#WrestleAlmaty

With Brother on His Side, Mohammadreza Geraei Hopes to Make Tokyo Special

Saturday, April 10, 2021 - 05:07 By Vinay Siwach

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Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) won the gold at Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Almaty. (UWW: Sachiko HOTAKA)

"He got it done in Nur-Sultan. I did it in Almaty. Now, we will do it in Tokyo."

Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) is a proud brother. Less than two years after his elder brother Mohammadali qualified Iran for the Tokyo Olympics at 77kg (GR) through the Nur-Sultan World Championships, the younger did the same at 67kg at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Almaty, Kazakhstan on Friday. Now, he is ready to capture the coveted medal alongside his brother come August in the Japanese capital.

"It's a pleasure and honor to go to the Olympics with my brother, and he can definitely help me develop and reach the goal of winning an Olympic medal," Geraei said. "Having him there is great as a partner, support system and teacher."

Mohammadali, popularly known as 'The Falcon,' is a two-time world medalist and has been one of the most consistent Iranian wrestlers in recent times.

The products of the famous Takhti Academy in Iran, the two brothers have been each others' motivators since childhood. Two of the three kids of the Geraeis, Mohammadreza has been following in the footsteps of his two-year elder brother Mohammadali, thanks to their father.

"I am very lucky to come from a wrestling family. My father pushed me into wrestling at a very young age," he says.

 

Wrestling since the age of 10, Geraei quickly became one of the best talents to come out of Iran. Not only he has qualified Iran for the Games, he won the gold medal later in the evening with 9-0 thrashing of two-time world champion and Korean legend Hansu RYU (KOR).

It was not the only technical superiority win for him on Friday, though. Geraei began his day just liked his finished, with a 9-0 win. Up against Sheroz OCHILOV (TJK) in the qualifying round, he completed a 52-second 8-0 win with two bodylock throws.

The quarterfinals were no different as he handed Ahmad Mahmoud Ahmed DAHSHAN (JOR) an 8-0 thrashing. With one step away from joining his brother in Tokyo, Geraei brought his best against Asian Championships bronze medalist ASHU (IND). After winning a point for Ashu's passivity, the Iranian made little work of the Indian with big throws taking two, four and two points.

"Everything worked for my benefit. I have been preparing for this and my body is prepared," he said. "I was able to achieve what I was training for and I will continue to do so."

Even after that, the '19 champion knew the task was still not finished. Facing the veteran Ryu in final, he went right after a reverse lift from the par terre position. Leading 5-0 lead at the break, he came back to hit another four-point throw and completed a 3-minute 45-second win at an empty Baluan Sholak Palace of Culture and Sports.

Asian Olympic Qualifier, Almaty

Born in the Shiraz city in southern Iran, Geraei was pushed into wrestling by his father to continue hia family's tradition.

"We are three brothers. Our development coach Rahim Givi is one of best who helped me a lot and my family always supported me," he says. "We were always committed to wrestling and there was little to no time for other things."

Despite a great base, Gereai found that success at the international stage was hard to come by. After a few wins at the junior level, he failed to claim the big medals. Even after regular participation, the medal at world level eluded him.

In 2019 he made the world take notice as he became the Asian champion at 72kg in Xi'an, China. In the same year, he became world champion. In an incredible run at the U23 World Championships in Budapest, Geraei handed defeats to two former age-group champions to claim the gold medal.

Also Read: Geraei Dominates Ryu in Greco 67kg Final After Both Qualify for Tokyo

Just when things were looking up, life came to a standstill. A few weeks before the World Championships in Nur-Sultan when he was preparing to compete in the tournament, he injured his lower back. Despite all his efforts, he failed to be fit for the Championships.

"That is the worst moment of my career. I wanted to wrestle at the World Championships," he recalled. Then COVID-19 hit, derailing his plans to qualify for the Games in 2020.

Despite all the hardships, he kept himself motivated with the goal of going to the Olympics and remembering all the Iranian legends who had done it before. The two brothers had set up gym at their home in Shiraz. The two would even wrestle each other in a six-minute bout.

"We have never competed officially but we practice all the time," he said. "My brother always beats me. He is better than me but I keep on going after him."

Geraei now wants the friendly banter to turn into real-time motivation in Tokyo. It's not like the two brothers have not won medals at the same Games. In 2018, while Mohammadali won the gold medal at the 77kg category, the younger brother claimed the bronze medal at the 67kg weight category in Jakarta, Indonesia, Geraei went to claim the bronze medal.

While it was a special moment, Gereai thinks the best is yet to come.

"The best moment will be in Tokyo. Just wait"

#BeachWrestling

Zenkina, Khoma power Ukraine to top at U20 Beach Wrestling Worlds

Monday, September 29, 2025 - 09:52 By Vinay Siwach

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KATERINI-PIERRIA, Greece (September 28) -- Riding on inspiring performances by former world U17 champion Mariia ZENKINA (UKR) and European silver medalist Yelyzaveta KHOMA (UKR), Ukraine emerged as the best country at the U20 World Beach Wrestling Championships in Greece.

Out of the four gold medals on offer in women's category, Ukraine won two while Romania and Serbia won one each. In the men’s division, Iran dominated its way to the top of the team rankings.

Ukraine finished at the top of the team race with 85 points while the United States was second with 50 points. Serbia managed to finish third with 39 points.

Zenkina, a U17 World Championships silver medalist in 2022, showed her skills on the beach as well and won all her bouts, including the final, without giving up a point.

Facing compatriot Daria KONSTANTYNOVA (UKR) in the +70kg final, Zenkina got the first point when Konstantynova failed to score after being put on the 30-second activity period. Zenkina then scored via snapdown which forced Konstantynova to touch the sand with her knees.

Zenkina defended her 2-0 lead for the remaining 27 seconds to claim her second world title, the first coming at U17 level in 2021.

Khoma was equally dominant in her run to gold at 60kg but needed strong defense in the final against local favorite Evdoxia PAPADOPOULOU (GRE) to win the gold medal.

The final was off to an electric start with both wrestlers giving it a go and scoring points. It was Papadopoulou who scored the first point with a stepout and took a 1-0 lead. However, Khoma fired back with a snapdown with Papadopoulou's elbow touching the sand and she took a 1-1 criteria lead.

Papdopoulou tried forcing a stepout when Khoma used double underhooks to throw the Greece wrestler who landed on her elbow, giving one more point to Khoma. In the next exchange, Khoma tried a whizzer but she touched her head on sand before Papadopoulou's which cost her one point and the lead exchanged hands. Now, the Greece wrestler led 2-2 on criteria with two minutes remaining in the match.

Khoma wasted no time in launching her next attack and pushed Papadopoulou towards the edge of the ring. As Papadopoulou tried to counter throw, Khoma kept her balance and forced her opponent to touch the sand. This gave Khoma the winning score of 3-2 as in Beach Wrestling, the first wrestler to three points wins.

Ukraine's third finalist Alevtyna LIASHENKO (UKR) was not so lucky as she lost the 50kg final to Ana ROTARU (ROU) via fall. Rotaru hit a blast double to open the scoring in the final and take a 1-0 lead. She used a similar technique to score her second point and lead 2-0 with 53 seconds left in the match.

She left nothing to chance and hit a perfect headlock throw for three points, ending the match 5-0, and victory via fall. [A three-point move in Beach Wrestling is considered fall].

Serbia won its first-ever gold medal at the U20 World Championships after European silver medalist Masa PEROVIC (SRB) scored a fall over world U17 champion Alexandra MOISEI (MDA) to claim the top medal at 70kg.

Moisei scored the first point of the final with hip toss and take a 1-0 lead and extended it to 2-0 by avoiding a trip attempt from Perovic who fell head first and lost another point. Moisei was going for the winning third point when Perovic attempted a lateral drop. While backstepping to avoid the drop, Moisei lost her balance and Perovic used that to her advantage and dropped Moisei on the back for three points and the win.

Iran's golden double

A day after winning the U17 World Championships team title in men's category, Iran continued to dominate Beach Wrestling by winning the U20 team title as well.

Like its U17 team, Iran won two golds in U20 competition to finish at the top of the team rankings with 77 points. Moldova finished second with 57 points while Ukraine was marginally behind at third with 55.

After missing out in the final in the first two weight classes, Ramtin RAVANBAKHSH (IRI) and Mersad SHAKERI (IRI) made sure Iran doesn't miss out on the finals by reaching the gold medal bouts at 90kg and +90kg respectively.

Ravanbakhsh showed impeccable defense in the final against Alexandru BORS (MDA), a former U17 World Championships silver medalist in Freestyle, at 90kg to win the gold medal. In fact, he had to beat Bors twice.

The two first met in a Group A match, which Ravanbakhsh won 1-0, before facing again in the final, where the Iranian repeated the result.

Shakeri was more active in his matches but was tested by Kostiantyn ZADOIANCHUK (UKR) in the final. He, however, managed to hold on to a 2-0 victory.

Shakeri hit a powerful snap which completely unbalanced Zadoianchuk who touched the sand with his knee and Shakeri got the first point. Shakeri got his second point with a stepout which Zadoianchuk had no chance to defend.

At 70kg, Eduard LENARD (ROU) dashed the hopes of local fans by beating Ilias KARNAVAS (GRE) in the gold medal bout in just 44 seconds.

Karnavas was sure that he got the first point as he pushed Lenard towards the edge but Lenard managed to keep himself inside and not give up the point for stepout. As Karnavas kept pushing, Lenard hit a counter whizzer for a point to dramatically turn the advantage around and lead 1-0.

As Karnavas got on a single-leg attack in another sequence, Lenard dropped him on his back with a whizzer which was scored as three points, giving the win to the Romanian. Karnavas challenged the call but on review, the original call for three points was upheld and Lenard was announced as the winner.

Moldova earned itself a gold medal at 80kg as Gabriel OJOG (MDA) scored a victory via fall over Zurab MAMULADZE (GEO) in the final. Mamuladze tried to hit a big move on Ojog who blocked it and landed on top of Mamuladze to score three points and the victory.