Esra Kiraz (born 1992) is a Turkish armwrestler. Competing in the senior women's 55 kg category, she has been world and European champion several times in both left and right arm categories.
Early life Esra Kiraz was born into a family of sportspeople in 1992. She went to İmam Hatip High School in Kadıköy, Istanbul. As of 2012–13 she was a student at Kocaeli University.
She grew up helping her father Ömer Kiraz with floor and wall tiling at his construction site, where she carried cement bags.
Sports career Early years At school, Kiraz was not a diligent student. She spent more of her time in the school yard. Her teacher of physical education directed her initially to play basketball. In 2006 at age 14, she was selected by her teachers to be sent to an intra-school arm wrestling tournament as no other candidate was available. She took part, and became champion in both left and right arm attracting the attention of a coach of the Istanbul Youth and Sport Directorate, who saw a future world and European champion in her.<ref name="s1"/
In fact she was interested in martial arts, but pursued a career as an armwrestler. Although in the beginning her mother was against her intention, her father fully supported her. Her father accompanied her at trainings, and contributed financially for her participations at international competitions. On the way to the championship, they always walked shoulder to shoulder.
Club career Kiraz became Turkish champion in the first official national competition. She competed for Üsküdar Belediye Spor, before she joined Haliç Su Sporları ("Golden Horn Water Sports Club"). During her student time, she competed at the 2013 Turkish Interuniversity Armwrestling Tournament held in Bilecik, and became champion on both arms in the 60 kg category.
In 2014, she became Turkish champion in Kemer, Antalya, where for the first time a great number of sportspeople participated. She was so entitled to take part at the European Championship in Baku, Azerbaijan. Kiraz defended her champion title at the 2015 Turkish Championship in Kemer, Antalya. In 2018, she again won the Turkish champion title in both arms of the 50 kg category. She was selected to the national team again following the Turkish Championship held in Eskişehir between 21 and 25 March 2022.
She is nicknamed "Çelik Bilek" ("The Steel Wrist").
International career Kiraz faced her first obstacle when she was about to participate at the 2008 World Championship in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. The Turkish Bodybuilding, Fitness and Armwrestling Federation ("Türkiye Vücut Geliştirme, Fitness ve Bilek Güreşi Federasyonu, TVGFBF") did not cover the travel expenses, and she had no sponsors. Her father stepped in selling his work equipment.
She was part of the national team at the 2012 World Championship held in São Vicente, Brazil. After taking many medals and runners-up titles in the Youth and Junior divisions at the world and European championships, she won her first gold medal in the Senior division at the 2011 European Championship in Antalya, Turkey. At the 2015 European Championship in Sofia, Bulgaria, Kiraz competed in the Senior 50 kg category against 13 opponents including some former world and European champions. On the left arm in the final, she lost to her Russian opponent, and took the silver medal. On the right arm in the final, she defeated the Russian, and became European champion. Kiraz took two silver medals at the 2016 World Championship in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. She became champion in both arms of the 50 kg at the 2017 World Armwrestling Championship held in Budapest, Hungary. At the 2018 World Championship held in Antalua, Turkey, she won the gold medal in the 50 kg left arm category.
Coaching She shared her experience by coaching. Two women, Burcu Korkmaz and Beyzanur Avcı, were coached by Kiraz.
International individual achievements Year Date Location Competition Event(kg) Leftrm Rightarm 200829 Nov – 7 Dec Kelowna 30th World Champ.Girls 50 20097–12 Sep Rosolina 31st World Champ.Girls 50 201031 May – 6 Jun Moscow 20th European Champ.Junior 50 - 4–12 Dec Mesquite 32nd World Champ.Girls 50 5th6th 20119–15 May Antalya 21st European Champ.50 28 Nov – 4 Dec Almaty 33rdWorld Champ.50 4th -20123–20 May Gdańsk 22nd European Champ.50 10–18 Sep São Vicente 34th World Champ.50 5th 4th 20135–12 May Druskininkai 23rd European Champ.50 - 4–7 Sep Gdynia 35th World Champ.Junior21 55 201418–25 May Baku 24th European Champ.50 - 4–21 Sep Vilnius 36th World Champ.50 align=center http://waf-armwrestling.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2014-Official-Results-WAF.pdf|4th 20151–7 Jun Sofia 25th European Champ.50 26 Sep – 4 Oct Kuala Lumpur 37th World Champ.50 5th 201621–29 May Bucharest 26th European Champ.50 1–10 Oct Blagoevgrad 38th World Champ.50 20172–11 Sep Budapest 39th World Champ.50 201825 May – 3 Jun Sofia 28th European Champ.50 12–21 Oct Antalya 40th World Champ.50 4th 201926 Oct – 4 Nov Constanta 41st World Champ.50 202123 Nov-3 Dec Bucharest 42nd World Champi. 55 20227–14 May Bucharest 31st European Champ.55 14–23 Oct Antalya 43rd World Champ. 55
Honours In 2009, she was named the "Armwrestler of the Year" in Turkey.
References