Ukraine shines at 2025 World Games - Three golds in sambo
Ukraine’s Combat Sambo Team Wins Three Golds at World Games 2025 (photo: facebook.com/minmolodsport)
On the sixth day of the 2025 World Games, Ukrainian sambists won three gold medals, achieving the maximum result in all the finals they reached.
Ukrainian performance
Five Ukrainian athletes competed: three men and two women. Yevheniia Pozdnia (up to 65 kg) and Anhelina Lysenko (up to 72 kg) were eliminated in the quarterfinals.
Andriy Kucherenko (up to 71 kg), Vladyslav Rudnev (up to 79 kg), and Petro Davydenko (up to 88 kg) advanced to the finals.
Victories in finals
Kucherenko claimed the first gold, defeating the "neutral" Roland Zinnatov in the decisive match. Early in the fight, the Ukrainian scored a head strike knockout, ending the match 6-1.
Rudnev secured the second victory, facing the "neutral" Ovanes Abgaryan. After a scoreless start, Rudnev launched a series of successful attacks and won 3-0.
The final gold went to Davydenko, a three-time world championship bronze medalist. In the final against the "neutral" Abusupyan Alikhanov, he was behind on points mid-fight but executed an impressive throw to win 4-1.
Ukraine Triumphant at the 2025 World Games: Three Golds in Sambo
Ukraine's Combat Sambo Team at the 2025 World Games (photo: facebook.com/minmolodsport)
Overall medal count
After success in sambo, Ukraine now has 26 medals at the 2025 World Games, including 11 golds.
