#WrestleAlmaty

11 Reigning Champs Looking to Reclaim Asian Supremacy

Monday, April 12, 2021 - 14:52 By Eric Olanowski

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ALMATY, Kazakhstan (April 12) – Eleven gold medalists from last year’s Asian Championships return to the mat this week in Almaty with hopes of defending their New Delhi continental crowns from a year ago. Greco-Roman welcomes six returning champions, while a trio of women’s wrestlers and a pair of freestyle champs are searching for back-to-back podium-topping finishes.

Iran’s loaded Greco-Roman squad is highlighted by ’20 Asian champions Poya Soulat DAD MARZ (IRI), Amin Yavar KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI) and Mahdi Asgar EBRAHIMI (IRI). They’ll wrestle at 55kg, 72kg and 82kg, respectively.

The other three returning Greco-Roman champs making the trip to Kazakhstan are Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB), Tamerlan SHADUKAYEV (KAZ) and Kumar SUNIL (IND). Tasmuradov, a Rio Olympic bronze medalist, is not only looking to defend his '20 title, but he’s looking for a sixth overall Asian gold medal. He’ll wrestle at 63kg. Last year’s 77kg and 130kg champs, respectively, Shadukayev and Sunil, will compete at their title-winning weights from ’20.

Japan’s women’s team claimed five of the ten golds last year, but after contract tracing removed the defending team champions from the competition, women’s wrestling welcomes the trio of reigning champions Pinki PINKI (IND), Sarita SARITA (IND) and Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ).

Pinki is entered at 55kg. Her biggest threat to repeating is her ’20 finals opponent Dulguun MUNKHBOLD BOLORMAA (MGL). Sarita and Bakbergenova are the lone returning medalists at 59kg and 72kg, respectively.

In freestyle, lightweight stars Kumar RAVI (IND) and Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) are looking to claim a second consecutive continental crown. 

Returning champ Ravi is entered at 57kg – the same weight where he claimed his ’19 world bronze. 

Otoguro will share the 65kg bracket with his ’20 Asian finals opponent Bajrang BAJRANG (IND) and ’19 world silver medalist Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ).

Wrestling begins on Tuesday (April 13-18) at 11:00 (local time) with Greco-Roman action. Women's wrestling takes center stage on Thursday while freestyle action closes out the tournament beginning on Friday.

Returning Champs by Style:
Freestyle
57kg - Kumar RAVI (IND)
65kg - Takuto OTOGURO (JPN)

Greco-Roman
50kg - Poya Soulat DAD MARZ (IRI)
63kg - Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB)
72kg - Amin Yavar KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI)
77kg - Tamerlan SHADUKAYEV (KAZ)
82kg - Mahdi Asgar EBRAHIMI (IRI)
87kg - Kumar SUNIL (IND)

Women’s Wrestling
55kg - Pinki PINKI (IND)
59kg - Sarita SARITA (IND)
72kg - Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ)

#WrestleAlmaty

LIVE BLOG: Asian Olympic Qualifier, Day One

Friday, April 9, 2021 - 04:56 By United World Wrestling Press

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Kyrgyzstan led the way with three wrestlers qualifying for the Tokyo Olympic Games at tge Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Almaty on Friday. China, Iran, and South Korea qualified two each while Japan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan managed to get one spot each.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

2000 hrs: GOLD MEDAL! Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) claims the 130kg gold medal after Minseok KIM (KOR) after the Korean pulls out due to injury

1940 hrs: Mohammadhadi Abdollah SARAVI (IRI) caps off his day with a stunning 10-0 win over Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ) to win the gold medal at 97kg. Second gold of the day for Iran

1920 hrs: GOLD MEDAL! TURSYNOV (KAZ) will capture the gold medal at 87kg after Fei PENG (CHN) is out injured

1900 hrs: GOLD MEDAL! Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) finishes his day with a 7-3 win over Shohei YABIKU (JPN) and takes home the gold medal at 77kg. What a day for the youngster

1845 hrs: GOLD MEDAL! Mohammadreza Abdolhamid GERAEI (IRI) with a big throw and the win! He beats Hansu RYU (KOR) 9-0 to win the 67kg gold medal

 1833 hrs: Aram VARDANYAN (UZB) captures the bronze medal by defeating Azatjan ACHILOV (TKM) 11-2 while ASHU (IND) is the winner on Mat B as he beats Sheroz OCHILOV (TJK) 8-1 at 67kg

1825 hrs: Azatjan ACHILOV (TKM) and Aram VARDANYAN (UZB) are wrestling on Mat A while Sheroz OCHILOV (TJK) is up against ASHU (IND) on Mat B at 67kg

1823 hrs: GOLD MEDAL! Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) with a solid defence to clinch the 60kg gold medal against Sailike WALIHAN (CHN)

1810 hrs: Hanjae CHUNG (KOR) with a reversal in the final 10 seconds to win the bronze medal over GYANENDER (IND) 4-3. Firuz MIRZORAJBNOV (TJK) fights off a tough battle against F Kh M J ALAJMI (KUW) 4-2 to win the bronze at 60kg

1800 hrs: Mohammad F Kh M J ALAJMI (KUW) and Firuz MIRZORAJABOV (TJK) will wrestle for the bronze medal on Mat A while Hanjae CHUNG (KOR) is wrestling GYANENDER (IND) for the second bronze medal at 60kg

1755 hrs: We are five minutes away from the medal bouts in Almaty. Here's the match order

The #WrestleAlmaty medal matches get underway in ten minutes.

Here's the match order.

EVENT PAGE: https://t.co/sRE0ARGXnj pic.twitter.com/IJAX9TT2DK

— United World Wrestling (@wrestling) April 9, 2021

1430 hrs: Here are the 12 Tokyo Olympics qualified wrestlers in Greco-Roman from Almaty

60kg: Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) vs Sailike WALIHAN (CHN)
67kg: Hansu RYU (KOR) vs Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI)
77kg: Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) vs Shohei YABIKU (JPN)
87kg: Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ) vs Fei PENG (CHN)
97kg: Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ) vs Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI)
130kg: Minseok KIM (KOR) vs Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)

1300 hrs: We are underway with the semi-finals in Almaty. First up is the 60kg weight category

1255 hrs: We are a few moments away from the semi-final bouts in Almaty. The winners of those bouts will qualify their countries for the Tokyo Games

1235 hrs: Gurpreet SINGH (IND) stuns 2012 Olympic gold and 2016 Rio Olympic bronze medalist Hyeonwoo KIM (KOR) with a pin. Three four point throws.

1215 hrs: Massive four! Kazakhstan's Nursultan TURSYNOV was trailing 1-3 but comes up with a big four pointer to defeat Masato SUMI (JPN) 5-3 and advance to the semi-final at 87kg

1203 hrs: Aram VARDANYAN (UZB) with a top finish winning his quarter-final against Marlen ASIKEEV (KGZ) 9-1. Stunning finish from the Uzbek wrestler

 

We need to come up with a good nickname for Mohammadreza GERAEI ??!

His brother,???Mohammadali GERAEI ??, is nicknamed, "The Falcon."

— United World Wrestling (@wrestling) April 9, 2021

 

1200 hrs: Asikeev leading Vardanyan 1-0 at the break in the 67kg quarter-final. Big four-point throw from Vardanyan to lead 4-1

1155 hrs: Big bout on Mat A! 2019 World silver at 72kg Aram VARDANYAN (UZB) is wrestling Marlen ASIKEEV (KGZ) who has already effected an upset

1150 hrs: Five-time Asian champion and two-time world champion Hansu RYU (KOR) has already reached the semi-finals at 67kg 

1130 hrs: Top bout on Mat A. Minseok KIM (KOR) holds off Lingzhe MENG (CHN) for a 3-3 win in their Round 1 at 130 kg

1120 hrs: Upset on Mat B! Marlen ASIKEEV (KGZ) defeats World bronze medalist and Asian silver medalist Meiirzhan SHERMAKHANBET (KAZ) 8-2 and that will be the end of the Olympic dream here for the Kazak wrestler. Some good tactical wrestling from Asikeev giving up little to nothing 

1107 hrs: U23 World and Asia champion Mohammadreza Abdolhamid GERAEI (IRI) begins his day with a 52 second technical superiority win against Sheroz OCHILOV (TJK) 

1100 hrs: And we are off! All three mats begin the action with 130kg weight category