Asian Championships 2026 Entries

Friday, March 20, 2026 - 10:33 By United World Wrestling Press

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (March 20) -- The Asian Championships will return to Bishkek, a city that hosted the competition in 2018 and 2024. Close to 350 wrestlers are competing for the 30 gold medals on offer.

The event, which will follow a two-day format for the first time, will begin April 6 with Greco-Roman, followed by Women's Wrestling and then Freestyle.

Click here for the Asian Championships 2026 Wrestling Schedule

Note: The entries are subject to change 72 hours before the draws of the respective styles. For latest entries, refer to Asian Championships 2026.

Freestyle

57kg
Liguo CAO (CHN)
ANKUSH (IND)
Milad VALIZADEH (IRI)
Husein ALBEHADILALBORS (IRQ)
Fuga SASAKI (JPN)
Merey BAZARBAYEV (KAZ)
Abdymalik KARACHOV (KGZ)
Sunggwon KIM (KOR)
Munkh Erdene BATKHUYAG (MGL)
Gayan MUDIYANSELAGE (SRI)
Aiaal BELOLYUBSKII (TJK)
Nodirbek JUMANAZAROV (UZB)
Wessem ALYAMANI (YEM)

61kg
Wanhao ZOU (CHN)
AMAN (IND)
Ahmad JAVAN (IRI)
Toshihiro HASEGAWA (JPN)
Assyl AITAKYN (KAZ)
Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ)
Changsu KIM (KOR)
Batnasan GANKHULEG (MGL)
Kwang Myong KIM (PRK)
Azatberdi ASHYRGULYYEV (TKM)
Gulomjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)

65kg
Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN)
Xuexian OU (CHN)
SUJEET (IND)
Peyman NEMATI (IRI)
Takara SUDA (JPN)
Adi SERIKULY (KAZ)
Rustamzhan KAKHAROV (KGZ)
Junsik YUN (KOR)
Zeneemeder BYAMBASUREN (MGL)
Divoshan FERNANDO (SRI)
Abdulmazhid KUDIEV (TJK)
Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB)

70kg
Shuang CHEN (CHN)
ABHIMANYOU (IND)
Sina KHALILI (IRI)
Taishi NARIKUNI (JPN)
Sanzhar DOSZHANOV (KAZ)
Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ)
Seonho YOO (KOR)
Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL)
Viktor RASSADIN (TJK)
Shakhzodbek YARASHEV (UZB)

74kg
Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN)
BATUQINGGELE (CHN)
JAIDEEP (IND)
Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI)
Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN)
Yernur NURGAZY (KAZ)
Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ)
Daegil HAN (KOR)
Sumiyabazar ZANDANBUD (MGL)
Suresh CHUNARA (NEP)
Anil PELI GEDARAA (SRI)
Mustafo AKHMEDOV (TJK)
Vatan ANNAORAZOV (TKM)
Begijon KULDASHEV (UZB)
Abdulkareem AL RABEDHI (YEM)

79kg
Feng LU (CHN)
Sandeep Singh MANN (IND)
Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI)
Erzo ISAKOV (JOR)
Keyvan GHAREHDAGHI (JPN)
Daulet YERGESH (KAZ)
Adilet MARATBAEV (KGZ)
Sungho LEE (KOR)
Suldkhuu OLONBAYAR (MGL)
Somonjon IKROMOV (TJK)
Soltan BEGENJOV (TKM)
Razambek JAMALOV (UZB)

86kg
Khidir SAIPUDINOV (BRN)
Suhe GANG (CHN)
Mukul DAHIYA (IND)
Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI)
Yudai TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ)
Malik SHAVAEV (KGZ)
Gyeongyeon LEE (KOR)
Byambadorj BAT ERDENE (MGL)
Song Gang JI (PRK)
Weng CHOW (SGP)
Madushanka MUDIYANSELAGE (SRI)
Bakhodur KODIROV (TJK)
Alp Arslan BEGENJOV (TKM)
Bobur ISLOMOV (UZB)

92kg
Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN)
Hade AYIDUSI (CHN)
Punit KUMAR (IND)
Mobin AZIMI (IRI)
Takashi ISHIGURO (JPN)
Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ)
Iakov CHAPLIN (KGZ)
Seohyun CHA (KOR)
Bat Erdene BYAMBASUREN (MGL)
Ismail KARTOEV (TJK)
Dovletgeldi MYRADOV (TKM)
Sadirdin DAMINJONOV (UZB)

97kg
Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN)
Awusayiman HABILA (CHN)
VICKY (IND)
Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI)
Arash YOSHIDA (JPN)
Bekzat URKIMBAY (KAZ)
Kanybek ABDULKHAIROV (KGZ)
Juhwan SEO (KOR)
Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL)
Triloki YADAV (NEP)
Rahmonjon MAHMADBEKOV (TJK)
Shatlyk HEMELYAYEV (TKM)
Sherzod POYONOV (UZB)

125kg
Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN)
BUHEEERDUN (CHN)
DINESH (IND)
Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI)
Taiki YAMAMOTO (JPN)
Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ)
Arslanbek TURDUBEKOV (KGZ)
Gwanuk KIM (KOR)
Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL)
Zyyamuhammet SAPAROV (TKM)
Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB)

Yui SUSAKI (JPN) will be wrestling at 50kg for the Asian Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Ziqi FENG (CHN)
NEELAM (IND)
Yui SUSAKI (JPN)
Maral TANGIRBERGENOVA (KAZ)
Miran CHEON (KOR)
Munkhnar BYAMBASUREN (MGL)
Aliah Rose GAVALEZ (PHI)
Son Hyang KIM (PRK)
Nipuni HEWA PEDIGE (SRI)
Yi Hui LIN (TPE)
Aktenge KEUNIMJAEVA (UZB)
Ngoc Linh DO (VIE)

53kg
Jin ZHANG (CHN)
MEENAKSHI (IND)
Moe KIYOOKA (JPN)
Zeinep BAYANOVA (KAZ)
Aziza KELDIBEKOVA (KGZ)
Seoyoung PARK (KOR)
Tsovoo GANKHUYAG (MGL)
Pabasara GAMAGE (SRI)
Vatansulton SHAKARSHOEVA (TJK)
Ya Hsin CHEN (TPE)
Sakibjamal ESBOSYNOVA (UZB)
Thi My Linh NGUYEN (VIE)

55kg
Yuxuan LI (CHN)
Hansika LAMBA (IND)
Sowaka UCHIDA (JPN)
Shugyla OMIRBEK (KAZ)
Aruuke KADYRBEK KYZY (KGZ)
Jeongbin OH (KOR)
Ariunzaya ODONCHIMEG (MGL)
Dilshoda MATNAZAROVA (UZB)

57kg
Kexin HONG (CHN)
MANISHA (IND)
Sara NATAMI (JPN)
Nilufar RAIMOVA (KAZ)
Tancholpon KYBALBEKOVA (KGZ)
Youngjin KWON (KOR)
Khulan BATKHUYAG (MGL)
Danielle LIM (SGP)
Nethmi PORUTHOTAGE (SRI)
Pei Ying LIAO (TPE)
Laylokhon SOBIROVA (UZB)
Thi My Trang NGUYEN (VIE)

59kg
Mengyu XIE (CHN)
NEHA (IND)
Sena NAGAMOTO (JPN)
Viktoriia KHUSAINOVA (KAZ)
Sezim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
Hyebin AHN (KOR)
Bolortuya KHURELKHUU (MGL)
Ulmeken ESENBAEVA (UZB)

62kg
Qi ZHANG (CHN)
MANSI (IND)
Balqis TAAIBIN (JOR)
Nonoka OZAKI (JPN)
Tynys DUBEK (KAZ)
Dilnaz SAZANOVA (KGZ)
Subeen JO (KOR)
Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL)
Hyon Gyong MUN (PRK)
Hsin Ping PAI (TPE)
Nigina SABIROVA (UZB)

65kg
LILI (CHN)
MONIKA (IND)
Tala ABUKHEIT (JOR)
Nana IKEHATA (JPN)
Aizhan SUIDUOVA (KAZ)
Gulnura TASHTANBEKOVA (KGZ)
Hanbit LEE (KOR)
Narkhajid NYAMSUREN (MGL)
Firuza ESENBAEVA (UZB)

68kg
Zelu LI (CHN)
Mansi LATHER (IND)
Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN)
Yelena SHALYGINA (KAZ)
Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
Hyeonyeong PARK (KOR)
Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (MGL)
Sheng Fang CAI (TPE)
Svetlana OKNAZAROVA (UZB)
Thi Linh DANG (VIE)

72kg
Jia LONG (CHN)
HARSHITA (IND)
Mahiro YOSHITAKE (JPN)
Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ)
Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ)
Soobin KIM (KOR)
Bolortungalag ZORIGT (MGL)
Sevinchoy POLVONOVA (UZB)

76kg
Wenji LI (CHN)
KAJAL (IND)
Yasuha MATSUYUKI (JPN)
Gulmaral YERKEBAYEVA (KAZ)
Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
Eunju HWANG (KOR)
Davaanasan ENKH AMAR (MGL)
Hui Tsz CHANG (TPE)
Ozoda ZARIPBOEVA (UZB)

World and Olympic champion Hadi SARAVI (IRI). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Huoying SHI (CHN)
LALIT (IND)
Hajiali HOSSEINVAND (IRI)
Sajjad ALBIDHAN (IRQ)
Ahmad AHMAD (JOR)
Mizuki ARAKI (JPN)
Nurzat KABDYRAKHIMOV (KAZ)
Ulan MURATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Jonghyeon KIM (KOR)
Davaabandi MUNKH ERDENE (MGL)
Alexander CUEVAS (SGP)
Rasul JORAYEV (TKM)
Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB)

60kg
Haodong TAN (CHN)
SAHIL (IND)
Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI)
Yu SHIOTANI (JPN)
Yerbol KAMALIYEV (KAZ)
Kurmanbek ZHAPAROV (KGZ)
Minwoo KIM (KOR)
Se Ung RI (PRK)
Yong Xiang SU (TPE)
Alisher GANIEV (UZB)

63kg
Huangsheng WU (CHN)
Sunny KUMAR (IND)
Erfan JARKANI (IRI)
Kaisei TANABE (JPN)
Saifulla KURMAN (KAZ)
Aftandil TAALAIBEK UULU (KGZ)
Hyunwoong CHOI (KOR)
Rayan HAWSAWI (KSA)
Aref MOHAMMADI (QAT)
Azatjan ACHILOV (TKM)
Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB)

67kg
Ji LENG (CHN)
sachin SAHRAWAT (IND)
Ahmadreza MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI)
Kensuke SHIMIZU (JPN)
Bagdat SABAZ (KAZ)
Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ)
Hanjae CHUNG (KOR)
Munthir JANDU (KSA)
Man Gwang SON (PRK)
Sunat ABDULLOEV (TJK)
Abdumalik AMINOV (UZB)

72kg
Dongyu LI (CHN)
ANIL (IND)
Javad REZAEI (IRI)
Taishi NARIKUNI (JPN)
Almatbek AMANBEK (KAZ)
Amantur ISMAILOV (KGZ)
Dohun LIM (KOR)
Rafeeq ELNATSHEH (QAT)
Loiqi AMIRKHONZODA (TJK)
Didar ORAZBERDIYEV (TKM)
Shakhzod KUCHKOROV (UZB)

77kg
Halishan BAHEJIANG (CHN)
AMAN (IND)
Ali OSKOU (IRI)
Amro SADEH (JOR)
Isami HORIKITA (JPN)
Kaharman KISSYMETOV (KAZ)
Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ)
Yeonghun NOH (KOR)
Saoud ALMEFQAEY (QAT)
Alisher RUZIMADOV (TJK)
Lai YAO (TPE)
Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB)

82kg
Rui LIU (CHN)
PRINCE (IND)
Amin HOSSEINI (IRI)
Tatsuya FUJII (JPN)
Ibragim MAGOMADOV (KAZ)
Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Bada LEE (KOR)
Shahin BADAGHIMOFRAD (QAT)
Kakabay KAKABAYEV (TKM)
Aram VARDANYAN (UZB)

87kg
Shichang ZHENG (CHN)
Sunil KUMAR (IND)
Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI)
Yahiro MOTOHASHI (JPN)
Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ)
Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ)
Seunghwan LEE (KOR)
Muhammad SULTONZODA (TJK)
Dovletmyrat BAYRAMOV (TKM)
Mukhammadkodir RASULOV (UZB)

97kg
Zegang WANG (CHN)
NITESH (IND)
Hadi SARAVI (IRI)
Yuri NAKAZATO (JPN)
Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ)
Melis AITBEKOV (KGZ)
Minho LEE (KOR)
Ibrahim FALLATAH (KSA)
Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL)
Amanberdi AGAMAMMEDOV (TKM)
Abdikodir JALILOV (UZB)

130kg
Wenhao JIANG (CHN)
Joginder RATHEE (IND)
Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI)
Yuta NARA (JPN)
Jokhar UZAROV (KAZ)
Roman KIM (KGZ)
Minseok KIM (KOR)
Omer AMIROGLU (KSA)
Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL)
Eduard BABENOSHEV (TJK)
Rafael TSITSUASHVILI (UZB)

#JapanWrestling

Olympic Champs Fumita, Higuchi Emerge Unscathed on Return Since Paris 2024

Thursday, May 21, 2026 - 15:09 By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (May 21) -- They both were returning to the mat for the first time since winning gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and both moved up a weight class, for now, with the next Olympic qualifiers still far off.

And each was watched and cheered on for the first time by their most precious fan.

Kenichiro FUMITA and Rei HIGUCHI shook off the rust and emerged unscathed on Thursday to advance to their respective finals at the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships at Tokyo's Komazawa Gym.

Fumita, the Paris gold medalist at Greco 60kg, handily won two matches to secure a spot in the 63kg final on Friday, where he will face 2025 world team member Manato NAKAMURA in a bid for his first Meiji Cup title since 2022 and fifth overall.

Higuchi, who struck gold in Paris at freestyle 57kg, needed three wins to set up a showdown in the 61kg final with defending champion and former world bronze medalist Toshihiro HASEGAWA.

Arash YOSHIDA, coming off winning a second straight freestyle 97kg gold at the Asian Championships, also advanced to the finals on the opening day of the four-day Meiji Cup, which is serving as the second of two domestic qualifiers for both this year's World Championships and, in the Olympic weight classes, the Asian Games that will be hosted by Japan.

Winners from the first qualifier, the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships held in December, can clinch a spot with a victory at the Meiji Cup; if the two champions are different, a playoff will be held at the end of the day.

Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) hits a four-point throw in his round one bout. (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp / Ikuo Higuchi)

Fumita, the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist and two-time world champion, had planned to return to competition at the Emperor's Cup, but was forced to withdraw due to injury.

As for the move up to 63kg, he said, "Looking at the competitions and my own personal objectives, and my current physical ability, I decided to enter at 63kg. I've really on been on edge up to this point leading up to the competition. It's quite a few years since I've had a match at Komazawa. But I feel great, and was able to enjoy myself."

The return from a long layoff can be as testing mentally as it is physically, and Fumita used the experiences of others to guide him through it.

"I thought I would feel more pressure," said Fumita, who advanced to the final with a 7-1 victory over Kensho NATAMI in the semifinals. "After Paris, I watched [fellow gold medalists] Kotaro [KIYOOKA] and Nao [KUSAKA] up close before their [comeback] matches, and both said they were very nervous.

"Having seen that, it gave me an image of what to expect. I stayed calm and, staying aware of what was going on around me, I felt I was able to control the matches."

Helping calm his nerves was the lilty voice of a child clearly heard amid the sparse crowd on the opening day as she yelled, "Papa, ganbatte (fight hard)!" For the first time, the oldest of his two
daughters, now 3, was old enough to see him compete and understand what he was doing.

Fumita related the emotions he went through seeing fellow Nippon Sport Science University alumnus Shota TANOKURA being inspired by his son loudly yelling that set phrase as he ended his career at the Meiji Cup two years ago.

"I was very moved seeing how he responded," Fumita said. "To continue my career and win with my children with me is really a special feeling. Here, I am wholeheartedly determined to perform for them."

Fumita said there are still aspects of his job about which his daughter is blissfully oblivious.

"Sometimes I take [my daughter] to practice. For her, it is really a fun place. So she thinks I go to a fun place every day and I'm just someone who plays all the time," he said with a laugh.

Fumita already has a memento from his first competition in over two years -- a gash over his left eye that was treated with tape wrapped around his head.

"It happens a lot in practice and in matches," Fumita said. "I have many photos of me in the past with my head taped. It gave me a feeling of going back to my roots, which I thought was great."

Higuchi, who like Fumita is 30, an alumnus of NSSU and is sponsored by children's clothing giant Miki House, was wrestling for the first time in front of his 2-year-old daughter (and like Fumita, he has a second infant daughter).

"She kind of knows what's going on," said Higuchi, who defeated world U23 bronze medalist Akito MUKAIDA 12-1 in the semifinals.

Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) reached the 61kg final at the Meiji Cup. (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp / Ikuo Higuchi)

For Higuchi, a battle with weight loss proved more daunting than any opponent he faced on the mat on Friday. He normally should have had no trouble making weight at 61kg, but said he didn't manage it correctly.

"It was my first competition in awhile, and my preparation did not go so well," he said. "There are parts that I have to work on. All went well in practice, but I need to do better at conditioning and cutting weight or I won't be able to win out in December [at the Emperor's Cup]."

A notoriously slow starter, Higuchi said he gradually began to find his groove, culminating in his one-sided win over Mukaida.

"My first match, my movement was not very good," he said. "The water loss as a I cut weight didn't go so well either, so the first and second matches were touch and go.

"During the second match, I was able to get in gear. In the third match in the semifinals, my opponent was third at the world U23, which normally should have been a close match. But I was able to put on a fairly good performance, which I give a grade of 80 [out of 100]."

Higuchi is looking forward to mixing it up with another high-level opponent, one he knows quite well. Hasegawa is yet another NSSU alumnus who still trains at the facility.

"From an emotional viewpoint, I was really excited about facing tough opponents," Higuchi said. "Tomorrow, Hasegawa is world-class wrestler. I don't know if I will win or lose, but I'm really happy to be able to have such a showdown on this big stage."

Asian champion Arash YOSHIDA (JPN) returned to the final of Meiji Cup at 97kg. (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp / Ikuo Higuchi)

At 97kg, defending champion Yoshida stormed to a pair of 10-0 victories, defeating Satoshi MIURA, a 2025 world U23 bronze medalist at 86kg, in the semifinals to advance to the final against teenager Noah LEIBOWITZ.

The final will be a repeat of the gold-medal match at the Emperor's Cup, which Yoshida won 11-0.

Leibowitz is now a freshman at Nihon University, from which Yoshida just graduated in March. Since then, he began living on his own for the first time.

"I have to prepare my own meals," Yoshida said on how his life has changed. "Instead of always being with a group, I am living a life on my own. My father brings over dinner every Friday, but other than that, I prepare it myself. My specialty is pork kimchi; actually that's all I can make."

Meanwhile, Taishi NARIKUNI, who attempted a rare freestyle-Greco double at the Asian Championships in Bishkek, advanced to the freestyle 70kg final, where he will face collegiate champion Yuma TOMIYAMA.

In women's action, world U20 bronze medalist Shirin TAKEMOTO pulled an upset of sorts at 72kg, knocking off Asian silver medalist Mahiro YOSHITAKE 11-6 in the semifinals. She will face Chisato YOSHIDA in the final.

At 65kg, Asian silver medalist Nana IKEHATA scored a takedown and stepout in the final 1:10 to edge Misuzu ENAMOTO 4-3 and set up a gold-medal clash with Hiyori MOTOKI, the younger sister of Paris Olympic champion Sakura MOTOKI.

Asian Championships 2026 Entries

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Olympic Champs Fumita, Higuchi Emerge Unscathed on Return Since Paris 2024