#WrestleHangzhou

Asian Games Wrestling: Yazdani vs Punia, Tazhudinov vs Goleij in finals

By Vinay Siwach

LIN'AN, Hangzhou, China (October 7) -- The Asian Games in Hangzhou will see the final day of wrestling at the Lin'an Sports Culture and Exhibition Center. Hassan YAZDANI (IRI), Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) and Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) are wrestling today as wrestlers in Freestyle 74kg, 86kg, 97kg and 125kg

LIVE MATCH ORDER | BRACKETS | DAY 3 RESULTS

That's it for the session before repechage begins. Here are the finals for the evening session

74kg
Kirin KINOSHITA (JPN) vs. Yones EMAMI (IRI)

86kg
Deepak PUNIA vs Hassan YAZDANI (IRI)

97kg
Mojtaba GOLEIJ (IRI) vs Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN)

125kg
Lkhagvagerel MUNKHTUR (MGL) vs. Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI)

12:55: Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) returns to the 86kg final at the Asian Games with yet another 10-0 victory in the semifinal. He will take on Javrail SHAPIEV (UZB) who manages to score a late exposure against Deepak PUNIA to win 3-2. Wait we have challenge... Punia is asking for two points as well. The jury awards two points to Punia and he wins 4-3 against Shapiev.

12:48: Asian Championships silver medalist Kirin KINOSHITA (JPN) takes out defending champion Bekzod ABDURAKHMONOV (UZB) 6-0 to enter the final at 74kg. A top win for the Japanese. He will face Yones EMAMI (IRI) who defeats Magomet EVLOEV (TJK) 9-3.

12:45: Mojtaba GOLEIJ (IRI) and Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) final set at 97kg. The two wrestled at the Asian Championships with Tazhudinov scoring a 13-8 win over Goleij.

12:33: Lkhagvagerel MUNKHTUR (MGL) with a fall over Khusanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB) in the 125kg semifinals. Munkhtur will wait for the winner of Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) and Yusup BATIRMURZAEV (KAZ) to know his final opponent. 

12:25: Azamat DALUETBEKOV (KAZ) is absolutely livid with his coach who challenged a stepout call with 30 seconds on board. Javrail SHAPIEV (UZB) led 2-1 when he forced the stepout to make it 3-1. Kazakhstan corner decided to challenge the call and as Daluetbekov had put his hand out first, it was called a stepout and Kazakhstan lost the challenge, giving Shapiev an extra point. Daluetbekov scored the takedown but that made it only 4-3.

Just two weeks back, Daluetbekov had scored a final-second takedown against Shapiev to win the World Championships bronze medal.

12:15: Bekzod ABDURAKHMONOV (UZB) has still got it. The defending champion puts himself in the 74kg semifinal after beating Darkhan YESSENGALI (KAZ) 3-1. On Mat C, Yusup BATIRMURZAEV (KAZ) scores the winning takedown to beat Bali SOU (CAM) 5-1 at 125kg.

12:12: A stepout, takedown, stepout, takedown, turn, turn. That's the scoring pattern Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) used to beat in the first period and reach the 86kg semifinal.

12:05: Mojtaba GOLEIJ (IRI) scored a takedown in each of the two periods to beat Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL) 4-2 at 97kg. He moves into the semifinals.

12:03: Deepak PUNIA gives up three stepouts against Shota SHIRAI (JPN) but his two takedowns, one stepout and two caution points against Shirai are enough to help him move into the semifinals with a 7-3 win.

11:48: Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) takes a minute and 56 seconds to beat Mukhammad ABDULLAEV (KGZ) at 86kg. Yazdani is the defending champion at the Asian Games.

11:40: World champion Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) on Mat A wrestling BUHEEERDUN (CHN) in the 125kg quarterfinals. Alisher YERGALI (KAZ) wrestling Takashi ISHIGURO (JPN) at 97kg on Mat B. Zare works to a 10-0 win while Yergali holds off Ishiguro for a 4-2 victory.

11:35: Azamat DALUETBEKOV (KAZ), the 86kg world bronze medalist, is made to work hard by Gwanuk KIM (KOR) in the opening bout but he gets the job done 6-0.

11:30: Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) with a go-behind to open the scoring against Kanybek  Abdulkhairov. He adds exposure and an activity period point to lead 5-0. An arm-bar to get the fall just at the break!

11:22: Defending champion Bekzod ABDURAKHMONOV (UZB) with two activity points in either period to win 2-0 against Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN) at 74kg. 

11:15: Yones EMAMI (IRI) will feel the heat of this bout against Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ) perhaps later in the day. Emami scores a 7-2 win but Toktomambetov brought the pace with him and Emami looks a little tired here.

10:55: World champion Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) with a composed 10-0 win over Zaman ANWAR (PAK) at 125kg. He will have a 10-minute break before the next round of matches. 

10:50: Yusup BATIRMURZAEV (KAZ) and Feng LU (CHN) roll to technical superiority wins on Mat C. The Kazakhstan wrestler beats Farkhod ANAKULOV (TJK) at 125kg while Lu thrills the crowd by beating Inayat ULLAH (PAK) at 74kg.

10:35: Omar SAREM (SYR) got a big four against Taiki YAMAMOTO (JPN) to lead 4-4 on criteria but the Japanese wrestler scored a takedown to make it 6-4. A reversal for Sarem but that doesn't change the final result.

10:25: Alisher YERGALI (KAZ) with a 10-0 win over VICKY to advance. Next up on Mat C is Aiaal LAZAREV (KGZ) and SUMIT at 125kg. Sumit qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in Sofia but was later found to have failed a dope test. His place was awarded to Lazarev.

10:20: Mojtaba GOLEIJ (IRI) built a 2-0 lead over Magomed IBRAGIMOV (UZB) but the Uzbek with a counter four! Goleij with a stepout to lead cut the lead 4-3 at the break. Ibragimov with a takedown in the second period to lead 6-3 now. Both wrestlers are on the edge and it's a stepout for Ibragimov who now leads 7-4. Well, that was it for Ibragimov as Goleij scored a takedown and three turns to make it 13-7 and advance.

10:14: Deepak PUNIA lost to Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN) in the Asian Championships in 92kg but he avenged that loss with a 3-2 win at 86kg. Bost wrestlers had a takedown each but Punia with an activity point in the second period to win the bout.

10:00: World champion Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) is on Mat A against Awusayiman HABILA (CHN), a rematch of the Asian Championships final in which Tazhudinov won. The Bahrain wrestler with a big attempted lift but gets only two points. A takedown for Tazhudinov but Habila scores a reversal just before the break. The second period begins with Habila go behind and he cuts Tazhudinov's lead to 5-3. Tazhudinov answers with a takedown to lead 7-3 and is happy to keep it as the clock expires.

#WrestleAlexandria

Egypt Claims 7 Golds to Win Greco Team Title

By United World Wrestling Press

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (May 1) -- Till the first four weight classes, Algeria thought it was in with a chance to upset Egypt and win the Greco-Roman team title in Alexandria, Egypt. (Also Read: Nigeria Dominates Women's Wrestling With 4 Golds) 

Both countries were tied at 45 points in the team title race at the African Championships on Friday. However, after the initial thrill, Egypt made the race its own, winning five of the remaining six gold medals to claim the team title with 235 points, 40 more than Algeria which finished with 195 points.

Led by world bronze medalist Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY), who became a nine-time African champion on Friday, Egypt won seven gold and three silver medals to give the local crowd a festive feeling at the Borg Elarb Sport Hall.

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Mohamed, who won his first African gold in 2016, defeated Wissam KOUAINSO (MAR), 9-0, in Round 2. While four wrestlers were entered in the bracket, only Mohamed and Kouainso wrestled while Issah FUSEINI (GHA) and Maurice ABATAM (CHA) did not show up.

That made the match between Mohamed and Kouainso the only bout at 130kg which the Egyptian won using four turns from par terre.

U23 world champion Mohamed ABDELREHIM (EGY) spent only seven minutes on the mat to win three round-robin bouts at 67kg. In Round 5, he faced Fayssal BENFREDJ (ALG) who made him work hard for his 6-0 victory in which no par terre positions was awarded to Benfredj. However, Abdelrehim was up to the task and defended his gold medal.

Mohamed DYAB (EGY)Mohamed DYAB (EGY), red, throws Bachir SID AZARA (ALG) during the 87kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

At 87kg, six-time African champion Bachir SID AZARA (ALG) was handed a 7-1 loss by Mohamed DYAB (EGY) in the final. Dyab showed early signs of causing the upset when he defeated Sid Azara in the Nelson bracket 8-0.

Though Sid Azara managed to close the gap, he failed to stop Dyab from claiming the gold medal. Dyab got the par terre position in first period and as he was trying to score, Sid Azara committed a defensive leg-foul and was docked two points. As Dyab restarted in par terre, he used two turns to lead 7-0.

Sid Azara got par terre in the second period but he failed to score any points despite using a seatbelt technique. Dyab defended his six-point lead to win the gold medal for Egypt.

Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY)Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY) throws Abdelmalek MERABET (ALG) during the 72kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Former U20 world champion Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY) also defeated Abdelmalek MERABET (ALG) two times to claim the gold medal at 72kg. He defeated Merabet 8-0 in the morning and as the two reached the final, Alameldin once again won via technical superiority, 10-2.

Merabet led 2-2 on criteria but Alameldin dragged him for takedown to lead 4-2, before extending it to 8-2 using a four-pointer. Merabet tried a few moves in the second period to cut the lead but Alameldin held firm and scored the match-winning takedown.

This is the second gold medal of the season for Alameldin as he began the year with a gold medal at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series in February.

Mahmoud SAAD (EGY)Mahmoud SAAD (EGY) celebrates after beating Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG), 9-1, at 60kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Egypt's three other gold medals came at 60kg, 77kg, and 82kg. Mahmoud SAAD (EGY) began his day with a fall in Round 1 before beating Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG), 9-1, scoring all his points from par terre in the second period.

Once Fergat was beaten, Saad had no trouble in defeating Latuf MADI (COM), 9-0, in 1:55 and Virinao NGUATJITI (NAM), 8-0, in 4:05 in the next rounds.

At 77kg, Mohamed KHALIL (EGY) turned Chawki DOULACHE (ALG) from par terre while defending his own position to craft a 3-1 victory over the Algerian and claim his fourth-ever African title.

There was little to differentiate between Emad ABOUELATTA (EGY) and Haithem ISSAAD (ALG) at 82kg as both dominated their other two matches. But when the two clashed, Abouelatta scored four more points than Issaad to win the Round 1 bout 7-3.

As Abouelatta won all three of his bouts, he won gold while Issaad finished with a silver medal.

While Egypt ruled, the evening began with Algeria winning gold through Badr MAHDAOUI (ALG) at 55kg. He defeated Ahmed ALY (EGY), 15-6, a technical superiority in the final. The 18-year-old thus became a senior African champion.

Three-time African champion Abdeldjebar DJEBBARI (ALG) returned to the tournament after three years and defeated Omar IBRAHIM (EGY), 5-2, in the 63kg final to win gold, his fourth.

The big shock came at 97kg as defending champion and Olympian Mohamed GABR (EGY) failed to defend his title. Former U17 and U20 African champion Fadi ROUABAH (ALG) stopped Gabr in Round 2 with a 2-1 victory.

Photo

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Badr MAHDAOUI (ALG) df. Ahmed ALY (EGY), 15-6

BRONZE: Bofenda KALUWEKO (ANG) df. Dunia SIBOMANA (COD), via forfeit

60kg
GOLD: Mahmoud SAAD (EGY)
SILVER: Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG)
BRONZE: Latuf MADI (COM)

63kg
GOLD: Abdeldjebar DJEBBARI (ALG) df. Omar IBRAHIM (EGY), 5-2

BRONZE: Lazarus HAIMBODI (NAM) df. Solomon ADDICO (GHA), via forfeit

67kg
GOLD: Mohamed ABDELREHIM (EGY) 
SILVER: Fayssal BENFREDJ (ALG)
BRONZE: Miguel ANTONIO (ANG)

72kg
GOLD: Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY) df. Abdelmalek MERABET (ALG), 10-2

BRONZE: Radhwen TARHOUNI (TUN) df. Yamine ATCHIBA (BEN), 8-3

77kg
GOLD: Mohamed KHALIL (EGY) df. Chawki DOULACHE (ALG), 3-1

BRONZE: Sami SLAMA (TUN) df. Yassine CHEKLY (MAR), 8-6

82kg
GOLD: Emad ABOUELATTA (EGY)
SILVER: Haithem ISSAAD (ALG)
BRONZE: Belhasan AZAOUZI (TUN)

87kg
GOLD: Mohamed DYAB (EGY) df. Bachir SID AZARA (ALG), 7-1

BRONZE: Lamjed MAAFI (TUN) df. Persy BAMONA (COD), 8-0

97kg
GOLD: Fadi ROUABAH (ALG)
SILVER: Mohamed GABR (EGY)
BRONZE: Hamza BOUMADIENE (MAR)

130kg
GOLD: Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY)
SILVER: Wissam KOUAINSO (MAR)