili refused to talk to reporters until his fate in the Games is concluded.

Chichiashvili had defeated Karila in their only previous encounter.

In the pool, Alexsev finished sixth in his heat of the 100m breststroke at 1:02.92. His 18th-place overall finish was two slots adrift of qualifying for the next round.

On the range, pistol shooter Alex Tripolski also was knocked out of the competition with a total of 572 points in the 10-meter air pistol event, good for just 40th place in the qualification round that saw 20 contestants move to the next round.

Italy's Roberto Di Donna won the men's 10m air pistol gold medal. Yifu Wang of China won the silver and Tanu Kiriakov of Bulgaria took the bronze.