Oleksandr “Manifestor” Telyatnik suffered a setback at the EVLS Armwrestling Cup in Prague on October 10, 2026, losing to Peter Čeleš in the final of the men’s 95 kg+ division.
Oleksandr was blasting through opponents with a deep cup based hook without even needing a strap until he met Peter Čeleš.
In the first slip, Peter managed to take Oleksandr’s wrist, forcing him into a foul outside the straps. On the second attempt, Oleksandr appeared to recognize that fighting to hold onto Peter’s hand in that position was a losing battle. He switched to a flop press to force the slip and take the match into the straps, where he would have a better chance of establishing his preferred position.
Once they got into the straps, Peter dominated the hand fight with incredible pronation and backpressure, taking complete control of Oleksandr’s wrist. The pressure was so intense that it lifted Oleksandr off the elbow pad, resulting in another foul and costing him the round.
After their first encounter, Oleksandr seemed more aware of the referee’s “Go” and looked sharper when the two met again in the final. He also kept his head closer to his hand, allowing him to engage his frame more effectively and establish his trademark deep, deep-cup hook. However, despite finding his preferred position, he committed two fouls and ultimately lost the final to Peter Čeleš.
However, I don’t think this match carries much significance heading into Oleksandr’s clash with Todd Hutchings in Budapest. The one factor worth considering is Oleksandr’s confidence. Losing his wrist to Peter and then losing the final despite establishing his dominant position twice could have shaken his belief in his own strengths.
The reason I think it doesn’t affect his match with Todd Hutchings is that Todd is an inside puller, not a toproller. He prefers to go in the same direction as Telyatnik; the only difference is that Todd tends to go sideways, using his incredible side pressure strength, while Oleksandr goes for his deep cup-based hook, backed up by an insane amount of side pressure.
So, the real concern for Oleksandr isn’t his loss to Peter, but his ability to surge through Todd with an aggressive inside attack, catching the veteran off guard and leaving him in a vulnerable position with limited attacking options.
What do you think about this match? Do you think Todd would be too much for Oleksandr to handle or would Oleksandr take Todd’s pronation and surge through the 60 year old monster.
