Georgia Claim #WrestleBudapest GR Title Despite Two Kyrgyzstan Gold

Sunday, July 25, 2021 - 18:31 By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 25) --- Just like the freestyle and women's wrestling in Budapest, a new nation claimed the Greco-Roman team title for the first time. Georgia, which claimed two bronze medals on the final day of the cadet World Championships, won their first-ever team title in the history of the tournament.

The country did not have any finalists Sunday but it finished with two gold, a silver and three bronze medals to register with 141 points, the most among all the participants.

India had claimed their first-ever freestyle team title on Wednesday while USA won the women's team title on Friday, the first for them as well in the history of the tournament.

Ukraine finished in second position in Greco-Roman with two gold, two silver and a bronze medal, giving them 127 points. Defending champions Russia were third with 124 points that accumulated via two gold, two silver and a bronze medal.

Nuristan SUIORKULOV (KGZ) won the gold at 51kg in Budapest. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

Though they finished fourth in the team title race, Kyrgyzstan won two gold medals Sunday as Nuristan SUIORKULOV (KGZ) and Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) won their weight classes.

Suiorkulov denied Yurii TOVT (UKR) the gold medal at 51kg as he won 3-1. This is the first time in five years that a Kyrgyzstan wrestler won the cadet Worlds. Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) had achieved this feat in 2016, becoming the second only for the country.

"I am so glad to become the world champion," Suiorkulov said. "I wasn't worried during they day. I thought I was going to win the match."

Tovt was warned for passivity in the first period which gave Suiorkulov the lead and he scored two more points from the par-terre position to lead 3-0 at the break. Suiorkulov, who was also at the 2019 Worlds, was also penalized for being passive but he defended the par-terre position and the lead to claim the gold medal 3-1.

"Since my World Championship in 2019, I was preparing well," he said. "We had some tough days. During the COVID, I kept training at home."

Asked how he took up the sport of wrestling, he said that his friends made him do wrestling but he has emerged to be the most successful one. "My friends made me start my wrestling training as we were going to the gym together," he said. "Thanks you, my friends! None of them achieve such results in wrestling though."

Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) celebrates after winning the 60kg world title in Budapest. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

At 60kg, Beishekeev overcame Seyyedmostafa REZAEI DARYAKENARI (IRI) 4-1 in the final with ease. While it was the Iranian who led at the break 1-0 but Beishekeev scored four points in the second period for the win.

Rezaei Daryakenari was awarded the point for Beishekeev's passivity but failed to capitalize from the position. In the second period, the Iranian was called passive giving Beishekeev a 1-1 criteria lead. In the par terre position, Rezaei Daryakenari was called for fleeing and cautioned, added two more points to Beishekeev's score.

Iran challenged the call but the judges upheld the referee's decision. The added point for lost challenge made the score 4-1 for Beishekeev's score which remained till the clock expired.

Another Iran wrestler was denied the gold medal as Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA) defeated Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI) 2-1 at the 71kg final. Solovei was leading on criteria 1-1 but was struggling to match the pace of Abdevali in the final few seconds.

Abdevali tried to score via stepout in the final three seconds but was not awarded by the referee. Iran coaches challenged the call, claiming there was a clear stepout but the judge withheld the referee's call after the replay, giving the Moldovan wrestler the win.

Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA) is the world champion at 71kg. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

"Last time I lost to an Iran wrestler, but this time I was confident," Solovei said referring to his loss to Hojat REZAEI (IRI) at the 2019 cadet Worlds. "It's important to wrestle till the last second. Today I got the revenge. I am very happy to get the medal. I hope next year I'll get only the medals like this one."

Solovei has been training in wrestling for the last 10 years and aims to become the Olympic champion one day. "My father was a wrestler as well. He brought me to the sport when I was seven years old. Now I am training in the Olympic village and my biggest dream is to become an Olympic champion. Every day I am thinking only about that."

At 45kg, Ukraine added another gold after the one Saturday with cadet European silver medalist Nikita DEMENTIEV (UKR) denying Ozodbek KHALIMBOEV (UZB) at the 45kg weight. He snatched a close 2-1 win after scored a step out in the second period.

He was awarded passivity and led 1-0 but he failed to take advantage of the par terre position. In the seconds period, he scored a stepout with a minute and 18 seconds remaining to extend the lead to 2-0. Khalimboev was awarded point for Dementiev passivity with 34 seconds remaining. It was his chance to reverse the match but he failed to score any points on the par terre position.

Nikita DEMENTIEV (UKR) celebrates after winning the 45kg gold medal. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

"I have been waiting for that belt and for this medal for so long." Dementiev said. "After the unsuccessful European Championships where I got the silver medal, I really wanted to become a champion."

Dementiev won the gold medal for Ukraine and said that while preparing for the final, he was trying to remain positive.

"I was thinking about how to make my parents and my coaches happy," he said. "I wanted to prove myself that I can win. My final match was a bit tough, but we made it. When I was in school, there were wrestling classes and I just decided to give it a try. Little be little I started training and now it's been 6 years."

It could have been two for them and the team title but 2021 cadet European champion Vladyslav LUB (UKR) suffered a shock defeat to cadet Euros bronze medalist Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (BLR).

Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (BLR) avenged his cadet European loss to Vladyslav LUB (UKR) at the cadet Worlds on Sunday. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

Lub's strategy for the 92kg final backfired when he was awarded the passivity in the first period. He thought he would be able to score from the par terre position but Khaslakhanau's defense proved to be too much.

On the other hand, the Belarusian scored a throw for two points from the par terre in the second period to avenge his loss from the cadet European tournament just a couple of months back.

"We have been working so hard to get this medal," Khaslakhanau, who began wrestling when he was in fifth grade, said. "But it's definitely worth it. I can't even describe my emotions, but believe me it's worth it."

In his preparation for the final, the Belarussian took some motivation from the ongoing Olympics in Tokyo to keep his mind off the match.

"I tried not to think about the match," he said. "We we walking and laughing together with the coach, we were watching the Olympics on TV. Then I just came here, and did what I was supposed to do."

Next week, he will cheering for the Belarus wrestling team as wrestling at Tokyo Olympics, which are already underway, begins from August 1.

The cadet World Championships were the first Worlds to be held after 623 days, owing to the global health pandemic. Incidentally, the last World Championships – U23 – were also held in Budapest.

RESULTS GR Medal Bouts

45kg
GOLD: Nikita DEMENTIEV (UKR) df Ozodbek KHALIMBOEV (UZB), 2-1

BRONZE: Nurbolot BERDIKULOV (KGZ) df Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI), 8-0
BRONZE: Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO) df Amare FETENE (ISR), 5-0

51kg
GOLD: Nuristan SUIORKULOV (KGZ) df Yurii TOVT (UKR), 3-1

BRONZE: Rahman KARIMOV (AZE) df Hayk LYUDVIGYAN (ARM), 7-1
BRONZE: Malik GIGIEV (RUS) df Beso MAKHARADZE (GEO), 9-1

60kg
GOLD: Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) df Seyyedmostafa REZAEI DARYAKENARI (IRI), 4-1

BRONZE: SUMIT (IND) df Bagdat SABAZ (KAZ), 8-0
BRONZE: Rati KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO) df Azizbek YOLDOSHEV (UZB), via fall

71kg
GOLD: Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA) df Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI), 2-1

BRONZE: Ruslan NURULLAYEV (AZE) df Tornike MIKELADZE (GEO), 3-1
BRONZE: Dimitar RACHEV (BUL) df Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ), 9-0

92kg
GOLD: Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (BLR) df Vladyslav LUB (UKR), 3-1

BRONZE: Timur CHERNYSHEV (RUS) df Javlon TIRKASHEV (UZB), 11-3
BRONZE: Ali JALALI ABDOLVAND (IRI) df Harutyun KIRAKOSYAN (ARM), via fall

Japan Wrestling

High schooler Yoshida completes historic Japan national title double

Thursday, December 19, 2024 - 15:00 By Ken Marantz

Taizo YOSHIDA, left, battles Yuya OKAJIMA in the Greco 82kg final. (photo by Takeo YABUKI / JWF)

TOKYO (December 19) -- As the wrestling world still buzzes about those four gold medals won by Japanese men at the Paris Olympics, a rising star is emerging who looks capable of showing that there will more of that ahead.

Teenager Taizo YOSHIDA, already a senior Asian champion, became just the fourth high schooler in history to win a men's title at the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships when he triumphed at Greco 82kg on Thursday in Tokyo.

Meanwhile, Ami ISHII and Miwa MORIKAWA, who both medaled at the Non-Olympic Weight Category World Championships after failing to qualify for the Paris Olympics, regained the women's 68kg and 65kg titles, respectively.

The 18-year-old Yoshida recorded three straight technical falls before defeating veteran Yuya OKAJIMA 5-0 in the final on the opening day of the four-day tournament at Tokyo's Yoyogi No. 2 Gym that is serving as the first of two domestic qualifiers for next year's World Championships.

The other world qualifier is the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships, which will be held in June next year. Having won that tournament this year, Yoshida's victory on Thursday made him the only male high schooler to achieve the Emperor's-Meiji double.

"To win both the Meiji Cup and Emperor's Cup as a high schooler is quite a feat, and I achieved it," said Yoshida, who lost a close match in the final at last year's Emperor's Cup. "To be able to say I was the first makes me really happy."

Yoshida made his first mark on the global stage by winning the world U17 gold at 80kg in 2023. That was just a prelude for what was to come in 2024, as he won the gold at the Asian Championships, then took a bronze at the world U20 and finished fifth at the senior worlds.

He said that working on his par terre wrestling has made a difference. "Up to the Meiji Cup, I was at a level where I couldn't get a roll even once. But I worked on improving my ground wrestling, and I think this was the payoff."

Yoshida is from the same rural high school in western Japan that produced Paris Olympic champion Nao KUSAKA, and he will follow in Kusaka's footsteps and enroll at powerhouse Nippon Sports Science University (known informally as Nittaidai) in the spring as he begins his quest for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

"Takamatsu Kita High School is really out in the country, and we had few members on the [wrestling] team and not a good practice environment," Yoshida said. "But out of that an Olympic champion emerged, and that makes me believe that it is possible for me.

"I will be in my senior year of college at the time of the Los Angeles Olympics. The training situation will be at a much higher level at Nittaidai, and as a culmination of my four years, I want to win an Olympic title along with Nao."

While victory laps are not standard procedure at the Emperor's Cup, Yoshida made an exception by taking one that was more a tribute to Kusaka -- instead of a Japanese flag, he ran a quick lap with one of the towels that Kusaka's supporters brandished in Paris.

"It wasn't very exciting, but it made him happy. Maybe he'll buy me something," Yoshida joked.

JPN1 Ami ISHII scores a takedown on Mahiro YOSHITAKE in the women's 68kg final. (photo by Takeo YABUKI / JWF)

Ishii captures 7th straight major tournament title

Ishii, coming off winning her first world title with a victory at 72kg in Tirana -- which she preceded the week before by capturing the world U23 gold at 68kg -- easily plowed through a thin field to regain the 68kg Emperor's Cup crown that she won in 2023.

Ishii, who still feels the sting of a crushing, last-second loss to Nonoka OZAKI in a playoff for the Paris Olympic 68kg berth, won both of her round-robin group matches 10-0, then repeated that score in routing Asian 65kg champion Mahiro YOSHITAKE in the final.

"I lost in the qualifying for Paris, and I have set a goal of going to the Los Angeles Olympics and winning the gold," Ishii said. "My main objective is getting to Los Angeles and it started by winning today at the Emperor's Cup by focusing on each and every match."

The pain of missing out on Paris was so sharp that Ishii revealed that she did not even watch the wrestling competition, with the exception of her Ikuei University teammates Tsugumi SAKURAI and Sakura MOTOKI, who both went on to win gold medals.

"Half of me didn't want to, but I had worked so hard with Sakura and Tsugumi to make us all better, so of course I had to support them. But I didn't watch anyone else," she said, adding that she did watch other Olympic sports.

Since the playoff in January, Ishii has been among the busiest of Japan's top wrestlers. While the Olympic medalists have been barely seen outside of television appearances and hometown events -- only Ozaki is entered in this year's Emperor's Cup -- Ishii entered seven high-level tournaments, as well as a few small regional events, and won them all.

"There was no pressure that if I lost, I wouldn't qualify for something else. I was really happy to take part. And it was half-joking, half-serious, but after my first win after the playoff, I would say I was on my way to beating Akari FUJINAMI's winning streak, which was 127 at the time. Right now I am at 27 in a row."

JPN2 Miwa MORIKAWA, right, holds off Momoko KITADE in the women's 65kg final. (photo by Takeo YABUKI / JWF)

Morikawa, the 2022 world champion at 65kg, had also tried to make the Olympic team at 68kg, a quest that ended with a loss in last year's Emperor's Cup final to Ozaki. She then won a playoff to get to the non-Olympic worlds at 65kg, where she took a bronze home from Tirana.

On Thursday, Morikawa was not overly dominating. In the final, she scored four stepouts -- one with a fleeing point tacked on -- in a 5-0 victory over Momoko KITADE.

"I had aimed for winning by technical superiority, but this whole tournament, nothing went right for me," Morikawa said. "But I think I have some clear issues to work on in the future."

Morikawa has twice been foiled in a bid to make it to the Olympics, and is determined to not have to endure a third time. The domestic qualifying for Los Angeles will start with the 2026 Emperor's Cup, so for now, she will stay at 65kg and work on sharpening her game and rebuilding confidence.

"To be honest, there are strong wrestlers in every weight class. I want to dominate this weight class and, with the qualifying for Los Angeles starting [in two years], I am only thinking about improving."

jpg Yoshinosuke AOYAGI works to turn Toki OGAWA in the freestyle 70kg final. (photo by Takeo YABUKI / JWF)

Aoyagi cruises to 3rd straight freestyle 70kg crown

Another medalist from the non-Olympic worlds who made it to the top of the podium was Yoshinosuke AOYAGI, who won a third straight crown at 70kg by defeating Toki OGAWA by 10-0 technical fall in the final.

For Aoyagi, it capped a productive year in which he won a silver medal at the Asian Championships, won the title at the Meiji Cup, finished third at the world U23 (a year after placing second), then took a silver at the non-Olympic worlds in Tirana.

"I feel like I won because the flow of my matches went really well," Aoyagi said.

Acknowledging that his overseas success this year has boosted his confidence, he added that he feels pressure from within the training group at Yamanashi Gakuin University, from which he graduated last spring. That includes Kaito MORITA, who he faced and defeated 5-0 in the semifinals.

"There are guys coming up from within my own team that are steadily turning up the heat," Aoyagi said. "The semifinal was tough; to be honest, it scared me. In the final, you never know what will happen."

At freestyle 65kg, Kaisei TANABE, whose father Chikara was a bronze medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics, defeated world U23 silver medalist Kaiji OGINO 2-0 in the final to add that title to the one he won last year at 61kg.

In the semifinals, Tanabe scored a 7-2 victory over two-time world U20 champion Yuto NISHIUCHI, who had beaten him at the collegiate championships in August.

The 61kg title went to Takara SUDA in the absence of world champion and Yamanashi Gakuin teammate Masanosuke ONO, who is still recovering from a broken foot suffered en route to winning the gold in Tirana.

Day 1 Results

Freestyle

61kg (16 entries)
GOLD -- Takara SUDA df. Hiroyuki ISHIHARA, 5-2
BRONZE -- Akito MUKAIDA df. Toshihiro HASEGAWA, 6-3
BRONZE -- Takeru OIKAWA df. Haruto OURA, 4-0

65kg (17 entries)
GOLD -- Kaisei TANABE df. Kaiji OGINO, 2-0
BRONZE -- Yuto NISHIUCHI df. Reiji UCHIDA by TF, 10-0, 3:15
BRONZE -- Ryuto SAKAKI df. Yuta MIYAZAKI, 7-0

70kg (20 entries)
GOLD -- Yoshinosuke AOYAGI df. Toki OGAWA by TF, 10-0, 1:14
BRONZE -- Kanata YAMAGUCHI df. Kaito MORITA by TF, 11-0, 2:21
BRONZE -- Yuma TOMIYAMA df. Yuto MIWA, 9-6

Greco-Roman

82kg (17 entries)
GOLD -- Taizo YOSHIDA df. Yuya OKAJIMA, 5-0
BRONZE -- Konosuke TANIZAKI df. Yuto SAWADA by TF, 8-0, 1:35
BRONZE -- Reon KAKEGAWA df. Yudai KOBORI by TF, 9-0, 1:46

87kg (9 entries)
GOLD -- So SAKABE df. Daisei ISOE by TF, 8-0, 1:27
BRONZE -- Isshin ONITSUKA df. Kou FUKUSHIMA by TF, 9-1, 4:13
BRONZE -- Akira YOSHIZAWA df. Sora SATO by TF, 8-0, 3:50

97kg (12 entries)
GOLD -- Yuri NAKAZATO df. Takahiro TSURUTA, 2-1
BRONZE -- Kanta SHIOKAWA df. Hikaru ISOTANI by TF, 9-0, 1:11
BRONZE -- Riku NAKAHARA df. Sorato KANAZAWA, 11-5

Women's Wrestling

65kg (9 entries)
GOLD -- Miwa MORIKAWA df. Momoko KITADE, 5-0
BRONZE -- Nana IKEHATA df. Miyu YOSHIKAWA, 4-4
BRONZE -- Rin TERAMOTO df. Horu SATO by TF, 11-0, 4:41

68kg (6 entries)
GOLD -- Ami ISHII df. Mahiro YOSHITAKE by TF, 10-0, 2:24
BRONZE -- Seia MOCHINAGA df. Kaede MATSUYAMA, 3-1

Georgia Claim #WrestleBudapest GR Title Despite Two Kyrgyzstan Gold

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High schooler Yoshida completes historic Japan national title double