#WrestleAstana

Asian Championships, Greco-Roman Day 2 finals set

Monday, April 10, 2023 - 04:58 By Ken Marantz & Vinay Siwach

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ASTANA, Kazakhstan (April 10) -- Iran annihilated the field on day one of the Asian Championships, winning four out of the five gold medals. The only one it failed, went to world champion Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) after Amin KAVININEJAD (IRI) forfeited due to injury. Can they add more gold medals today, day two of the continental championships?

MATCH ORDER | WATCH LIVE

The finals for the second day are set.

60kg - Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) vs. Hanjae CHUNG (KOR)
67kg - Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) vs. Abror ATABAEV (UZB)
72kg - Ibragim MAGOMADOV (KAZ) Sajjad IMENTALABFOUMANI (IRI)
82kg - Dias KALEN (KAZ) vs. Akylbek TALANTBEKOV (KGZ)
97kg - U. DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ) vs. Mehdi BALIHAMZEHDEH (IRI

14:33:  Mehdi BALIHAMZEHDEH (IRI) will get a shot at defending his 97kg title and add to the Iranian gold haul after posting a 7-1 semifinal victory over Yiming LI (CHN). Balihamzehdeh jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first period with a pair of gut wrenches from par terre.

14:31: U. DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ) is into the final at 97kg! He gets a big win over Narinder CHEEMA (IND). A par terre position and then a takedown outside the zone. A second passivity against Cheema and Dzhuzupbekov throw Cheema for four! He wins 9-0

14:20: Dias KALEN (KAZ) puts another home wrestler in the final. He never looked in any trouble to see off Yuya MAETA (JPN) 7-1 in the 82kg semifinal.

14:18: And another Iranian bites the dust. Asian U23 champion Akylbek TALANTBEKOV (KGZ) jumps out to a 6-0 lead with a takedown and big throw against Alireza MOHMADIPIANI in their 82kg semifinal. Talantbekov then gets a takedown that Iran challenges for a head outside the ring, but it is turned down for a 9-0 win. Taletbekov celebrates the triumph with a victory backflip. 

14:05: How do you finish a semifinal? Sajjad IMENTALABFOUMANI (IRI) just reversed threw Jian TAN (CHN) for a five to win 9-0 at 72kg. Monster throw that.

14:01: Asian U23 champion Abror ATABAEV (UZ) booked his place in the 67kg final with a 10-2 technical fall over veteran Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ). Trailing 5-2, Kebispayev attempted a front headlock from standing, but Atabaev stopped it with a bear hug that put Kebispayev straight onto his back for 4. Kazakhstan challenged the call, but lost, giving Atabaev his 10th point and ending the match. 

13:53: Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) with two rolls from par terre against Reza ABBASI (IRI) in the second period. He led 5-1 and though Abbasi tried coming back, there was no way as Sogabe makes it to the final at 67kg.

13:45: World champion Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) will get a shot at a second straight Asian title after defeating Zagreb Open bronze medalist Maito KAWANA (JPN) 4-0 in the semifinals at 60kg. Sharshenbekov got a passivity point in each period and also scored with a stepout and a penalty point for fleeing. 

13:45: Yernur FIDAKHMETOV (KAZ) gets a big throw from par terre and leads Hanjae CHUNG (KOR) 5-2 at the break. But Chung goes big in the second period and scores a four! He leads 6-5 with Fidakhmetov trying hard to get to Chung. Nothing works for him and Chung is into the final at 60kg. This also means that Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) will be returning without a medal.

13:10: The semifinals for the day are set. A short break before we head straight into semis

60kg
Yernur FIDAKHMETOV (KAZ) vs Hanjae CHUNG (KOR)
Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) vs. Maito KAWANA (JPN)

67kg
Abror ATABAEV (UZB) vs. Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ)
Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) vs. Reza Mahdi ABBASI (IRI)

72kg
Ibragim MAGOMADOV (KAZ) vs. Ali AL ABBOODAH (IRQ)
Sajjad IMENTALABFOUMANI (IRI) vs. Jian TAN (CHN)

82kg
Akylbek TALANTBEKOV (KGZ) vs. Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI)
Dias KALEN (KAZ) vs. Yuya MAETA (JPN)

97kg
Mehdi BALIHAMZEHDEH (IRI) vs. Yiming LI (CHN)
U. DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ) vs. Narinder CHEEMA (IND)

13:10: After winning a third Asian bronze last year, Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ) kept up his bid for a higher place on the podium when he scraped out a 3-1 victory over Olzhas SYRLYBAY (KAZ) to advance to the 97kg semifinals.

13:01: Defending champion Mehdi BALIHAMZEHDEH (IRI) fell behind against unheralded Yuta NARA (JPN), but a takedown and gut wrench put him on the path to a 7-5 victory and into the semifinals at 97kg. Nara got a gut wrench from par terre in the first period and nearly put the Iranian onto his back. It was a gutsy performance from Nara, who had never finished higher than seventh in three previous trips to the Asian Championships.

12:40: The Iranian juggernaut finally hits a bump, as Yernur FIDAKHMETOV (KAZ) rallies for a 4-3 victory over Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) in the quarterfinals at 60kg. Mohsen Nejad appeared to go ahead late in the match, but a challenge for using his leg wiped out his points. Fidakhmetov was a bronze medalist a year ago in Mongolia, while Mohsen Nejad won the silver. 

12:31: Sajjad IMENTALABFOUMANI (IRI) begins his bid to join the Iranian gold rush, getting the big throw in a 6-1 win over VIKAS (IND) in the quarterfinals at 72kg. 

12:25: Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) gets a 4-point throw in the first period and advances to the 67kg semifinals with a 5-0 victory over HUSIYEUETU (CHN), the winner of the Zagreb Open Ranking Series in February.

12:16: Top-seed Ibragim MAGOMADOV (KAZ), the silver medalist in 2020, is into the semifinals at 72kg with a 5-1 win over 2022 bronze medalist Adilkhan NURLANBEKOV (KGZ).

12:05: Abror ABTAEV (UZB) unleashes his powers. He sends Firuz MIRZORADZHABOV (TJK) twice and wins 10-1 at 67kg. Top-class throws from the former U17 world champion

12:04: Veteran Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ), a two-time former champion and six-time medalist dating back to 2009, survives a qualification round scare from Hong Yu CHEN (TPE), holding on for a 7-5 victory.

12:00: Hanjae CHUNG (KOR) gets to a beautiful throw twice against Aslamdzhon AZIZOV (TJK) but both times Azizov placed one of his legs on the mat before the throw. The throws were scored two points once and four points the second time. A gut wrench gives Chung a 9-0 win but Azizov challenges. No change in the decision and Chung wins 10-0.

11:52: World U23 bronze medalist Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) starts his campaign at 67kg with a victory by fall over Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ). Kogabe got a takedown and gut wrench for a four-point, then took Beishekeev down directly to his back.

11:32: Welcome again from Astana and the second day of the Asian Championships. Today, we will finish up the competition in Greco-Roman with the remaining five weight classes, 60kg, 67kg, 72kg, 82kg and 97kg. Among those taking the mat are defending champions Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) at 60kg and Mehdi BALIHAMZEHDEH (IRI) at 97kg.

#WrestleUlaanbaatar

Kamal survives scare in Ulaanbaatar amid Turkiye gold rush

Friday, May 30, 2025 - 13:58 By Vinay Siwach

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ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (May 30) -- Turkiye captured all three Greco-Roman gold medals on offer on Friday with European champion Kerem KAMAL (TUR) surviving a tough final to win at 63kg, and Paris Olympians Enes BASAR (TUR) and Hamza BAKIR (TUR) winning at 60kg and 130kg respectively.

Kamal, who won European Championships gold in dominant fashion, could not replicate that performance from April but still managed to win gold. In the final, he survived a scare against Asian Championships bronze medalist Hanjae CHUNG (KOR), winning 6-6 on criteria, thanks to a foul from Chung.

Both had wrestled in the group stages as well as this weight category only had seven wrestlers and were divided into two groups. Kamal came out on top 6-3 in that match.

But the final began with Chung scoring a takedown in the first minute and then adding another point when he was given the par terre advantage. However, he failed to score from that position.

In the second period, Kamal scored a push from par terre and had Chung's back on the mat for two points. He then lifted Chung upside down and completed a throw during which Chung committed a defensive leg foul.

Korea challenged the call but lost which gave Kamal a 6-4 lead. Chung tried to score and during the final 10 seconds, he pushed Kamal to the zone and the Turkish wrestler lost his balance, giving up a takedown.

Chung tied it 6-6 but Kamal led on criteria as Chung had committed the leg foul earlier. Chung realized it later that he was losing the final.

"I think it was a bit of a misjudgment because I thought I was winning and I didn't try hard for last 7 seconds at the end," Chung said. "I'm training hard with [former world champion] Hansu RYU (KOR) as my role model, and I'm trying to copy his style a lot."

For Kamal, the tournament was an eye-opener, especially for his performance against the Asian wrestlers.

"It was a very difficult tournament," Kamal said. "From the first round to the final match, I had very strong and very tough opponents. It was one of the hardest matches I've had this year. Winning is important, but in this tournament I realized that I have many mistakes. I'm thinking that I'm going to watch all my matches over and over again and analyze them and try to wrestle in a way that is more error-free and less pointless."

As he gears up to win his first senior world title in Zagreb later this September, Kamal is now wary of his opponents from Asia and wants to tackle them with more conviction.

"All my opponents are Asian," he said. "Kyrgyz, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Iranian. These are my strongest opponents. When you look at it, most of my opponents are from Asia, so I try to wrestle like Asians. I try to train like them, because they are very difficult to keep up with, they are very active. But as I said, as much as I can stop them, as much as I can do, as long as I can, I will continue to wrestle with them and wrestle like him."

Despite his close matches against Chung, Kamal looked in supreme form, especially while defending on par terre, as he captured his second Ranking Series gold medal of the year. His first gold was in Tirana, Albania.

"I don't think about it there [on the mat], to be honest, because I'm in a completely negative position," he said. "I'm trying to get out of it by doing all the weird things I can. The important thing is that I don't get scored there. It doesn't matter how I do it, what I do, the important thing is not to give points to my opponent and to continue in that way. So I'm very happy that I was able to do that."

Enes BASAR (TUR)Enes BASAR (TUR), blue, won gold medal at 60kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Basar, who was at the Paris Olympics at 60kg, won four bouts in the day to claim the gold medal. He began with an 8-3 win over Kurmanbek ZHAPAROV (KGZ) but his second against Akyl SULAIMANOV (KGZ) tested him to the limits. He made two comebacks to win 16-5, using a strong gut-wrench.

He followed that win by beating SURAJ (IND), 8-0, in a minute and 13 seconds before finishing his campaign with a 10-2 win over Ganbayar NAMSRAI (MGL).

Hamza BAKIR (TUR)Hamza BAKIR (TUR) claimed the 130kg gold medal in Ulaanbaatar. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

The most dominant run of the day came from Hamza BAKIR (TUR) at 130kg, as he won all his four bouts via technical superiority.

In his first bout, he gave up a point for passivity but still managed to win 9-1 against Erlan MANATBEKOV (KGZ). That was the only point he gave in the competition, winning his next three bouts via technical superiority.

He defeated Turbat BATBAYAR (MGL), 8-0, in Round 2, PREM (IND) with identical scoreline in Round 3 and in Round 5, he won against Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL), 8-0.

RESULTS

60kg
GOLD: Enes BASAR (TUR)
SILVER: SURAJ (IND)
BRONZE: Akyl SULAIMANOV (KGZ)

63kg
GOLD: Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Hanjae CHUNG (KOR), 6-6

BRONZE: Aref MOHAMMADI (QAT) df. Mohammad KESHTKAR (IRI),

130kg
GOLD: Hamza BAKIR (TUR)
SILVER: Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL)
BRONZE: Erlan MANATBEKOV (KGZ)