(September 27) - Wrestler Yuri Yevseichik and kayaker Michael Kalganov made it a good day for the Israeli delegation at the Sydney Olympics yesterday.
Yevseichik won his third match in the Greco-Roman 103kg. qualifying rounds against Poland's Marek Sitnik 3-1 to set up a semifinal battle with American Rulon Gardner in the semifinals today. If he wins, he will move on to fight for the gold medal later today. If Gardner wins, Yevseichik will compete for the bronze.
"The Israeli is going to be tough," Gardner, who won his four-man pool, told the AP.
But it is the fight following the Gardner-Yevseichik match about which everyone is talking. The winner of their match will likely meet three-time Olympic champion Alexander Karelin.
Russia's Karelin, whose alias is "Alexander the Great," easily won his pool bouts, proving his great technical and tactical skills. The unbeaten champ is the favorite to capture the gold. Karelin will fight Ukraine's Georgy Saldadze in his semifinal today.
The lowest that Yevseichik, 29, can place is fourth.
In the 85kg. wrestling event, Israel's Gotcha Tsitsiashvili won his third bout 11-1 against Tunisia's Amor Bach Hanba. But because Tsitsiashvili, 26, lost against Norway's Fritz Aanes in his first preliminary match Monday, he did not advance to the semifinals. Had Aanes lost yesterday, Tsitsiashvili would have moved up. Aanes beat Uzbe kistan's Yuriy Vitt 6-1.
While Tsitsiashvili and Yevseichik were fighting some of the biggest men indoors, kayakers Kalganov, Ro'i Yelin and Rami Zur were battling heavy competition at the Regatta Center on Penrith Lakes.
Kalganov qualified first in his heat and best overall in the K1 1,000m. heats. He timed 3:35.48 minutes, and moves on to the semifinals tomorrow. Kalganov, the European champion in the 1,000- and 500-meters races, competes in the K1 500m. preliminary heats today.
Yelin and Zur, meanwhile, placed eighth out of nine competitors in their heat in the K2 1,000m. qualifying rounds yesterday. According to the Israel Olympic Committee, the pair - which timed 3:20 in their race - will compete in tomorrow's semifinal since they clocked the best result among the losers.
As well as Yevseichik's medal hunt today, sailing duo Anat Fabrikant and Shani Kedmi are raising their sails in the hope of capturing a silver or bronze.
The women's double-handed dinghy racers compete in their final race today. Their race promises to be an extremely close contest, as the top five teams - Australia, Germany, Ukraine, Israel, and the US - are all within 13 points of one another.
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