Nenad Žugaj

Nenad Žugaj

Nenad Žugaj (born April 19, 1983 in Zagreb ) is a Croatian wrestler . He won at the World Cup , a 2010 bronze medal in the middleweight division .

Career

Nenad Žugaj and his twin brother Neven Žugaj started wrestling at the age of 10 in elementary school in Zagreb. Nenad then attended a sports high school and then studied sports. He completed this course in 2007. He then joined the Croatian army and now has the rank of lieutenant. He started wrestling in the club at Hravatski Dragovoljak Zagreb , but now belongs to the Lika Zagreb club , where he is trained by Vladimir Sekulic. He is fully focused on the Greco-Roman style. In the 2011/2012 season he also wrestled in the German Bundesliga for the first time. He started for ASV Nendingen and won all the fights he played. Among other things, he defeated the Polish Vice World Champion of 2011 Damian Janikowski ( TuS Adelhausen ) and the multiple German champion Jan Fischer ( KSV Köllerbach ) each on points.

Nenad Žugaj began his international wrestling career by participating in the European Junior Championships for Cadets in Bratislava in 2000 . He came 4th in the weight class up to 69 kg. However, this placement should remain his best in the next few years, in which he also regularly competed in the international championships, initially in the junior division and then also in the senior division. As a better result, a 14th place at the European Championship 2006 in Moscow , where he u. a. defeated the Swede Jim Eric Pettersson. In 2008 he succeeded in two Olympic qualification tournaments (in Rome and in Novi Sad ), in which he finished 5th in each case, not to qualify for the Olympic Games in Beijing . A consolation for him was the 3rd place at the military world championship 2008, which he took behind Artur Michalkiewicz , Poland and Andrei Baranowski, Belarus .

In 2009 Nenad Žugaj saw a noticeable increase in shape. He was the winner of the Mediterranean Games in Pescara , defeating the 2008 Olympic champion Andrea Minguzzi from Italy in the middleweight finals . At the 2009 World Cup in Herning / Denmark , Nenad Žugaj won over Artur Schahinjan from Armenia and Antti Hakkala from Finland . After a defeat against Habibollah Akhlagi from Iran he was eliminated and came in 9th place.

In 2010 things continued to improve. He defeated Rune Nilsson from Denmark at the European Middleweight Championships in Baku , then lost to reigning world champion Nazmi Avluca from Turkey on points, defeated Schalwa Gabadadze from Azerbaijan and Vincenzo Scibilia from Italy, but lost in the fight for a bronze medal against Melonin Noumonvi from France just on points. In the final statement he got an excellent 5th place. The World Cup in Moscow was even more successful for Nenad Žugaj . He defeated there Zsolt Dajka from Hungary , Jachangir Mumina, Uzbekistan and Laimutis Adomatis from Lithuania on points. In the semifinals he lost to Pablo Shorey Hernandez from Cuba , but was able to return the favor in the fight for a bronze medal against Nazmi Avluca for the defeat at the European championship and thus won this medal.

In 2011 Nenad Žugaj was not as successful at the international championships as in 2010. First, he lost his first fight at the European Championships in Dortmund against Theodoros Tounousidis from Greece (0: 2 rounds, 1: 2 points) and was eliminated because Tounousidis did not reach the final battle. He only came in 16th place. At the 2011 World Championships in Istanbul , he started with a training deficit after a newly healed broken rib. Seen in this way, his 7th place in this championship, which he achieved with victories over Thomas Suppiger, Switzerland , Melonin Noumonvi and Lee Se-yeol, South Korea , losing to Alim Selimow , Belarus and Hassan Saman Tahmasebi , Azerbaijan, is a success.

Nenad Žugaj is also a multiple Croatian middleweight champion.

International success

year	space	competition	Weight class	Results
2000	4th	Junior European Championship (Cadets) in Bratislava	up to 69 kg	behind Dimitri Petrovichev, Russia , Otari Pevadze, Georgia and Dimitri Geppa, Ukraine
2001	24.	Junior World Championships in Tashkent	Light
2002	13.	Junior European Championship in Subotica	Welter	Winner: Denis Forow , Russia ahead of Akos Konica, Yugoslavia
2003	21st	Junior World Championships in Istanbul	Welter	after losing to Edgaras Rapsiukevicius, Lithuania and defeating Andreas Schulze, Germany
2004	20th	EM in Haparanda	medium	after losing to Sandor Istvan Bardosi , Hungary and Sergei Rutenko, Ukraine
2005	21st	EM in Varna	medium	after defeats against Nikola Stojanow, Bulgaria and Laimutis Adomaitis , Lithuania
2005	9.	Mediterranean Games in Almería	medium	Winner: Mohamed Mohamed, Egypt ahead of Serkan Özken, Turkey
2005	39.	World Cup in Budapest	medium	after defeats against Alim Selimow , Belarus and Janarbek Kenejew, Kyrgyzstan
2006	14th	EM in Moscow	medium	after winning points over Jim Eric Pettersson, Sweden and losing points to Vyacheslav Makarenko, Belarus
2006	21st	World Cup in Guangzhou	medium	after losing to Wang Gang, China
2007	23.	EM in Sofia	medium	after a loss to Vyacheslav Makarenko
2007	17th	German Grand Prix in Dortmund	medium	Winner: Artur Michalkiewicz , Poland, ahead of Rene Zimmermann, Germany
2007	27.	World Cup in Baku	medium	after defeating Mohamed Rahmani, Tunisia and losing to Hassan Saman Tahmasebi , Iran
2008	27.	EM in Tampere	medium	after a point defeat against Andrea Minguzzi , Italy
2008	5.	Olympic qualification tournament in Rome	medium	Winner: Melonin Noumonvi , France ahead of Andrei Samochin, Kazakhstan
2008	5.	Olympic qualification tournament in Novi Sad	medium	Winner: Schalwa Gabadadze , Azerbaijan ahead of Attila Bátky , Slovakia
2008	3.	Military World Cup	medium	behind Artur Michalkiewicz and Andrei Balanowski, Belarus
2009	1.	Mediterranean Games in Pescara	medium	before Andrea Minguzzi, Melonin Noumonvi and Akif Canbas, Turkey
2009	9.	World Cup in Herning / Denmark	medium	after victories over Artur Schahinjan, Armenia and Antti Hakkala, Finland and defeat against Habibollah Akhlagi , Iran
2010	3.	Golden Grand Prix in Szombathely	medium	behind Alexei Mishin , Russia and Melonin Noumonvi
2010	10.	Golden Grand Prix in Baku	medium	Winner: Taleb Nariman Nematpour , Iran ahead of Shalva Gabadadze
2010	5.	EM in Baku	medium	after victory over Rune Nilsson, Denmark , defeat against Nazmi Avluca , Turkey, victories over Schalwa Gabadadse and Vincenzo Scibilia, Italy and defeat against Melonin Noumonvi
2010	3.	World Cup in Moscow	medium	after victories over Zsolt Dajka, Hungary, Jachangir Miminow, Uzbekistan and Laimutis Adomaitis, Lithuania, a defeat against Pablo Shorey Hernandez , Cuba and a victory over Nazmi Avluca
2011	2.	"Vehbe-Emre" Memorial in Istanbul	medium	behind Hassan Saman Tahmasebi, Azerbaijan, in front of Wassyl Ratschyba , Ukraine, and Chadorchi Davod Abenizadeh, Iran
2011	1.	Golden Grand Prix in Szombathely	medium	before Amer Hrustanovic, Austria , Ahmet Yildirim, Turkey and Norikatsu Saikawa, Japan
2011	16.	EM in Dortmund	medium	after losing to Theodoros Tounousidis , Greece
2011	1.	Mediterranean Championships in Budva	medium	before Vincenzo Scibilia, Alain Hassli, France and Kansu Ildem, Turkey
2011	5.	Golden Grand Prix in Baku	medium	behind Habibollah Akhlagi, Hassan Saman Tahmasebi, Davood Aliashraf, Iran and Ahmet Yildirim
2011	7th	World Cup in Istanbul	medium	after victories over Thomas Suppiger, Switzerland , Melonin Noumonvi and Lee Se-yeol, South Korea and defeats against Alim Selimow , Belarus and Hassan Saman Tahmasebi

Explanations

• all competitions in Greco-Roman style
• WM = World Championship, EM = European Championship
• Weight classes: up to 2002: lightweight up to 69 kg, welter weight up to 76 kg body weight; since 2003: welter weight up to 74 kg, middle weight, up to 84 kg body weight

swell

• Trade journal Der Ringer
• Website "Földeak Wrestling Database"

Web links

• Official website