Gotcha Ziziashvili
Gotcha Ziziaschwili (born November 7, 1973 in Tbilisi ) is a former Israeli wrestler . He became world champion in the Greco-Roman style middleweight in 2003 .
Career
Gotcha (actually Giorgi) Ziziaschwili grew up in Tbilisi and began wrestling there as a teenager in 1981. He concentrated on the Greco-Roman style. He started on the international wrestling mat in 1991 for the Soviet Union and in 1992 and 1993 for Georgia. In the fall of 1993 he emigrated to Israel and started working for that country from then on. In Israel he became a member of the Hapoel Beer-Shewa sports club . His coaches there were mainly Jakow Masin and Otari Tatishvili. During his active time he made a living from wrestling, but was already trained as a teacher. He always started in the middleweight division.
His international career began in 1991 at the Junior World Championship (Juniors) in Barcelona, where he took 3rd place in the weight class up to 81 kg. In 1992 he came 7th at the European Junior Championships (Espoirs) in Székesfehérvár, but at the 1993 Junior World Championships (Espoirs) in Athens he won the middleweight division behind Martin Lidberg from Sweden and Elvan Mert from Turkey with a 3rd place. Place another medal.
In 1994, starting for Israel for the first time, he reached the final at the European Championships in Athens. In this he gave the German Thomas Zander a great fight, but lost just 2: 3 points. He became vice European champion. At the World Championships this year in Tampere, however, he was eliminated early and only reached 16th place.
Was very successful for him in 1995. He won at the European Championships in Besancon behind Sergei Żwir from Russia and Christo Stanchev a bronze medal from Bulgaria and at the World Championships in Budapest he came down to the final before, in which he said Turkey Hamza Yerlikaya by Was subject to points. This made him runner-up in the world championship ahead of Thomas Zander and Sergei Zwir. In 1995 he won a bronze medal again at the European Championships in Budapest. Only Hamza Yerlikaya and the Hungarian Peter Farkas placed in front of him. At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, he first won over Tuomo Karila from Finland and Park Myung-suk from South Korea. Then he succumbed to his old rival Thomas Zander and also to the Kazak Daulet Turlychanow . With a victory over Martin Lidberg, he was only able to fight for 5th place and thus just missed the medal ranks.
In the following years, with one exception, he could not win any more medals, but always delivered good performances and still achieved very good placings, such as 5th place at the 1998 European Championship in Minsk and 4th place at the 1998 World Championship prove in Gävle. In 2000, he needed the results of no less than five Qlympia qualification tournaments to qualify for the second time for the Olympic Games. At the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, he was the victim of the unfair behavior of the Norwegian Fritz Aanes . He met this wrestler in his first fight and lost against him just on points. He then defeated Juri Witt from Uzbekistan and Amer Bach Hamba from Tunisia, but with these victories only reached 6th place. Immediately after these Olympics, it was discovered that Aanes was doped in Sydney. He was then disqualified and taken out of the ranking. Of course, that didn't help Gotcha Ziziaschwili, because the Olympic wrestling tournament couldn't be held again for him. He would probably have won against a non-doped Aanes and then had a good chance of an Olympic medal.
In 2001 Gotcha Ziziaschwili fought for a very good placement with a 5th place at the European Championships in Istanbul. At the 2001 World Championships in Patras, the 2002 World Championships in Moscow and the 2003 European Championships in Belgrade, things didn't go so well for him and he was only able to place in the midfield at these championships. At the 2003 World Championships in Créteil, he surprised the whole wrestling world, because he won the world title there. He won over Artur Michalkiewicz from Poland, then lost to Balasz Kiss from Hungary and then won over Malik Satya Dev from India, Vjatscheslaw Makarenko from Belarus, Attila Bátky from Slovakia and Ara Abrahamian from Sweden. He indirectly owed this world title to Artur Michalkiewicz, who threw Balasz Kiss out of the race.
At the end of his career Gotcha Ziziaschwili then took part in the Olympic Games again in Athens. He won there over Mélonin Noumonvi from France, but then lost to the eventual Olympic champion Alexei Mischin from Russia, which meant he was eliminated and finished in 14th place. Then he ended his international wrestling career.
International success
| year | space | competition | Weight class | Results |
| 1991 | 3. | Junior World Championships (Juniors) in Barcelona | up to 81 kg | behind Elvan Mert, Turkey and Juri Stoimenow, Bulgaria |
| 1992 | 7th | Junior European Championship (Espoirs) in Székesfehérvár | medium | Winner: Igor Bugaj, Ukraine ahead of Oldrik Meißner, Germany |
| 1993 | 3. | Junior World Championships (Espoirs) in Athens | medium | behind Martin Lidberg, Sweden and Elvan Mert |
| 1994 | 2. | EM in Athens | medium | behind Thomas Zander, Germany, in front of Sergei Nasewitsch , Russia, Igor Bugaj and Hamza Yerlikaya |
| 1994 | 16. | World Cup in Tampere | medium | Winner: Thomas Zander ahead of Tuomo Karila, Finland, Valeri Zilenz , Belarus and Alexei Banes Duany , Cuba |
| 1995 | 3. | EM in Besançon | medium | behind Sergei Zwir, Russia and Christo Stantschew, Bulgaria, in front of Alexander Pokala, Belarus and Tuomo Karila |
| 1995 | 2. | World Cup in Prague | medium | behind Hamza Yerlikaya, in front of Thomas Zander and Sergei Zwir |
| 1996 | 3. | EM in Budapest | medium | behind Hamza Yerlikaya and Peter Farkas, Hungary, in front of Tuomo Karila and Martin Lidberg |
| 1996 | 5. | OS in Atlanta | medium | after victories over Tuomo Karila and Park Myung-suk, South Korea, defeats against Thomas Zander and Daulet Turlychanow, Kazakhstan and a victory over Martin Lidberg |
| 1997 | 7th | EM in Kouvola | medium | after a victory over Martin Lidberg, a defeat against Hamza Yerlikaya, a victory over Knut Steinar Isaksen, Norway and a defeat against Aleksandar Jovancevic, Yugoslavia |
| 1997 | 21st | World Cup in Wrocław | medium | after a victory over Tomi Rajamäki, Finland and defeats against Sergei Zwir and Daniel Henderson , USA |
| 1998 | 9. | Italian Grand Prix in Faenza | medium | Winner: Daniel Henderson in front of Filip Soukop, Czech Republic |
| 1998 | 3. | Intern. Tournament in Nikea / Greece | medium | behind Raatbek Sanatbajew, Kyrgyzstan and Ioannis Savvas, Greece |
| 1998 | 5. | EM in Minsk | medium | after a defeat against Martin Lieberg, victories over Ioannis Savvas, Toomas Proovel, Estonia and Alexei Sardarjan, Ukraine and a defeat against Thomas Zander |
| 1998 | 4th | EM in Gävle | medium | after victories over Park Myung-suk and Thomas Zander and defeats against Alexander Menschtschikow , Russia and Martin Lidberg |
| 1999 | 26th | World Cup in Athens | medium | after losing to Martin Lidberg and David Millien, France |
| 2000 | 9. | Olympic qualification tournament in Faenza | medium | Winner: Alexander Menschtschikow ahead of Fritz Aanes, Norway |
| 2000 | 11. | Olympic qualification tournament in Clermont-Ferrand | medium | behind Hamza Yerlikaya and Sergei Zwir |
| 2000 | 3. | Olympic qualification tournament in Tashkent | medium | behind Fritz Aanes and Igor Bugaj |
| 2000 | 4th | Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Colorado Springs | medium | behind Hamza Yerlikaya, David Martinetti, Switzerland and Marian Szustek, Poland |
| 2000 | 4th | Olympic qualification tournament in Alexandria | medium | behind Mohamad Abd El Fatah , Egypt, Ali Reza Nikkho, Iran and Oleksandr Darahan , Ukraine |
| 2000 | 6th | OS in Sydney | medium | after a defeat against Fritz Aanes and victories over Juri Witt, Uzbekistan and Amor Bach Hamba, Tunisia |
| 2001 | 5. | EM in Istanbul | medium | behind Hamza Yerlikaya, Marcin Letki , Poland, Oleksandr Darahan and Toomas Proovel |
| 2001 | 18th | World Cup in Patras | medium | after defeating Bojan Mitkow, Bulgaria and losing to Matt Lindland , USA |
| 2002 | 8th. | World Cup in Moscow | medium | after victories over Luiz Enrique Mendez Lazo , Cuba, Kai Dittrich, Germany and Attila Bátky , Slovakia and a defeat against Levon Geghamjan , Armenia |
| 2003 | 10. | EM in Belgrade | medium | after losing to Muchran Vakhtangadze , Georgia and defeating Kosta Kostanjevic, Croatia |
| 2003 | 1. | World Cup in Créteil | medium | after victory over Artur Michalkiewicz, Poland, defeat against Balasz Kiss, Hungary and victories over Malik Satya Dev, India, Vyacheslav Makarenko, Belarus, Attila Bátky, Slovakia and Ara Abrahamian, Sweden |
| 2004 | 14th | OS in Athens | medium | after defeating Melonin Noumonvi, France and losing to Alexei Mishin, Russia |
- Explanations
- all competitions in Greco-Roman style
- = S = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, EM = European Championship
- Middle weight, weight class up to 1996 up to 82 kg, from 1997 to 2001 up to 85 kg, since 2002 up to 84 kg body weight
literature
- Trade journal Der Ringer
Web links
- Gotcha Ziziaschwili in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
- Fight of Gotcha Ziziaschwili (red) against Thomas Zander in the final of the European Championship 1994
- Foeldeak Wrestling Database website
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ziziashvili, Gotcha |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Soviet, Georgian and Israeli wrestlers |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 7th November 1973 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Tbilisi |