#WrestleAlmaty

Asian Olympic Qualifier Entries

By Eric Olanowski

ALMATY, Kazakhstan (March 26) -- The final continental qualification event for the Tokyo Olympic Games, the Asian Olympic Qualifier, kicks off Friday (April 9-11) in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Over 200 athletes from 24 countries will attempt to qualify their nations for the Olympic Games with a top-two performance. 

Those wrestlers who fall short of reaching the finals at the Asian Olympic Qualifier will have to make it to the finals at the World Olympic Games Qualifier in Sofia, Bulgaria (May 6-9) in order to earn an Olympic license for their nation.

57kg
Minghu LIU (CHN)
Ahmed Jawad Kadhim AL ZAIDAWI (IRQ)
Rei HIGUCHI (JPN)
Kodai OGAWA (JPN)
Bekbolot MYRZANAZAR UULU (KGZ)
Ulukbek ZHOLDOSHBEKOV (KGZ)
Sunggwon KIM (KOR)
Hyeonsik SONG (KOR)
Tuvshintulga TUMENBILEG (MGL)
Muhammad BILAL (PAK)
Allen Mitch ARCILLA (PHI)
Muhamad IKROMOV (TJK)
Rozgeldi SEYIDOV (TKM)
Gulomjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)

65kg
Hasibagena HASIBAGENA (CHN)
Amirmohammad Babak YAZDANICHERATI (IRI)
Mohammed Al Jawad Zuhair K KAREEM (IRQ)
Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ)
Junsik YUN (KOR)
Seungbong LEE (KOR)
Yongseok JEONG (KOR)
Mohammed J M Th A ABDULKAREEM (KUW)
Dzhamshed SHARIFOV (TJK)
Kerim HOJAKOV (TKM)
Perman HOMMADOV (TKM)
Ilyas BEKBULATOV (UZB)
Hussein Abdullah Hussein Abdullah AL AZZANI (YEM)

74kg
Adam BATIROV (BRN)
Menghejigan MENGHEJIGAN (CHN)
Sandeep Singh MANN (IND)
Yones Aliakbar EMAMICHOGHAEI (IRI)
Dawood Salman Jasim AL DULAIMI (IRQ)
Elaman DOGDURBEK UULU (KGZ)
Seungchul LEE (KOR)
Byungmin GONG (KOR)
Bat Erdene BYAMBASUREN (MGL)
Abdullrahman Ibrahim A IBRAHIM (QAT)
Parinya CHAMNANJAN (THA)
Gulomdzhon SHARIPOV (TJK)
Alymuhammet OVEZMYRADOV (TKM)
Atamyrat CHARLYYEV (TKM)
Bekzod ABDURAKHMONOV (UZB)

86kg
Zushen LIN(CHN)
Mustafa Abdulbasit Abd U AL OBAIDI(IRQ)
Abdulkareem Mahmoud Abdul ABUIDAIJ(JOR)
Sohsuke TAKATANI(JPN)
Daichi TAKATANI(JPN)
Azamat DAULETBEKOV(KAZ)
Nurtilek KARYPBAEV(KGZ)
Hyeokbeom GWON(KOR)
Gwanuk KIM(KOR)
Domenic Michael ABOU NADER(LBN)
Gankhuyag GANBAATAR(MGL)
Bakhodur KODIROV(TJK)
Dovletmyrat ORAZGYLYJOV(TKM)
Azat GAJYYEV (TKM)
Javrail SHAPIEV (UZB)

97kg
Awusayiman HABILA (CHN)
Satywart KADIAN (IND)
Mohammadhossein Askari MOHAMMADIAN (IRI)
Naoya AKAGUMA (JPN)
Taira SONODA (JPN)
Symbat SULAIMANOV (KGZ)
Minwon SEO (KOR)
Jongku LEE (KOR)
Batzul ULZIISAIKHAN (MGL)
Muhammad INAM (PAK)
Zyyamuhammet SAPAROV (TKM)
Magomed Idrisovitch IBRAGIMOV (UZB)

125kg
Sumit SUMIT (IND)
Tetsuya TANAKA (JPN)
Yusup BATIRMURZAEV (KAZ)
Aiaal LAZAREV (KGZ)
Donghwan KIM (KOR)
Lkhagvagerel MUNKHTUR (MGL)}
Haroon ABID (PAK)
Omar Ihab SAREM (SYR)
Rustam ISKANDARI (TJK)
Shatlyk HEMELYAYEV (TKM)
Makhsud VEYSALOV (UZB)

Greco-Roman
60kg 

Sailike WALIHAN (CHN)
Gyanender GYANENDER (IND)
Karrar Abbas Mukasr ALBEEDHAN (IRQ)
Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ)
Hanjae CHUNG (KOR)
Seunghak KIM (KOR)
Mohammad F Kh M J ALAJMI (KUW)
Davaabandi MUNKH ERDENE (MGL)
Firuz MIRZORAJABOV (TJK)
Merdan ALLAYAROV (TKM)
Azimjan RAHMANOV (TKM)
Jui Chi HUANG (TPE)

67kg
Qiye TIAN (CHN)
Ashu ASHU (IND)
Mohammadreza Abdolhamid GERAEI (IRI)
Waael Jasim Abed ALAAJAMI (IRQ)
Ahmad Mahmoud Ahmed DAHSHAN (JOR)
Shogo TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Katsuaki ENDO (JPN)
Nurbek KYZYROV (KAZ)
Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ)
Meiirzhan SHERMAKHANBET (KAZ)
Marlen ASIKEEV (KGZ)
Hansu RYU (KOR)
Dohyeong KIM (KOR)
Abdwlkarim Mohammad ALHASAN (SYR)
Piyachat PHONDET (THA)
Sheroz OCHILOV (TJK)
Azatjan ACHILOV (TKM)
Aram VARDANYAN(UZB)

77kg
Hujun ZHANG (CHN)
Singh GURPREET (IND)
Hussein Ali Muksr ALBIDHAN (IRQ)
Shohei YABIKU (JPN)
Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ)
Hyeonwoo KIM (KOR)
Yeonghun NOH (KOR)
Rabie K. A. KHALIL (PLE)
Bakhit Sharif K BADR (QAT)
Habibjon ZUHUROV (TJK)
Muhammetberdi MAMEDOV (TKM)

87kg
Fei PENG (CHN)
Kumar SUNIL (IND)
Hossein Ahmad NOURI (IRI)
Abbas Shaalan Abdulkadhim AL TAMEEMI (IRQ)
Masato SUMI (JPN)
Yoji KAWAMURA (JPN)
Azamat KUSTUBAYEV (KAZ)
Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ)
Jinhyeok KIM (KOR)
Seunghwan LEE (KOR)
Sukhrob ABDULKHAEV (TJK)
Shageldi ANNAYEV (TKM)
Jaloladdin JUMANIYAZOV (TKM)

97kg
Yanan CHEN(CHN)
Ravi RAVI(IND)
Mohammadhadi Abdollah SARAVI(IRI)
Ali Majeed Hameed AL KAABI(IRQ)
Yuta NARA(JPN)
Kaito MIYAMOTO(JPN)
Olzhas SYRLYBAY(KAZ)
Yerulan ISKAKOV(KAZ)
Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV(KGZ)
Seyeol LEE(KOR)
Seungjun KIM(KOR)
Mirzoamin SAFAROV(TJK)
Jahongir TURDIEV(UZB)

130kg
Lingzhe MENG (CHN)
Naveen NAVEEN (IND)
Ahmed Shaalan Abdulkadhim AL TAMEEMI (IRQ)
Arata SONODA (JPN)
Mansur SHADUKAYEV (KAZ)
Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ)
Georgiy TSURTSUMIA (KAZ)
Roman KIM (KGZ)
Minseok KIM (KOR)
Minjoon KIM (KOR)
Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)

Women's Wrestling
50kg

Seema SEEMA (IND)
Misaki YOSHIBA (JPN)
Yui SUSAKI (JPN)
Miran CHEON (KOR)
YeoJin KIM (KOR)
Namuuntsetseg TSOGT OCHIR (MGL)
Dauletbike YAKHSHIMURATOVA (UZB)

53kg
Assylzat SAGYMBAY (KAZ)
Tatyana AKHMETOVA AMANZHOL (KAZ)
Hyungjoo KIM (KOR)
Hyunyoung OH (KOR)
Bolortuya BAT OCHIR (MGL)
Vatansulton SHAKARSHOEVA (TJK)
Meng Hsuan HSIEH (TPE)
Aktenge KEUNIMJAEVA (UZB)


57kg
Anshu ANSHU (IND)
Altynay SATYLGAN (KAZ)
Emma TISSINA (KAZ)
Nazira MARSBEK KYZY (KGZ)
Jieun UM (KOR)
Shinhye LEE (KOR)
Khongorzul BOLDSAIKHAN (MGL)
Shokhida AKHMEDOVA (UZB)


62kg
Jia LONG (CHN)
Sonam SONAM (IND)
Irina KUZNETSOVA (KAZ)
Ayaulym KASSYMOVA (KAZ)
Hanbit LEE (KOR)
Youngjin KWON (KOR)
Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL)
Hsin Ping PAI (TPE)
Nabira ESENBAEVA (UZB)

68kg
Feng ZHOU (CHN)
Nisha NISHA (IND)
Alexandra ZAITSEVA (KAZ)
Irina KAZYULINA (KAZ)
Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ)
Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)}
Hyeonyeong PARK (KOR)
Eun Sun JEONG (KOR)
Svetlana OKNAZAROVA (UZB)

76kg
Pooja POOJA (IND)
Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
Seoyeon JEONG (KOR)
Sujin PARK (KOR)
Burmaa OCHIRBAT (MGL)
Shakhribonu ELLIEVA (UZB)

#WrestleZagreb

Saravi returns to final; Ganizade, Ghanem rematch for 72kg gold

By Ken Marantz

ZAGREB, Croatia (September 19) -- Paris Olympic champion Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) safely negotiated the minefield that was the draw of the stacked 97kg division, advancing to the final to earn a shot at capturing a second world title.

Saravi defeated Kiryl MASKEVICH (UWW) 3-1 in the semifinals Friday at the World Championships in Zagreb, putting him in Saturday's gold-medal match against Artur SARGSIAN (UWW) as the finals were set in three Greco weight classes.

In other finals, Aidos SULTANGALI (KAZ) and Alisher GANIEV (UZB) will battle it out at 60kg, while the 72kg match will be a rematch of last year's final between defending champion Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE) and Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA).

Saravi, who avoided the upset bug that hit the legendary Artur ALEKSANYAN (AZE) and 2023 world champion Gabriel ROSILLO (CUB) earlier in the day, executed a gut wrench from par terre against Maskevich, then hardly budged when he was put on the bottom in the second period.

The victory gives Saravi, who won his third straight Asian title and fourth overall this year, a shot at regaining the world title he won in 2021. He also has an Olympic bronze and world silver and bronze medals to his credit.

Sargsian, a 2021 bronze medalist, earned his place in the final with a 1-1 victory over Murad AHMADIYEV (AZE), prevailing on the criteria of receiving the first of two passivity points.

Following an opening victory by technical superiority, it was Sargsian's third straight victory by a 1-1 scoreline, an aspect that is totally irrelevant to him.

"I don’t care about the score, the important thing is that they raised my hand," Sargsian said. "All my life I tried to win ahead of time, to get 8-0 in every match -- and for what? It didn’t lead to anything good. I’m 27 years old and I still have only world championship medal. So for me, three times 1-1 is the same as three times 8-0."

For Sargsian, the final gives him a chance to avenge a loss to Saravi from the 2021 World Championships, when the Iranian defeated him 6-4 in the first round in Oslo.

"I’m very glad that tomorrow I’ll finally have my long-awaited rematch with Saravi," Sargsian said. "It adds extra excitement that now he is not only a world champion, but also an Olympic champion."

At 60kg, Asian silver medalist Ganiev will get a chance to become just the second Uzbekistan wrestler to win a world Greco title after holding on to win a 5-5 thriller
over European silver medalist Georgij TIBILOV (SRB).

Ganiev was on top in par terre, trailing on criteria because he received the second passivity point, when he lifted Tibilov and executed a nifty cartwheel for a 4-pointer and a 5-4 lead.

But Tibilov, a world bronze medalist at 63kg in 2023, was not going down easily, and he pressured Ganiev at the edge for a takedown, then added a second one. But
that was all he could get, and Ganiev won on big-point criteria.

The victory avenged a 6-4 loss to Tibilov in the final of the Zagreb Open in the same arena back in February.

Uzbekistan's lone title in Greco came back in 2001, when Dilshod ARIPOV (UZB) won the 58kg gold in Patras, Greece.

Sultangali, who has world bronze medals from 2018 and 2022, will get a shot at his first gold after putting on a late surge and defeating Amiran SHAVADZE (GEO)
10-2 in the other semifinal.

Sultangali trailed 2-1 when he bulled Shavadze over for a 4-point takedown with :30 left, then added a gut wrench. An unsuccessful challenge made it 8-2 before Shavadze gave up the fight and allowed a stepout with fleeing penalty point with :03 left.

Kazakhstan has won five Greco world golds through three wrestlers, but hasn't had put one on the top of the medal podium since 1999, when Mkhtar MANUKYAN
(KAZ) won the second of his back-to-back titles at 63kg in Athens.

At 72kg, a second potential Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan match-up failed to come to fruition when both countries' wrestlers lost in the semifinals. Instead, it will be
Ganizade and Ghanem going at it for the second consecutive year.

Ganizade scored all of his points in the first period in a 5-0 victory over Asian silver medalist Abdullo ALIEV (UZB). He slipped behind for a takedown, then added a gut wrench before getting the lone passivity point to cap the first period.

In the other semifinal, Ghanem was leading a close match 3-2 as it was winding down when he countered Merey MAULITKANOV (KAZ) for 4-point throw.

Maulitkanov just remained lying on the mat, officially giving Ghanem a victory by fall in 5:49.

RESULTS

Greco-Roman

60kg (25 entries)
SF 1: Aidos SULTANGALI (KAZ) df. Amiran SHAVADZE (GEO) by TF, 10-2, 5:57
SF 2: Alisher GANIEV (UZB) df. Georgij TIBILOV (SRB), 5-5

72kg (30 entries)
SF 1: Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE) df. Abdullo ALIEV (UZB), 5-0
SF 2: Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA) df. Merey MAULITKANOV (KAZ) by Fall, 5:49 (7-2)

97kg (29 entries)
SF 1: Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) df. Kiryl MASKEVICH (UWW), 3-1
SF 2: Artur SARGSIAN (UWW) df. Murad AHMADIYEV (AZE), 1-1