#WrestleAstana

Asian Championships women's wrestling storylines

Friday, March 31, 2023 - 08:23 By Taylor GREGORIO

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ASTANA, Kazakhstan (March 31) -- Come April 9, the continental tournament season will be underway with the Asian Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Seeds, which will be released later next week, were determined by performances at the 2022 World Championships and this year’s two Ranking Series events. This tournament will also serve as seeding criteria for the 2023 World Championships in Serbia.

Plenty of stars fighting for the crown, including seven Olympic medalists and five past world champions, will be at the Asian Championships. All the action from Kazakhstan can be followed live on uww.org or on the UWW app.

Here are the storylines to keep an eye on in women's wrestling:

Bakbergenova twins seek repeat

In 2022, twin sisters Madina BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ) and Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ) won the Asian championships, taking out big competition to top the podium. At 68kg, Madina took out then-reigning world champion and Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ) in the gold-medal bout.

For the 72kg title, Zhamila defeated newcomer Sumire NIIKURA (JPN), who went on to win bronze medals at the U20 and U23 World Championships later. This year, the Bakbergenovas return in hopes of doing it again. Zhamila, a two-time World silver medalist, seeks her third overall Senior Asian title, while Madina aims for the second.


Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) is one of the six returning Asian champions. (Photo: UWW / Bayrem Ben Mrad)

Six returning champions

In addition to the Bakbergenova sisters, four other 2022 Asian champions will be in Astana next weekend. Japan will bring three returning champs in Remina YOSHIMOTO (JPN) at 50kg, Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) at 53kg and Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) at 62kg. Yoshimoto and Fujinami each earned World gold in 2021, and Ozaki claimed Senior, U23 and U20 World gold last year.

Representing Kyrgyzstan, Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ) is registered at 76kg. She won her first Asian title in 2022, fresh off a bronze-medal performance at the ’21 World Championships.

Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) is a Tokyo Olympic silver medalist. (Photo: UWW /  Ginnie Coleman)

Seven Olympic medalists highlight field

This year’s field features seven Olympic medalists across all weights with two silver medalists and five bronze winners.

Leading the group is Tokyo Olympics runner-up Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ), who will compete at 62kg. Tynybekova has a loaded resume with 2019 and 2021 World titles, a 2017 world bronze and four Asian gold medals.

Also an Olympic runner-up is Qianyu PANG (CHN) at 55kg, who won her medal in Tokyo. A two-time World bronze medalist, Pang seeks her second-career Asian title. Her first came in 2016.

The Olympic bronze medalists expected to wrestle include Bolortuya BAT OCHIR (MGL) at 53kg, Zhumanazarova, Qian ZHOU (CHN) and Yelena SHALYGINA (KAZ) at 68kg and Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ) at 76kg.

Weight to watch: 68kg

If you haven’t noticed yet, the 68kg weight is FULL of talent. A quick breakdown: Bakbergenova comes in as the returning continental champ; Shalygina and Zhumanazarova own Olympic bronze medals; and Feng ZHOU (CHN) and Ami ISHII (JPN) bring World medals to the field.

Feng has held the weight for China for several years and brings a wealth of experience to Astana. Her presence will keep the competition on their toes. She has a 2015 silver and a 2018 bronze at the World Championships.

If Bakbergenova is not entered, Kazakhstan will go with Shalygina, a 2008 Olympic medalist. She has three World medals from 2007, 2009 and 2010. She’s in the midst of a comeback to wrestling after taking an international hiatus from 2012-2022.

Rounding out the group, Zhumanazarova won gold at Oslo 2021, and Ishii claimed silver in her World Championships debut last September.

#WrestleBudapest

Ranking Series: Tazhudinov wins gold; Sujeet, Suda champions in Budapest

Thursday, July 17, 2025 - 08:07 By Vinay Siwach

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 17) -- The final Ranking Series of the season begins Thursday in Budapest with seven Freestyle weight classes -- 57kg, 61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg, 97kg and 125kg.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | FREESTYLE PREVIEW

19:55: Bahrain gets a second gold medal as Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN) hangs on for a 5-3 win over Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (UWW) in the 125kg final.

19:35: Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) makes it another 11-0 victory and wins gold medal at 97kg. That is his fourth technical superiority win today. Since his Paris gold, Tazhudinov wrestled in Spain and won gold and now adds a second in two weeks.

19:10: Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) is so good in his defense and he uses it to great effect and beats Magomet EVLOEV (TJK) 5-0 and takes the gold medal at 79kg at the Budapest Ranking Series.

18:35: Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) wins Ranking Series gold medal at 70kg after beating Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) 8-0 in the final. Just a really strong performance overall as he gets ready for World Championships.

18:10: SUJEET (IND) gives India a Ranking Series gold medal in Freestyle after beating Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE). A bit of Bajrang PUNIA (IND) in Sujeet as he only gives up a activity point in the first period and upped the pace in the second scoring two takedowns and point for activity to win the gold medal.

17:45: Takara SUDA (JPN) with a buzzer-beating four-pointer in the 61kg final to win gold medal! Suda was down 3-1 against Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) with 10 seconds remaining. Suda snaps Zhumashbek Uulu and then brings him down on the mat. Zhamashbek Uulu tries to defend but in clearly on his back and Suda has control. Suda is awarded a 3-3 criteria win.

Kyrgyzstan challenges but that is awarded four points to Suda and he wins 5-3

17:20: Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) is the champion at 57kg after he pulls off a takedown in the last 25 seconds against Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE). Both wrestlers exchanged activity points and Lilledahl led 1-1 on criteria but he scored a takedown to pull off a clear 3-1 victory.

17:00: The medal bouts in all weight classes begin now. The bronze medals will be held on Mat B and C while the gold-medal bout will be on Mat B.

Budapest Ranking Series 2025 Day 1 Semifinal Report

Olympic champions Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN), who wrestled at the Grand Prix of Spain last week in his first tournament since Paris Olympics, reached the 97kg final at the Budapest Ranking Series on Thursday.

Wrestling only in his third-ever Ranking Series, Tazhudinov posted three straight technical superiority wins and entered the final against Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL).

Opening his day with a 14-2 win, Tazhudinov manhandled Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA) and capitalized on the half-hearted attacks of the French wrestler. He hit a big double-leg attack for four points but Viskhanov got two points for exposure.

But that was only opening Tazhudinov allowed for the rest of the bout. Viskhanov tried a few leg attacks but Tazhudinov scored a takedown and two turns to be up 10-2 before an arm-bar attempt turned into takedown for his win.

Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW) was next and Tazhudinov needed just a minute to beat him. In the semifinals, he took 1 minute and 48 seconds to see off Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO), 10-0.

Baranowski had a contradictory run to the final as he won 6-6 on criteria against Jonathan AIELLO (USA) before a 7-5 victory over VICKY (IND) in the quarterfinals. He improved the score line to 7-3 in the semifinal against Juhwan SEO (KOR).

In other weight classes, world U20 champion Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) needed two last-second wins in quarterfinals and semifinals to book a place in the final. He defeated Niklas STECHELE (GER) 4-2 with a pushout in the last second and then handed RAHUL (IND) a 7-6 loss with a takedown in the final moments.

He will take on Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE) for the gold medal after the Azerbaijan wrestler beat Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO), 5-2.

Asian champion at 61kg Takara SUDA (JPN) showed why he one of the medal threats at the World Championships in Zagreb. Suda wrestled two bouts before reaching the final and won them without much trouble. He began with a 12-2 win over Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) and then posted a 4-3 win over Assylzhan YESSENGELDI (KAZ).

He will face Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) in the final after the Kyrgyzstan beat his compatriot Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ), 3-2. A win against Suda in the final can be a huge confidence booster for the Kyrgyz wrestler.

At 65kg, SUJEET (IND) was a surprise finalist after he got the better of Paris Olympic medalist Islam DUDAEV (ALB), 11-0, and then beat Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM), 6-1, in the semifinals.

He will take on Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE) in the final who defeated Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN), 9-2, in the other semifinal.

At 70kg, Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) and Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) set up the final which will be a clash between two continental silver medalists. Aoyagi was in red-hot form in Budapest and outscored his opponents 28-3 before the final.

Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), after his small quest at 86kg, returned to 79kg and made it to the final in Budapest after a 2-0 win over Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ) in the semifinal. He will face Asian silver medalist Magomet EVLOEV (TJK) in the final. The Tajik stunned Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) in the semifinal using a cradle in just 21 seconds.

Kougioumtsidis dominated his matches till the semifinals but could not stop Evloev from finishing the cradle and had to make his way to the bronze-medal bout instead of gold.