Arvi Savolainen wrestled for EC bronze in Bucharest.
Arvi Savolainen was left with no medals. Pasi Liesimaa
Finland Arvi Savolainen lost the bronze medal match in the Greco-Roman wrestling 97-kilogram category at the European Championships in Bucharest.
The Finn’s opponent was a familiar Bulgarian, 27 years old Kirill Milov.
Savolainen was down 0–2 in the opening period, and in the second three-minute period, the Bulgarian clearly accelerated the tempo. The corner of Savolainen’s eye opened at Milov’s hard press. Right after, Milov twisted Savolainen’s tie, and the match was practically decided.
In the end, the man from Savo didn’t have any weapons to shake the strong Bulgarian man. Milov took the bronze medal with a back-to-back victory 7–0. Savolainen thus finished as the EC champion.
The same men met each other in the EC final in 2022. At that time, the Bulgarian beat Savolainen with a score of 4–1.
On Tuesday, the 25-year-old Savolainen lost the semifinal to a Russian who competed as an “independent athlete” For Magomed Murtazaliev. Milov advanced to the bronze medal match from the collection rounds.
Olympic places to Paris will not be allocated from the European Championships in Bucharest. However, success affects the ranking list. Savolainen will wrestle for an Olympic place in the spring qualifiers.
Savolainen made it to the bronze medal match at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics through the qualifying rounds. The hardworking man from Lahti lost and finished fifth in the competition.