Turkish Nationals

Demirhan, Tosun, and Yesilirmak Punch Tickets to World and European Championships

Wednesday, January 9, 2019 - 17:05 By Eric Olanowski

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YALOVA, Turkey (January 9) - The Turkish Women’s Wrestling National Championships came to an end in Yalova, Turkey, and U23 world champions Evin DEMIRHAN and Buse TOSUN, and 2018 world runner-up Elif YESILIRMAK were among the winners.

Of the ten tournament champions, nine wrestlers punched their tickets to the 2019 World and European Championships. Yasin ADAR, the 2017 world champion and 2018 world runner-up did not compete at this weekend's National Championships but will be Turkey's 76kg representative at the World and European Championships.

In his opening ceremony speech, Turkish Wrestling Federation President Musa Aydin talked about the importance of September's Astana World Championships, saying, "Our first goal is the 2019 World Championships because there's now an Olympic quota. Athletes entering the top 6 in 2019 will receive a visa. We want to ensure that our athletes receive their visas one year in advance. Our goal is to join the Olympics by creating the best wrestling team in the world in 2020." 

The 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan will be the most important Olympic Games in Turkish women's wrestling history. Turkey has won 63 Olympic medals, 29 of those being gold, at the Olympic Games, but they've all come from freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestlers. 

Six Turkish women have qualified for the Olympic Games, but have all fell short of winning a medal. Their highest finishes came at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games when Buse Tosun, who won the 68kg gold medal this weekend, and Hafize SAHIN finished in seventh-place. 

Elif Yesilirmak, who won the 62kg gold medal this weekend, was the first and lone Turkish women to wrestle at the 2008 London Olympics. She also competed in the 2016 Olympic Games, and has the opportunity to become the first Turkish woman to qualify for three Olympic Games. 

You can watch the Turkish women's wrestling team compete at the first Ranking Series event of the year, the Ivan Yaryin, which begins on January 24 in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.

Click HERE to read the full story from the Turkish Wrestling Federation. 

RESULTS

50kg
GOLD - Evin DEMIRHAN 
SILVER - Aynur ERGE 
BRONZE - Funda TUKENMEZ 
BRONZE - Zehra DEMIRHAN 
 

53kg 
GOLD - Zeynep YETGIL 
SILVER - Emine ÇATALOGLU 
BRONZE - Elif Büşra KOCA 
BRONZE - Fikriye GOK

55kg  
GOLD - Bedia DAY 
SILVER - Elif YILMAZ 
BRONZE - Aysun ERGE 
BRONZE Esra PUL 

57kg  
GOLD - Mehlika OZTURK 
SILVER - Ozge FINDIKCI 
BRONZE - Nurife DUMAN 
BRONZE - Nuray KARADUMAN


59kg  
GOLD - Elif YANIK 
SILVER - Derya BEYHAN 
BRONZE - Dilan KAYA 
BRONZE - Gizem KABAK 
 

65kg 
GOLD - Asli TUGCU 
SILVER - Cansu AKSOY 
BRONZE - Merve KARADENIZ 
BRONZE - Asli DEMIR 

62kg 
GOLD - Elif YESILIRMAK 
SILVER - İlknur BATIR 
BRONZE - Damla ARSLAN 
BRONZE - Cemile UNUDAN 

68kg
GOLD - Buse TOSUN 
SILVER - Kadriye AKSOY 
BRONZE - Sehernur BULUT 
FOURTH - Aysegul SEVER 

72kg  
GOLD - Merve PULA 
SILVER - Tugba SWORD 
BRONZE - Bester ANDERSON 

76kg 
GOLD - Aysegul OZBEGE 
SILVER - Mehtap GULTEKIN 
BRONZE - Fatma KANLIADA 

#WrestleTirana

Kamal soars high with Tirana Ranking Series gold

Sunday, March 2, 2025 - 00:02 By Vinay Siwach

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TIRANA, Albania (March 1) -- The last time Kerem KAMAL (TUR) was in action internationally, he did not have a favorable outcome. A bloody battle with Georgij TIBILOV (SRB) ended in a loss at the European Championships.

But Kamal, who impressed all with his performance at all the age-group World Championships and continentals, started the 2025 season with a scintillating victory at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series, capturing the 63kg gold medal.

The 2022 U23 world champion was in his elements as he defeated Doolotbek CHOIBEKOV (KGZ), 10-0, in the final with two big throws for four points each. His first shoulder throw gave him a 4-0 lead, then he got the par terre position from which he performed a suplex for four points to win in just over a minute. Choibekov challenged for a leg-foul but Kamal's movements were clean.

In his earlier bouts, he defeated Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) 5-1 in the quarterfinals with some incredible defense from par terre in the first period. When Mohsen Nejad tried to turn Kamal, the Turkish wrestler moved forward on the mat to break Mohsen Nejad's grip.

Mohsen Nejad needed to score to break Kamal's 1-1 criteria lead and tried a big throw which Kamal blocked and pinned Mohsen Nejad on the mat for four points.

"At the Turkish Championships six weeks ago, I moved up to the new weight class of 63kg," Kamal said. "This time I competed against very strong opponents like Mohsen Nejad from Iran and [Razvan] Arnaut from Romania. I’m happy that I was able to win all my matches. It was a good start to the new year.

Kamal will now be busy for the preparation of European Championships to be held in second week of April in Bratislava, Slovakia.

"I’m not yet 100 percent fit," he said. "I focused a lot on endurance training during the training camp, and my preparations are fully aligned with the European Championships. I wanted to test my ground defense -- I did a good job [in Tirana] but I will work even harder to make sure I can reach my full potential at the European Championships."

Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ)Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) throws Valentin PETIC (MDA) for four points during the 67kg final in Tirana. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Kyrgyzstan did win a gold medal as U23 world champion Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) brought out his best in the final against Valentin PETIC (MDA), beating the Moldovan 11-0 to capture the 67kg gold medal.

This was the second gold medal for Kyrgyzstan in Tirana after Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ) won the 77kg gold medal on Friday.

Beishekeev, the U23 world champion last year in Tirana, needed only the first par terre position to complete the technical superiority win over Petic. He went for the reverse left and scored four points and as Petic landed on his back, Beishekeev went for the fall. However, Petic blocked Beishekeev with his hands on legs was docked two caution points.

With a 7-0 lead and restart in par terre, Beishkeev once again went for the reverse lift and scored a four-pointer to complete the 11-0 win.

RESULTS

63kg
GOLD: Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Doolotbek CHOIBEKOV (KGZ), 10-0

BRONZE: Baiaman APILOV (KGZ) df. Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) df. Razvan ARNAUT (ROU), 3-1

67kg
GOLD: Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) df. Valentin PETIC (MDA), 11-0

BRONZE: Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO) df. Madiyar MAULITKANOV (KAZ), 7-2
BRONZE: Bagdat SABAZ (KAZ) df. Lei LI (CHN), 9-1