Dmitry Eliseev: “In the final minute, I felt I could pull off the move”

Russian sambist Dmitry Eliseev won gold at the World SAMBO Cup in Dushanbe in the under 98 kg Sport SAMBO category. In the final, he defeated fellow countryman Denis Fedotov 6:4. Speaking to the FIAS website, he explained how he fell behind mid-bout but turned things around in the final minute, described the role of his corner man Sergey Kiryukhin, and shared his thoughts on the tournament's level of competition.

– Dmitry, that final was a real battle – a 6:4 win. You were behind at one point but managed to pull it back. How did you do it?

– I made a mistake early on. Then, in the final minute, I felt I could pull off the move, and I went for it pretty boldly. It ended up scoring 2 points instead of 4. I pinned my opponent on the ground and secured a hold – that's what won me the bout.

– Sergey Kiryukhin was in your corner. Is he your coach?

– No, not my coach. He's a multiple-time world champion and a friend of mine. We competed together, came up through the national team together, and we've been travelling to tournaments together for years now. Sergey is a legend of St. Petersburg SAMBO, so of course he knows everything about my techniques.

– Had you faced this opponent before?

– Yes, I lost to him at the national championships, so this was payback. We're even now, one-one.

– You had three bouts throughout the tournament. Which was the toughest?

– They were all equally tough – none of them was easy. I guess I need to train harder, and then winning will come easier. My first bout was against an athlete from Tajikistan, the second against an athlete from Kyrgyzstan, and the last one was Russia against Russia. My opponents were all pretty evenly matched with me.

– You've competed in previous World Cups. How has the level of competition changed?

– The level is strong – a lot of strong countries and athletes showed up. A few names from the top national teams were missing, but overall, this tournament is very close in level to the European and World Championships.