#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

Valiev outsmarts Sidakov again to reach Worlds final

By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (September 14) -- For five minutes and 50 seconds in both the 74kg semifinals, there was little indication that the results will change. But 10 seconds were enough for Chermen VALIEV (ALB) and Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) to change the outcome.

Valiev was down 4-2 against Zaurbek SIDAKOV (UWW) but managed to elevate the latter's leg from an attack before tripping him on the edge for a two-point takedown, taking a 4-4 criteria lead with three seconds remaining.

Sidakov tried a desperate attack but gave up another takedown even in that short time as Valiev reached his first-ever World Championships final on debut in Zagreb, Croatia.

Takahashi was down 4-1 against Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) but the Japanese scored a takedown and turned Salkazanov through a gut-wrench to lead 5-4. He still had 6 seconds to defend and he managed to do it with ease. Slovakia challenged for fleeing from Takahashi but that was lost which added an additional point to make it 6-4.

Valiev and Takahashi, both with clutch wins, will now clash in the 74kg final for the world title on Monday.

Three other weight classes were also in action on Sunday and the United States was the only country to put two wrestlers in the finals -- Levi HAINES (USA) at 79kg and Trent HIDLAY (USA) at 92kg.

Haines, who stunned world champion Akhmed USMANOV (UWW) in the quarterfinals, scored a controlled 4-1 victory over Suldkhuu OLONBAYAR (MGL) in the semifinals. Olonbayar got the first point via passivity of Haines but the U.S. wrestler scored a counter exposure for two points and take a 2-1 lead.

He scored a ankle pick for another two-point takedown and defended his 4-1 lead for the win and reach the final, a surprise in a tough 79kg bracket.

On Monday, he will try to stop Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) from becoming Greece's first-ever wrestling world champion in history. The European champion from Greece showed some of the most high-paced wrestling in the semifinal against world silver medalist Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI) to win 8-3.

Nokhodi, was often stood squared-up, had no answered to Kougioumtsidis' constant attacks as the Greece wrestlers led 6-3 at the break. He scored a single-leg takedown in the second period and won 8-3.

Hidlay, who has switched levels in his career this year, reached the final at 92kg after destroying world silver medalist Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE), 15-4, in the semifinals.

Nurmagomedov was in the match when the score was 5-4 with 2:23 left but Hidlay switch gears since, scoring a go-behind, a feet-to-back four-pointer and a takedown to finish with a technical superiority win.

He will face Amanula GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (UWW) for the gold medal after Gadzhimagomedov managed to hold off Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) for an 11-6. Firouzpour, who had multiple age-group world titles, kept shooting for Gadzhimagomedov's legs but the UWW wrestler kept countering those attack with lift exposures.

Gadzhimagomedov then sealed the win with stepout, handing him a 9-6 lead and a takedown finishing the match 11-6.

Harutyunyan pinned after Lee heroics

Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) undoubtedly had the most impressive win of the morning session when he defeated Olympic silver medalist Spencer LEE (USA) 14-3 in the quarterfinals.

The win put Harutyunyan as the favorite to advance to the final at 57kg. However, Asian champion Chongsong HAN (PRK) had different ideas. He hit a lateral drop on Harutyunyan in the semifinals and secured a fall to enter the final. Han is the first Freestyle wrestler from the DPR Korea to enter the final in 11 years.

Han will now try to become a world champion when he takes on Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ) in the 57kg final after the Kyrgyz wrestler took it to Paris Olympic bronze medalist Gulomjon ABDULLAEV (UZB), winning 8-0.

Abdullaev seemed to have burnt out from the earlier matches and had little fight left in him as Almaz Uulu scored points at his will in the semifinals including four stepouts.

RESULTS

57kg
GOLD: Chongsong HAN (PRK) vs. Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ)

SF 1: Chongsong HAN (PRK) df. Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM), via fall
SF 2: Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ) df. Gulomjon ABDULLAEV (UZB), 8-0

74kg
GOLD: Chermen VALIEV (ALB) vs. Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN)

SF 1: Chermen VALIEV (ALB) df. Zaurbek SIDAKOV (UWW), 6-4
SF 2: Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) df. Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK), 6-4

79kg
GOLD: Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) vs. Levi HAINES (USA)

SF 1: Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) df. Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI), 8-3
SF 2: Levi HAINES (USA) df. Suldkhuu OLONBAYAR (MGL), 4-1

92kg
GOLD: Trent HIDLAY (USA) vs. Amanula GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (UWW)

SF 1: Trent HIDLAY (USA) df. Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE), 15-4
SF 2:  Amanula GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (UWW) df. Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI), 9-6