Russia won four of the sport sambo titles on offer at the Luzhniki Small Sports Arena, claiming top honours in two of the men’s and two of the women’s weight categories.

Vialetta Saypina beat Moldova’s Natalia Budeanu in the women’s 68 kilograms final before Anna Zhizhina overcame Turkmenistan’s Lale Nuryyeva in the battle to take first place in the women’s 80kg.

The 68kg bronze medals went the way of Belarus’ Anzhela Zhilinskaya and France’s Elois Segard, while Belarus’ Maryia Kandratsyeva and Kazakhstan’s Arailym Shegenova made up the third step of the 80kg podium.

Russia’s triumphs in men’s competition came courtesy of Andrey Perepelyuk at 82kg and Eduard Kurginian at 100kg, with Kyrgyzstan’s Zhamalbek Asylbek and Georgia’s Daviti Loriashvili having to settle for the respective silver medals.

Armenia’s Davit Grigoryan and Belarus’ Aliaksandr Kruglik were the 82kg bronze medallists, while France’s Antony Segard and Moldova’s Denis Tachii were the third-place finishers at 100kg.

Belarus clinched two sport sambo gold medals through Katsiaryna Prakapenka in the women’s 60kg and Uladzislau Sayapin in the men’s 68kg.

Prakapenka proved too strong for Romania’s Daniela Poroineanu in the final of a category that saw Russia’s Arina Pchelintseva and Kazakhstan’s Azhar Kenbeil crowned the bronze medallists.

Sayapin, meanwhile, downed Kyrgyzstan’s Artur Te as Russia’s Denis Korolev and Kazakhstan’s Nurbol Serikov finished third.

The two other sport sambo gold medals were won by Turkmenistan’s Gulbadam Babamuratova, in the women’s 52kg, and Armenia’s Tigran Kirakosyan, in the men’s 57kg.

Both Babamuratova and Kirakosyan beat Russians to gold, with the former defeating Russia’s Anna Kharitonova and the latter overcoming Vladimir Gladkih.

The women’s 52kg bronze medals were won by Belarus’ Kseniya Danilovich and Kazakhstan’s Gulnur Erbolova, while Turkmenistan’s Kerim Allanurov and Mongolia’s Munkhbat Gankhuyag shared third position in the men’s 57kg.

Today's combat sambo competition was dominated by Russia with three of the four finals being won by the nation. 

Alexander Nesterov beat Turkmenistan’s Ahmet Tanriberdiyev to the 57kg crown prior to Imran Dzhavadov’s victory over the United States’ Patrick Sabatini at 68kg and Alexey Ivanov’s triumph at the expense of Turkmenistan’s Jalanbek Madaminov at 82kg.

The sole bronze medallist at 57kg was Uzbekistan’s Rakhmatjon Akhmedov, while the same honour was bestowed upon Turkmenistan’s Abdulla Babayev and Bulgaria’s Delian Iliev at 68kg, and Belarus’ Evgeniy Aleksievich and Kazakhstan’s Mirzhan Baktubaev at 82kg.

Russia had to be content with silver in the 100kg category, however, after Alexander Dankov lost to Turkmenistan’s Annagurbanov in the final. 

Morocco’s Reda Karrouti and Ukraine’s Roman Trokhymchuk completed the medallists.

The Sambo World Cup is also referred to as the A Kharlampiev Memorial World Cup in honour of Anatoly A. Kharlampiev, one of the founding fathers of the sport. 

Action in Moscow is due to continue tomorrow.