It’s no secret that ZHOU Feng of China was the underdog coming into her Matteo Pellicone finals against reigning world champion Tamyra MENSAH of United States of America. The 2018 Asian games gold medallist Feng fell behind by eight points against the 2019 UWW Women wrestler of the year in the Rome Ranking Series finals. But still she remained composed. In the comeback of lifetime, Zhou shocked Mensah to erase an 8-0 second-period deficit to win the 68kg gold medal. Zhou’s shocking win stopped Mensah, the 2019 Women’s Wrestler of the Year, from winning her fourth consecutive Ranking Series title.
“For the first period, I didn’t feel prepared or ready, but I didn’t give up,” said Zhou. At that point of the match, Zhou surrendered three takedowns and a trapped arm gut and trailed 8-0. “I was thinking the match is not finished and I didn’t give up.” Zhou told UWW Press team after her victory.
Zhou, a two-time world medalist, kickstarted her unexpected comeback with two points from a defensive stop, which ended in a takedown. She tacked on six additional points from three gut wrenches and closed out the match on top, 8-8.
After her remarkable come-from-behind win, Zhou said, “I’m happy and excited. From this competition, most of (these wrestlers) will participate in the Olympic Games, so to get the gold medal makes me very happy.”
