Sambo wrestler Davydov not entirely happy with victory in Universiade final

Russian wrestler Denis Davydov said that the quality of his struggle in his victorious final of the Universiade could only be rated as a four. The Russian defeated Belarusian Aliaksandr Koksha in the definitive bout in the 68 kg weight category on Sunday. Sambo made its debut in the Kazan Universiade programme.

“I’m a little dissatisfied with the quality of the fight”, Davydov said. “But we must remember that my opponent in the final is a top-class athlete, and obviously a difficult one to beat. At some points I made mistakes, in others I could have expressed myself better, but I still achieved victory. Basically, I won due to greater desire and experience. And my fear that Sambo may no longer be played at the Universiade again, pushed me to give everything to the end”. The athlete who rated “himself a 4 in the final”, said that he had met the Belorussian earlier at the President's Cup in Moscow, Russia. “It was a very hard fight then, and today was the sequel to that fight”, Davydov continued. “And he fought even harder than he had before. Because each competitor studies each other, you know what to expect. It cannot be said that fighting in the international arena is much easier than in the championship of Russia, as it was before. Every athlete adds a national flavor to the fight, and it is very difficult to handle. There was much surprise”, he concluded.