07. 07. 2017
Košice, Warsaw (July 7-9, 2017) As every year in the period before the top championship, the international Poland Open, Ziolkowski, and Pytlasinski tournament was held in Poland. A total of 412 competitors from 15 countries competed in women's and men's freestyle and in Greco-Roman style, where they also tested their and their opponents' readiness before the upcoming World Championships in Paris. Marek Sciranka traveled with the Slovak national team and our charge Michael Bodnár.
Michael wrestled in the 97 kg weight category on the last day of the tournament, where the draw assigned him the bronze medalist from the European Championships, A. Husthyn, in the first round. The Belarusian is among the world's elite, and after a loss by technical superiority of 0:10, Mišo had to wait for the repechage as his opponent advanced to the final. And so it was, Husthyn advanced to the final without any problems and without losing a point. Mišo had the repechage and a fight for bronze against the Kazakh A. Bakdualet. After a balanced match, his opponent managed to get behind him after a takedown in the last minute, which Mišo was subsequently unable to equalize, and after a 2:4 loss, he finished in fifth place.
Michael briefly evaluated his performance: "The tournament was very well attended, with many high-quality matches. Even after the losses, I tried to take mainly the positives from this tournament so that I know what needs to be worked on." ah