By Nick Hope BBC Sport in Sheffield |
  Ukraine-born Stadnik followed European silver with gold in Sheffield |
Yana Stadnik and Krazmir Krastinov secured golds for Great Britain as the GB Cup returned to Sheffield after a year off because of funding problems. Twenty nations competed but wrestlers from five more missed the competition because of visa application problems. Ukraine-born Stadnik, the European silver medallist, won gold in the 48kg category despite a hand injury. Krastanov, who emigrated from Bulgaria in 2006, beat Lithuania's Sarlanas Turcyswon to defend his 55kg title. However Leon Rattigan had to settle for bronze at Pond's Forge, although he still has his sights set on success with England at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October.  | It's very important for Great Britain to win medals because there aren't many girls playing the sport |
GB's Mark Cocker collected a silver in the heavyweight 120kg category, which was one of ten medals Great Britain's wrestlers secured, finishing third in the overall team standings, behind winners Canada and second-placed Belarus. "Overall it was a successful day and showed that British Wrestling is moving in the right direction," said GB's performance director Sean Morley. "Our athletes have certainly developed well over the past two years. "If we could achieve a World Championship medal this year [in Russia] then that would be a real step forward and for the first time I think we have a real expectation to achieve that," he added. Stadnik breezed through her opening two matches and, although Belarusian Tatsiana Hurnovicii provided some resistance in the final, Stadnik stormed to victory. "The noise from the home-crowd and the fact they believe in me really helps. I tried to forget about the pain and focus on the wrestling and it worked," she said. "It's very important for Great Britain to win medals because there aren't many girls playing the sport and I hope they see the success and want to take up wrestling." Rattigan, 22, from Bristol, was frustrated by Ivan Yankouskiy of Belarus in his semi-final fight. "In the Commonwealth Youth Championships I won a silver, so if that's anything to go on I may win a medal [in Delhi] but I'm just going to wrestle and see what happens," he told BBC Sport. The GB Cup was cancelled in 2009 after UK Sport cut 68% of wrestling's funding but the organisation and Sheffield Council provided money to enable this year's tournament to go ahead.
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