#WrestleBirmingham

Commonwealth Games, Birmingham Day 2 finals set

Saturday, August 6, 2022 - 09:13 By Vinay Siwach

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COVENTRY, England (August 6) -- The second day of the Commonwealth Games is live from the Coventry Arena. Three freestyle and three women's wrestling weight classes will be in action again. Ravi KUMAR (IND) and Vinesh PHOGAT (IND) are the big stars in action.

MATCH ORDER

13:05: Madison PARKS (CAN) with an underhook for four in the final second to win 9-6 against Pooja GEHLOT (IND) who was leading 6-0 at one point of the bout. Parks will wrestle for the gold

12:55: Nishant RANDHAWA (CAN) shuts out Tayab RAZA (IND) 7-0 to make it to the 97kg final. He will wrestle U20 world bronze medalist Nicolaas DE LANGE (RSA) for the gold.

12:50: Ravi KUMAR (IND) is into the final at 57kg and he will wrestle Ebikewenimo WELSON (NGR).

12:40: Muhammad TAHIR (PAK) will wrestle NAVEEN (IND) for the gold at 74kg after he beats Cole HAWKINS (NZL) 11-0.

12:35: The first finalist at 74kg is NAVEEN (IND). He beats Charlie BOWLING (ENG) 12-1 in just over three minutes to reach the gold medal bout

12:30: Justina DI STASIO (CAN) with a solid 6-0 win over Pooja SIHAG (IND) to enter the final at 76kg. She will wrestle Hannah RUEBEN (NGR) who defeated Georgina NELTHORPE (ENG) 6-1 in the other semifinal.

12:15: Nishan RANDHAWA (CAN) and Deepak NEHRA (IND) with a thrilling bout. Nehra had a 4-4 criteria lead at the break but Randhawa scored a takedown to lead 6-6 before Nehra made it 6-6 with 22 seconds left. Randhawa then scored a stepout with three seconds left to win 7-6

11:55: Muhammad TAHIR (PAK) and Jasmit PHULKA (CAN) with a top battle at 74kg. Phulka got awarded the point for Tahir's passivity and Tahir scored a stepout to lead 1-1. With less than 30 seconds left, Tahir moved Phulka to the zone from where he was warned for fleeing. Canada challenged the call and lost which gave Tahir a 3-1 lead. Phulka was forced into par terre from where Tahir managed two more to win 5-1

11:25: Huge bout at 53kg in Round 2. Vinesh PHOGAT (IND) up against Mercy ADEKUOROYE (NGR). Phogat with an early takedown using a go behind. She then goes for a leg cross and gets two more to lead 4-0 at the break. Phogat with underhook to put Adekuoroye on the back and she is looking for the pin. The two remain in danger for the remaining time. Phogat wins 6-0

11:13:  Madison PARKS (CAN) scores a huge 12-0 win over Shriyanthika NIROSHANI (SRI) to book her semifinal berth against Pooja GEHLOT (IND)

11:03: What a bout we had on Mat A at 74kg. Jasmit PHULKA (CAN) and Nicolae COJOCARU (SCO) continued some high-paced wrestling. Cojocaru led 5-5 on criteria with 30 seconds left but Phulka used his experience to score a takedown and ran the clock down to 4 seconds. He wins 7-4

10:50: Vinesh PHOGAT (IND) with a fall over world bronze medalist Samantha STEWART (CAN). Her second bout will be against Mercy ADEKUOROYE (NGR) who won 10-0 against Chamodya KESHANI (SRI) at 53kg 

10:45: Miesinnei GENESIS (NGR) with a 9-0 win over Madison PARKS (CAN) and Pooja GEHLOT (IND) defeats Christelle LETCHIDJIO (SCO) 12-2 and both reach the semifinals at 50kg

10:30: Welcome to day two of the Commonwealth Games. Big names in the competition here with India and Canada expected to dominate the day. Women's 50kg and 53kg will follow the Nelson system

#WrestleTirana

Paris medalists Valiev, Amouzad make golden return in Tirana

Wednesday, February 26, 2025 - 20:04 By Vinay Siwach

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TIRANA, Albania (February 26) -- Three Paris Olympic medalists were in action on day one of the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series event and two returned with medals.

Chermen VALIEV (ALB) and Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI), medalists at 74kg and 65kg, have announced themselves as early contenders for their respective continental championships. Islam DUDAEV (ALB), the third Paris medalist in action on Thursday, lost his 1/8 final at 65g.

Returning to action for the first time since winning the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics, Valiev claimed the gold medal at 74kg in Tirana, Albania. To make the victory sweeter, he defeated four-time European champion Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) in the final at home.

Salkazanov has won gold medal at the European Championships for four straight editions and was expected to win this year, especially with the tournament to be held in Bratislava, Slovakia. But with Valiev beating Salkazanov, the odds have changed.

Chermen VALIEV (ALB)Chermen VALIEV (ALB) and Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) in a tangle during the 74kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

The two wrestlers were matched up for similar style of wrestling and were slow off the blocks. Valiev, however, kept his half shots on which forced Salkazanov to be on the activity clock. Valiev was up 1-0 at the break.

Valiev followed a similar strategy in the second period and Salkazanov was again put on the activity clock and Valiev led 2-0. The score was too steep for Salkazanov and his desperate attempts in the end as Valiev won 2-0.

Albania's other Paris Olympic bronze medalist Islam DUDAEV (ALB) did not have a similar luck at 65kg as he lost to Kaisei TANABE (JPN) and finished without a medal.

However, Paris silver medalist at 65kg Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) expectedly made it to the final and won gold medal after a 5-1 win over Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ).

He opened the scoring with a takedown and continued with his attacks. A takedown on the edge made it 4-0 and Zhumashbek Uulu was cautioned for fleeing which made it 5-0. Amouzad took a step back and was content with the lead.

Zhumashbek Uulu got a point at the end for negative wrestling from Amouzad but that did not stop the Iranian from winning 5-1.

The second gold medal for Iran was won by Ali MOMENI (IRI), who was in Tirana last year for the U23 World Championships and won bronze medal. He earned gold at 57kg with a fall over Aiaal BELOLYUBSKII (TJK) in the second period.

Momeni was down 2-1 at the break but never looked worried about the match up against Belolyubskii. A half whipover from Momeni in the second period caught Belolyubskii unbalanced and Momeni was quick to hold him on the mat and get the fall.

Momeni's gold more or less confirms his spot on the Asian Championships team as he also defeated Hadi REZAEI (IRI) in the first match who could have made a claim for the spot if he had won.

Despite the loss, Belolyubskii can take heart from the fact that he became the first Tajik wrestler to win a medal at a Ranking Series event. He opened his day with a 4-1 win over Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO), dominated Weiyu LI (CHN) for an 8-1 win and defeated Sultan KURMANALIYEV (KAZ) 10-4 in semifinals.

Japan won two gold medals as well, another example of the serious depth it has in wrestling.

Asian silver medalist Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) was up against former European champion Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) but remained unfazed in his 4-1 victory at 70kg. Tevanyan would be upset with his approach in the final as he defended a little too much.

As Aoyagi led 1-0 after the break, Tevanyan got the criteria 1-1 lead for Aoyagi's passivity. However, the referees deemed Tevanyan passive one more time and Aoyagi kept Tevanyan from scoring to lead 2-1. Any further attempts from Tevanyan were also thwarted by Aoyagi who got two more points for a throw at the end.

Takara SUDA (JPN)Takara SUDA (JPN) defeated Nachyn MONGUSH (UWW) in the 61kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

At 61kg, Takara SUDA (JPN) upset former U23 world champion Nachyn MONGUSH (UWW) in a thrilling final.

Suda was quick off the blocks and scored a stepout and then hit a double leg for a 3-0 lead. Mongush stopped Suda with a chestwrap and then exposed him for two points. A reversal made it 4-2 before Suda got a takedown to lead 6-2 at the break.

Mongush began the second period with an attempted headpinch but Suda blocked it and pinned Mongush on the mat for two points to lead 8-2. Just when it seemed like he will run away with the gold medal, Mongush mounted a comeback. He scored a stepout and Suda was cautioned for fleeing.

With the score 8-4, Mongush scored another stepout and managed a takedown with 31 seconds left on the clock. A stepout without fleeing made it 8-8 but Suda kept the criteria lead for four two-point moves. He held on for the remaining 11 seconds and won the gold medal.

RESULTS

57kg
GOLD: Ali MOMENI (IRI) df. Aiaal BELOLYUBSKII (TJK), via fall

BRONZE: Almaz SMANBEKOV (KGZ) df. Merey BAZARBAYEV (KAZ), 3-2
BRONZE: Sultan KURMANALIYEV (KAZ) df. Weiyu LI (CHN), 9-9

61kg
GOLD: Takara SUDA (JPN) df. Nachyn MONGUSH (UWW), 8-8

BRONZE: Mukhamed BALGABAY (KAZ) df. Stilyan ILIEV (BUL), 7-0
BRONZE: Artem GOBAEV (UWW) df. Leomid COLESNIC (MDA), 3-0 

65kg
GOLD: Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) df. Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ), 5-1

BRONZE: Bilol SHARIP UULU (KGZ) df. Kaisei TANABE (JPN), 3-1
BRONZE: Real WOODS (USA) df. Kaiji OGINO (JPN), 9-1

70kg
GOLD: Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) df Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM), 4-1

BRONZE: Vasile DIACON (MDA) df. Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO), 10-0 
BRONZE: William LEWAN (USA) df. James GREEN (USA), 4-3

74kg
GOLD: Chermen VALIEV (ALB) df. Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK), 2-0

BRONZE: Yones EMAMI (IRI) df. Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ), 6-1
BRONZE: Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN) df. Magoma DIBIRGADZHIEV (UWW), 1-1

86kg
GOLD: Chandler MARSTELLER (USA) df. Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ), 2-0

BRONZE: Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO) df. Mukhammad ABDULLAEV (KGZ), via fall (4-8)
BRONZE: Rustem MYRZAGALIYEV (KAZ) df. Sebastian JEZIERZANSKI (POL), 8-1