#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)

#WrestleTirana

Aitmukhan wins U23 Worlds gold; Iran best team

Monday, October 28, 2024 - 10:29 By Vinay Siwach

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TIRANA, Albania (October 26) -- After becoming Kazakhstan's first world champion in Freestyle, Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) is on a mission to collect age-group world titles. Two months after winning the U20 World Championships gold medal, Aitmukhan won the 97kg gold medal at the U23 World Championships in Tirana, Albania. The gold medal ensured Aitmukhan's record of finishing on the podium of all tournaments he has participated in since 2023.

Aitmukhan wrestled Mahdi HAJI (IRI) in the final and led 2-2 at the break but Haji struggled with conditioning in the second. He fell behind 10-4 at one point and there was no coming back against Aitmukhan.

Iran, however, won the Freestyle team title as it got 158 points. Japan had an incredible run and finished with 102 points for second position and Azerbaijan was third with 100 points.

Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) claimed the 79kg gold medal for Iran after he defeated Paris Olympian Feng LU (CHN), who became the first wrestler from China to reach the final in Freestyle.

Ibragimov repeats

Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (AIN) claimed his second straight world title at the U23 World Championships as he took only 53 seconds to beat Kaiji OGINO (JPN) 14-2.

A takedown opened the scoring for Ibragimov and he added four turns to make it 8-0. However, Ogino managed to wrap his arm around Ibragimov and tossed him for two points. Ibragimov never left control of Ogino and transitioned to a leg lace to finish the match 13-2.

Ogino challenged for the sequence but it was scored correctly on the challenge. The lost challenge of Japan made it 14-2 for Ibragimov.

The 57kg gold medal was captured by 19-year-old CHIRAG (IND) as he defeated Abdymalik KARACHOV (KGZ) 4-3 in the final.

Chirag was called passive in the second period but scored with a beautiful duckunder during the activity. But Karachov scored a stepout with a minute remaining in the match to take a 3-2 lead.

Chirag continued to work for a takedown for the win, got a leg attack, and scored two points. His 4-3 lead was good enough till the end of six minutes to win India's second-ever gold medal in Freestyle at the U23 World Championships.

 At 70kg, Magomed KHANIEV (AZE) held on to a 5-4 lead against Magomed ELTEMIROV (AIN) and win the gold medal.

RESULTS

57kg
GOLD: CHIRAG (IND) df. Abdymalik KARACHOV (KGZ), 4-3

BRONZE: Ali Hossein MOMENI (IRI) df. Maxwell GALLAGHER (USA), 8-0
BRONZE: Iunus IAVBATIROV (AIN) df. Allan ORALBEK (KAZ), 6-2

65kg
GOLD: Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (AIN) df. Kaiji OGINO (JPN), 14-2

BRONZE: Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB) df. Bilol SHARIP UULU (KGZ), 4-1
BRONZE: Abbas EBRAHIM (IRI) df. Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR), 15-4

70kg
GOLD: Magomed KHANIEV (AZE) df. Magomed ELTEMIROV (AIN), 5-4

BRONZE: Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) df. Ali Mahmoud KHORRAMDEL (IRI), 10-0
BRONZE: SUJEET (IND) df. Mustafo AKHMEDOV (TJK), 13-4 

79kg
GOLD: Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) df. Feng LU (CHN), 12-5

BRONZE: Arsen BALAIAN (AIN) df. Hayk PAPIKYAN (ARM), 9-1
BRONZE: Masaki SATO (JPN) df. Owen MARTIN (CAN), 11-0

97kg
GOLD: Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) df. Mahdi HAJI (IRI), 11-6

BRONZE: Uladzislau KAZLOU (AIN) df. Shamil GADZHIALIEV (AIN), 2-2
BRONZE: VICKY (IND) df. Ivan PRYMACHENKO (UKR), 7-2