#WrestleAlmaty

Asian C'ship Rivalry-to-Watch: Otoguro and Punia

By Eric Olanowski

ALMATY, Kazakhstan (April 12) --- Since the ’18 World Championships, 65kg has been one of wrestling’s premier weight classes, and that’s thanks in part to offensive juggernauts Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) and Bajrang PUNIA (IND).

The pair of attack-minded superstars are both entered at 65kg at the upcoming Asian Championships (April 13-18) and are looking to add another continental title to their resumes. But to do so, they’ll likely have to go through each other, which could set up a colossal third meeting between the pair who own a combined four world medals.

Otoguro commands a comfortable 2-0 lead over Punia heading into Almaty. He overcame his Indian rival at the ’18 World Championships and the ’20 Asian Championships and claimed gold both at both events.

Otoguro’s first win over Punia came in history-making fashion. In Budapest, the then-19-year-old defeated Punia in a barn-burning 25-point shootout and became Japan’s youngest-ever male world champion. Later that year, the high-octane match was voted as United World Wrestling’s Freestyle Match of the Year.

In their second meeting, Otoguro changed his approach and used low-level attacks to negate Punia’s world-famous pace. He secured four takedowns from below-the-knee attacks, denied Punia a second consecutive Asian title and reach the top of the continental podium for the first time in his young career.

But since that win in New Delhi, and due to the COVID pandemic, Otoguro has been sidelined from international competition and is set to return to the mat for the first time in 14 months.

Meanwhile, Punia stayed active during the pandemic. He trained in the United States for two months and wrestled in multiple exhibition matches on Flo Wrestling cards. Then, he kick-started the Olympic year with a gold-medal run at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event. In Rome, Punia picked up wins over Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL), Joseph MCKENNA (USA) and Selim KOZAN (TUR) en route to his fifth Ranking Series title.

The Asian Championships begin on Tuesday with Greco-Roman wrestling, but freestyle action starts on Saturday (April 16) in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

65kg Asian Championship Entries:
Bajrang BAJRANG (IND)
Morteza Hassanali GHIASI CHEKA (IRI)
Mohammed Al Jawad Zuhair K KAREEM (IRQ)|
Takuto OTOGURO (JPN)
Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ)
Alibek OSMONOV (KGZ)
Yongseok JEONG (KOR)
Junsik YUN (KOR)
Bilguun SARMANDAKH (MGL)
Chamara Milinda Perera WEERASINGHEGE (SRI)
Mustafo AKHMEDOV (TJK)
Kerim HOJAKOV (TKM)
Nodir RAKHIMOV (UZB)

#WrestleZagreb

World Championships 2025 Greco-Roman Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

ZAGREB, Croatia (August 19) -- The World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia will see 309 Greco-Roman wrestlers compete for the world titles.

The Greco-Roman competition will be towards in the end of the World Championships. For full schedule, click here.

Note: The entry are subject to change. Please refer to uww.org for latest updates

Zagreb

55kg
Manvel KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
Huoying SHI (CHN)
Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO)
Anil MOR (IND)
Poya DAD MARZ (IRI)
Sajjad ALBIDHAN (IRQ)
Taiga ONISHI (JPN)
Yerassyl MAMYRBEKOV (KAZ)
Ulan MURATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Junsik YU (KOR)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Alexander CUEVAS (SGP)
Abduvali RAHIMBAYEV (TKM)
Emre MUTLU (TUR)
Koriun SAHRADIAN (UKR)
Jayden RANEY (USA)
Emin SEFERSHAEV (UWW)
Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB)

60kg
Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG)
Hrachya POGHOSYAN (ARM)
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
Marat GARIPOV (BRA)
Haodong TAN (CHN)
Rabby KILANDI (COD)
Amiran SHAVADZE (GEO)
SURAJ (IND)
Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI)
Melkamu FETENE (ISR)
Kaito INABA (JPN)
Iskhar KURBAYEV (KAZ)
Akyl SULAIMANOV (KGZ)
Dahyun KIM (KOR)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Victor CIOBANU (MDA)
Alexis RODRIGUEZ (MEX)
Olivier SKRZYPCZAK (POL)
Se Ung RI (PRK)
Georgij TIBILOV (SRB)
Ekrem OZTURK (TUR)
Vladyslav KUZKO (UKR)
Maxwell BLACK (USA)
Sadyk LALAEV (UWW)
Alisher GANIEV (UZB)

63kg
Abdeldjebar DJEBBARI (ALG)
Karen ASLANYAN (ARM)
Murad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Nikolay VICHEV (BUL)
Yuhe HUANG (CHN)
Godefroid KALUBI (COD)
Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Andres MONTANO (ECU)
Moamen MOHAMED (EGY)
Stefan CLEMENT (FRA)
Beka GURULI (GEO)
Sunny KUMAR (IND)
Mohammad KESHTKAR (IRI)
Manato NAKAMURA (JPN)
Madiyar MAULITKANOV (KAZ)
Baiaman KARIMOV (KGZ)
Hanjae CHUNG (KOR)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Hector SANCHEZ ZAPATA (MEX)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Chan KIM (PRK)
Aref MOHAMMADI (QAT)
Azatjan ACHILOV (TKM)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
Oleksandr HRUSHYN (UKR)
Ellis COLEMAN (USA)
Sergey EMELIN (UWW)
Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB)

67kg
Gjete PRENGA (ALB)
Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM)
Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (AUS)
Aker SCHMID (AUT)
Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
Nestor ALMANZA (CHI)
Ji LENG (CHN)
Roland KALAMBAYI (COD)
Julian HORTA (COL)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
Luis ORTA (CUB)
Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA)
Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO)
Witalis LAZOVSKI (GER)
ANIL (IND)
Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI)
Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN)
Bagdat SABAZ (KAZ)
Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ)
Minseong KWON (KOR)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Arslanbek SALIMOV (POL)
Man Gwang SON (PRK)
Sebastian NAD (SRB)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Jan OEHLEN (SWE)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)
Maksym YEVTUSHENKO (UKR)
Alston NUTTER (USA)
Daniial AGAEV (UWW)
Hleb MAKARANKA (UWW)
Shermukhammad SHARIBJANOV (UZB)
Neiser MARIMON HIDALGO (VEN)

72kg
Abdelmalek MERABET (ALG)
Gor KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE)
Petar GORNYASHKI (BUL)
Lei LI (CHN)
Norvil BUKASA (COD)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Dalgat MAGOMEDOV (CZE)
Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY)
Matias LIPASTI (FIN)
Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA)
Iuri LOMADZE (GEO)
Luis BARRIOS (HON)
Krisztian VANCZA (HUN)
Ankit GULIA (IND)
Danial SOHRABI (IRI)
Taishi NARIKUNI (JPN)
Almatbek AMANBEK (KAZ)
Amantur ISMAILOV (KGZ)
Yeonghun NOH (KOR)
Mihai PETIC (MDA)
Irving SALAZAR (MEX)
Aleksander MIELEWCZYK (POL)
Rafeeq ELNATSHEH (QAT)
Ali ARSALAN (SRB)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Didar ORAZBERDIYEV (TKM)
Mustafa SAHIN (TUR)
Parviz NASIBOV (UKR)
Alejandro SANCHO (USA)
Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (UWW)
Danil GRIGOREV (UWW)
Abdullo ALIEV (UZB)

77kg
Kevin KUPI (ALB)
Chawki DOULACHE (ALG)
Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)
Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE)
Calebe CORREA (BRA)
Stoyan KUBATOV (BUL)
Likui SHI (CHN)
Harryson NSIAMAZA (COD)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Marcos SANCHEZ (ESP)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO)
Idris IBAEV (GER)
Robert FRITSCH (HUN)
AMAN (IND)
Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI)
Nao KUSAKA (JPN)
Noil UMAROV (KAZ)
Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Hyeonjin KANG (KOR)
Vilius SAVICKAS (LTU)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Mateusz BERNATEK (POL)
Saad AL SULAITI (QAT)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Albin OLOFSSON (SWE)
Lai Hsing YAO (TPE)
Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR)
Ihor BYCHKOV (UKR)
Kamal BEY (USA)
Maksim SHEDZ (UWW)
Sergei KUTUZOV (UWW)
Aram VARDANYAN (UZB)

82kg
Samvel GRIGORYAN (ARM)
Gurban GURBANOV (AZE)
Ibrahim TABAEV (BEL)
Deyvid DIMITROV (BUL)
Zhihuan WANG (CHN)
Andy MUKENDI (COD)
Filip SACIC (CRO)
Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Marek VRBA (CZE)
Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
RAHUL (IND)
Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI)
Luca DARIOZZI (ITA)
Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN)
Omar SATAYEV (KAZ)
Bekzat ORUNKUL UULU (KGZ)
Wonjong SUN (KOR)
Mihail BRADU (MDA)
Gabriel DINETTE (PHI)
Shahin BADAGHIMOFRAD (QAT)
Ramon BETSCHART (SUI)
Alexander JOHANSSON (SWE)
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
Ruslan ABDIIEV (UKR)
Beka MELELASHVILI (USA)
Adlet TIULIUBAEV (UWW)
Ilya BITSEYEU (UWW)
Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)

87kg
Bachir SID AZARA (ALG)
Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM)
Erion RAMLJAK (AUS)
Islam ABBASOV (AZE)
Yoan DIMITROV (BUL)
Jianwen LUO (CHN)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)
Loic Dimitri SAMEN (FRA)
Lasha GOBADZE (GEO)
Hannes WAGNER (GER)
David LOSONCZI (HUN)
Karan KAMBOJ (IND)
Alireza MOHMADI (IRI)
Soh SAKABE (JPN)
Baurzhan MUSSIN (KAZ)
Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ)
Sanghyeok PARK (KOR)
Jose VARGAS (MEX)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Arkadiusz KULYNYCZ (POL)
Patrik GORDAN (ROU)
Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB)
Damian VON EUW (SUI)
Hamza SERTCANLI (SWE)
Muhittin SARICICEK (TUR)
Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR)
Payton JACOBSON (USA)
Milad ALIRZAEV (UWW)
Stanislau SHAFARENKA (UWW)
Mukhammadkodir RASULOV (UZB)
Luis AVENDANO ROJAS (VEN)

97kg
Hayk KHLOYAN (ARM)
Markus RAGGINGER (AUT)
Arif NIFTULLAYEV (AZE)
Youfang ZHANG (CHN)
Barthelemy TSHOSHA (COD)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Gabriel ROSILLO (CUB)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Mohamed GABR (EGY)
Richard KARELSON (EST)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Giorgi MELIA (GEO)
Lucas LAZOGIANIS (GER)
Kevin MEJIA (HON)
Alex SZOKE (HUN)
NITESH (IND)
Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI)
Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA)
Yuri NAKAZATO (JPN)
Rakhat BERZHANOV (KAZ)
Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ)
Minho LEE (KOR)
Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Gerard KURNICZAK (POL)
Aleksandar STJEPANETIC (SWE)
Eduard BABENOSHEV (TJK)
Amanberdi AGAMAMMEDOV (TKM)
Ibrahim TIGCI (TUR)
Vladlen KOZLIUK (UKR)
Michial FOY (USA)
Artur SARGSIAN (UWW)
Kiryl MASKEVICH (UWW)

130kg
Razmik KURDYAN (ARM)
Beka KANDELAKI (AZE)
Wenhao JIANG (CHN)
Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB)
Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY)
Heiki NABI (EST)
Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN)
Sulkhan BUIDZE (GEO)
Jello KRAHMER (GER)
Gino AVILA DILBERT (HON)
Darius VITEK (HUN)
SONU (IND)
Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI)
Ali AL SHARUEE (IRQ)
Danila SOTNIKOV (ITA)
Yuta NARA (JPN)
Akarys BERDASHOV (KAZ)
Nurmanbet RAIMALY UULU (KGZ)
Seungchan LEE (KOR)
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL)
Jacob LOGAARD (SWE)
Hekim GURBANMYRADOV (TKM)
Hamza BAKIR (TUR)
Mykola KUCHMII (UKR)
Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA)
Pavel HLINCHUK (UWW)
Sergei SEMENOV (UWW)
Moises PEREZ (VEN)