#WrestleAstana

Asian Championships Greco-Roman brackets

By Vinay Siwach

ASTANA, Kazakhstan (April 8) -- The nerves of competing are always preceded by the nerves of knowing the brackets. The Greco-Roman wrestlers at the Asian Championships are now aware of the opponents and expected path to the gold medal as the brackets for the Asian Championships were released Saturday.

Here's how the bouts will play out.

55kg
Top seed Amangali BEKBOLATOV (KAZ) will wait for his first opponent as he sits in the quarterfinals. RUPIN (IND) and Sardarbek KONUSHBAEV (KGZ) will wrestle in qualification to advance against Bekbolatov. 

Second seed Poya DAD MARZ (IRI) also sits in the quarterfinal and wait for the winner of Taiga ONISHI (JPN) and Mostafa ALQADE (JOR) to know his first opponent.

Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB) is seeded third and has Abduvali RAHIMBAYEV (TKM) in the quarterfinals. A win will take him to the semifinals, most likely against Dad Marz.

Bekbolatov, if he wins his quarterfinals, will face the winner of Haifeng ZHANG (CHN) and fourth seed Hyeokjin JEON (KOR).

60kg
World champion and top seed Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) is the favorite to win the weight class. He waits for his first opponent which will be the winner of Umit DURDYYEV (TKM) and U20 world bronze medalist SUMIT (IND). In the other quarterfinal, fourth seed Maito KAWANA (JPN) faces Akmal KHAMROEV (UZB).

On the lower side, second seed Liguo CAO (CHN) will face the winner of Hanjae CHUNG (KOR) and Aslamdzhon AZIZOV (TJK). Third seed and returning silver medalist Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) will also have to wait to see if Yernur FIDAKHMETOV (KAZ) or Jui Chi HUANG (TPE) reach the quarterfinals.

It sets up a potential mouth-watering semifinal between Moshen Nejad and Lao.

63kg
With nine wrestlers, only one qualification bout is scheduled with others sitting in the quarterfinals. That bout is between NEERAJ (IND) and Dastan KADYROV (KGZ). The winner will face top seed U23 world champion and top seed Iman Hossein Khoon MOHAMMADI (IRI) in the quarterfinal.

Second seed Mukhamedali MAMURBEK (KAZ) faces Haodong TAN (CHN) in the quarterfinal and a potential semifinal can be against third seed Shermukhammad SHARIBJANOV (UZB) who faces Chiezo MARUYAMA (JPN) in his quarterfinal.

If Khoon Mohammadi wins, he will get the winner of Jinseub SONG (KOR) and Siyovush ACHILOV (TJK) in the semifinal.

67kg
A weight class with some talented wrestlers will see top seed HUSIYUETU (CHN) face the winner of Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) and Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) in the quarterfinal. His path to the final includes Begmyrat NOBATOV (TKM) and fourth seed Reza Mahdi ABBASI (IRI) as the two face each other in the second quarterfinal of the top half.

The lower side has second seed ASHU (IND) in the quarterfinals waiting for the winner of Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ) and Hong Yu CHEN (TPE). Third seed Hansu RYU (KOR) will have the winner of Firuz MIRZORADZHABOV (TJK) and Abror ATABAEV (UZB). If the seeds hold, Ryu and Ashu will wrestle for a spot in the final.

72kg
Ibragim MAGOMADOV (KAZ) will be the top seed at home in 72kg and will have Adilkhan NURLANBEKOV (KGZ) or Loiqi AMIRKHONZODA (TJK) in the quarterfinal.

On the same side is Zi LIM (SGP) facing Ali AL ABBOODAH (IRQ) and Taishi HORIE (JPN) facing fourth seed Jamol JUMABAEV (UBZ). The winner of those bouts will face each other in the quarterfinal.

The lower side will see second seed Jian TAN (CHN) will wrestle one of Hekim GURBANMYRADOV (TKM) and JASON BAUCAS (PHI). Fourth seed Sajjad IMENTALABFOUMANI (IRI) will see one of VIKAS (IND) and Jiyeon LEE (KOR).

77kg
World champion and top seed Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) has his opening bout against Gadiel Raid MISSO (SGP) or Jeyhun OVEZDURDYYEV (TKM). The much-anticipated semifinal between Makhmudov and fourth seed Hyeonwoo KIM (KOR) can happen if Kim beats the winner of Kodai SAKURABA (JPN) and Lai Hsing YAO (TPE) who wrestle in the qualification round.

The second seed is held by Rui LIU (CHN) who may have a tough test when he faces one of SAJAN (IND) or Amin KAVIYANINEJAD (IR) in the quarterfinal. Aram VARDANYAN (UZB) is seeded third and will face the winner of Amro SADEH (JOR) and Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ).

82kg
Dias KALEN (KAZ) would like to reach the semifinals in front of his home crowd. For that, he needs to beat one of Mukhammadkodir RASULOV (UZB) or Sukhrob ABDULKHAEV (TJK) who will wrestle in qualification. And if Kalen wins, he will face one of the fourth seed Sultan EID (JOR) or Yuya MAETA (JPN) who wrestle in the other quarterfinal.

The lower side of the bracket with Rohit DAHIYA (IND) taking on Aryan BIN AZMAN (SGP) and Halishan BAHEJIANG (CHN) facing Sejin YANG (KOR). The winner of the former bout will face third seed Akylbek TALANTBEKOV (KGZ) in the quarterfinals. The winner of the latter will have second seed Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI).

87kg
Nasir ALIZADEH (IRI) will look to defend his Asian title as he is the top seed for the weight class. He begins in the quarterfinals with the winner of Masato SUMI (JPN) vs. Shyhazberdi OVELEKOV (TKM) set to advance.

The other quarterfinal will be between fourth seed Sunil KUMAR (IND) and Saidislomiddin ASLAMOV (TJK).

The second seed goes to Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ) and he will face the winner of Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB) and Chengwu WANG (CHN). The other quarterfinal on the lower side will be between third seed A. AZISBEKOV (KGZ) and Byeongcheol SHIN (KOR).

97kg
Out of the 10 participants, Olzhas SYRLYBAY (KAZ) gets the top seed. Seyeol LEE (KOR) and U. DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ) will wrestle off to earn a place in the quarterfinal against Syrlybay.

Fourth seed Narinder CHEEMA (IND) faces Azizdzhon ZARIPOV (TJK) in the other quarterfinal.

Yiming LI (CHN) is seeded third and will get the winner of Amanberdi AGAMAMMEDOV (TKM) and Abrorbek NURMUKHAMMEDOV (UZB) as his quarterfinal opponent. If he wins, the semifinal will feature one of Mehdi BALIHAMZEHDEH (IRI) or Yuta NARA (JPN).

130kg
World silver medalist and favorite Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) is top-seeded in 130kg. He can reach the semifinal if he wins against Sota OKUMURA (JPN) or Roman KIM (KGZ). The two will wrestle in the qualification to reach the quarterfinal against Mirzazadeh. One of NAVEEN (IND) and fourth seed Temurbek NASIMOV (UZB) will try to stop Mirzazadeh in the semifinals.

Second seed Lingzhe MENG (CHN) wrestles Minseok KIM (KOR) or Timothy Yu LOH (SGP) in the quarterfinal. If he wins, he is likely to face third seed Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ) as the Kazakhstan wrestler has to beat the winner of Ali AL SHARUEE (IRQ) and Aybegshazada KURRAYEV (TKM).

#WrestleNoviSad

U23 World Championships 2025 Day 7 Highlights

By Vinay Siwach

NOVI SAD, Serbia (October 26) -- The U23 World Championships will see only Freestyle action on day seven. Four weight classes till semifinals are -- 61kg, 65kg, 86kg and 97kg.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | DAY 6 RESULTS

14:40: A clash between Arash YOSHIDA (JPN) and Abolfazl BABALOO (IRI) at 97kg. Babaloo began well but Yoshida with his high-paced wrestling has Babaloo in all sorts of trouble. Yoshida was trying to pin Babaloo but referees called a foul. Iran challenged for a singlet foul but there was none. Yoshida led 5-2 after that review. He then scored two stepouts and three takedowns to win 13-2

14:30: SUJEET (IND) takes out Bashir MAGOMEDOV (UWW) at 65kg. He was put on the clock twice and was down 2-0. But he finally got a point when Magomedov was put on the clock. Sujeet hit a low single to make it 3-2 before he scored a stepout to seal a spot in the semifinal with a 4-2 win.

14:15: Technical superiority 12-0 win for Yuto NISHIUCHI (JPN) over Andranik AVETISYAN (ARM) as he moves into the 65kg semifinals. Nishiuchi does seem to struggle a little bit with his conditioning. Will be a factor in the semifinals? 

14:05: Arsen BALAIAN (UWW) gets the best of Ali TCOKAEV (AZE) in a heated 86kg bout. Balaian scored a takedown and point for activity in the second period to lead 3-1. He then forced Tcokaev a stepout before countering Tcokaev's desperate attack to score two points and win 6-1

13:55: Umidjon JALALOV (UZB), world bronze medalist in Zagreb, crafts three takedowns in his 6-1 victory over Aykhan ABDULLAZADA (AZE) and advance to the semifinals at 65.

13:50: Jaxen FORREST (USA) opens his 61kg campaign with a 13-0 masterful victory over Vasile MARCU (MDA). High-schooler Forrest missed out on a medal in Zagreb, losing a thriller in his bronze-medal bout

13:40: Abolfazl RAHMANI (IRI) downs Rocco WELSH (USA) 7-4 at 86kg. Welsh hit a big four pointer to lead 6-4 but Iran challenged the call. On review, the four points were awarded to Rahmani as he hit countered the double-leg attack. Both exchange stepout but Rahmani wins the bout.

13:05: Bashir MAGOMEDOV (UWW) with some crafty wrestling to sail through Yasin REZAEI (IRI) at 65kg. He also got a four-pointer in that 11-0 win. Magomedov is two-time U23 world champion at 61kg.

13:00: A point for activity point and a takedown for Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB) for a 3-0 but Mykyta HONCHAROV (UKR) hits a takedown with 26 seconds left to make it 3-2. Jalalov defends that lead to win at 65kg.

12:40: Abolfazl RAHMANI (IRI) needed two dramatic attacks in the final 25 seconds to win against Ahmet YAGAN (TUR) at 86kg. Down 3-1, Rahmani hit a takedown on the edge which was awarded one point for stepout after challenge, but he got an attack with 10 seconds left which was exposure two points and he won 4-3. Turkiye challenged the call but this time lost the challenge.

12:30: SUJEET (IND) with his second technical superiority win at 65kg. He scores five takedowns and one stepout to beat Dominik JAGUSZ (POL), 11-0.

12:25: Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA) falls to Eugeniu MIHALCEAN (MDA). Magamodov looked completely off color in his 7-4 loss at 86kg.

12:15: Arsen BALAIAN (UWW) and Gabriele NICCOLINI (ITA) had a little heated moment in their 86kg bout. Balaian was clearly the superior wrestler as he wins 10-0 and advance at 86kg. Balaian helps Niccolini off the mat and it's all good

11:45: Defending 97kg champion Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) takes his own time but starts off with an 11-1 victory over Ibrahim BENEKLI (TUR) at 97kg. The match is followed by world bronze medalist Arash YOSHIDA (JPN) finishing with a 10-0 victory over Musza ARSUNKAEV (HUN).

11:25: Bilol SHARIP UULU (KGZ) takes out U20 world champion at 61kg Marcus BLAZE (USA) at 65kg. Sharip Uulu scored a takedown to lead 3-1 and Blaze had to score a takedown to win. He managed to only score a stepout. He also challenged for a singlet pull but it was ruled that Sharip Uulu got his fingers stuck in stimulation and did not stop any attack. The lost challenge made it 4-2, the winning score of Sharip Uulu

11:05: SUJEET (IND) gives up the first takedown but then launches a spree of attacks to finish the bout 12-2 against Fiodor CEAVDARI (MDA) and advance at 65kg.

10:50: Two-time U20 world champion Yuto NISHIUCHI (JPN) begins his U23 career with a 10-0 win over Ryan DAHCHA (CAN) at 65kg. Nishiuchi is the favorite to win the gold medal here

10:40: World U23 champion Abolfazl RAHMANI (IRI) was challenged by ASHISH (IND) in his first bout at 86kg but he scores two exposures for four points which gives him 6-4 lead which he defends in the second period and win.

10:25: After the early repechage rounds, the qualifications of the four Freestyle weights are underway here. If you are wondering why there is a time change for the start of the competition, the daylight saving have commenced in Europe.