Junior Asian Championships

Iran Bags 3 Greco Golds on Opening Day of Junior Asian C'ships

By United World Wrestling Press

CHON BURI, Thailand (July 9) - Iran claimed three of the five gold medals in Greco-Roman on the opening day of the Junior Asian Championships in Chon Buri, Thailand.

Winning gold medals for Iran were Mohammad NAGHOUSI (77kg), Hasan FOROUZANDEH GHOJEHBEIGLOU (87kg) and Aliakbar YOUSOFIAHMADCHALI (IRI). The other two gold medals were won by India and Kazakhstan. 

Iran's first champion, Naghousi, came back to defeat Akylbek TALANTBEKOV (KGZ) 6-3 at 77kg in a battle of cadet world bronze medalists. Talantbekov controlled the first period, scoring a passivity point and then a gut wrench to grab a 3-0 lead at the break. With just over a minute remaining, Naghousi scored a takedown to cut the deficit to 3-2 before executing a four-point throw to go up by three and eventually give him the victory. Naghousi won a gold medal at the Cadet Asian Championships last year.

Forouzandeh Ghojehbeiglou topped Meirbek KORDABAY (KAZ) 5-1 to earn the gold medal at 87kg. Kordabay scored the first point of the match off a passivity, but the Iranian dominated the rest of the way. He scored a takedown midway through the first period to go up 2-1. Forouzandeh Ghojehbeiglou added to his lead in the second period, scoring a point off a passivity before adding two more points off a gut wrench.  

Yousofiahmadchali, a U23 world bronze medalist, dominated Aawesh AAWESH (IND) in the gold-medal match at 130kg. The Iranian heavyweight scored points off a passivity and a step out to go up 2-0 before throwing Aawesh to his back late in the first period to secure a fall. 

Junior world bronze medalist Vijay VIJAY (IND) improved on his Junior Asian Championships finish from a year ago, winning the gold medal at 55kg after earning a silver last year . He shut out past cadet world bronze medalist Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB) 4-0 in the gold-medal match at 55kg. Vijay scored a passivity point in the first period, and then added three step-out points in the final two minutes of the match.

At 63kg, Assaukhat MUKHAMADIYEV (KAZ) held on to edge Saeid ARJMANDDASHTAKI (IRI) 2-2 on criteria in the gold-medal match at 63kg. Arjmanddashtaki scored first with a step out, but Mukhamadiyev responded with a step out of his own and took the criteria lead into the break. The Iranian retook the lead in the second period, scoring off a passivity, but just like in the first period, Mukhamadiyev would respond. He scored off a passivity with just over a minute remaining to take the lead and held on for the criteria win. 

The five remaining Greco-Roman weight categories, 60kg, 67kg, 72kg, 82kg and 97kg, will be contested Wednesday at the Junior Asian Championships, with action set to begin at 10 a.m. local time. 

RESULTS

Greco-Roman

55kg
GOLD - Vijay VIJAY (IND) df. Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB), 4-0
BRONZE - Donghyeok WON (KOR) df. Koichi TSUTSUMI (JPN), 2-1
BRONZE - Zhanibek ISSAKHANOV (KAZ) df. Sahatsawat PHUANGKAEO (THA), 9-0

63kg
GOLD - Assaukhat MUKHAMADIYEV (KAZ) df. Saeid ARJMANDDASHTAKI (IRI), 2-2
BRONZE - Ryota KOSHIBA (JPN) df. Javokhirbek SAMATOV (UZB), 8-3
BRONZE - Sangjun PARK (KOR) df. Nursultan MAKHMUDOV (KGZ), 5-4

77kg
GOLD - Mohammad NAGHOUSI (IRI) df. Akylbek TALANTBEKOV (KGZ), 6-3
BRONZE - Nao KUSAKA (JPN) df. Zhalgasov DAULET (KAZ), 8-0
BRONZE - Dilshod OMONGELDIYEV (UZB) df. Bahetijiang KELAN (CHN), 7-0

87kg
GOLD - Hasan FOROUZANDEH GHOJEHBEIGLOU (IRI) df. Meirbek KORDABAY (KAZ), 5-1
BRONZE - Ryohta NASUKAWA (JPN) df. Han LEI (CHN), FALL 
BRONZE - Kumar SUNIL (IND) df. Azat SALIDINOV (KGZ), 10-7

130kg
GOLD - Aliakbar Hossein YOUSOFIAHMADCHALI (IRI) df. Aawesh AAWESH (IND), FALL 
BRONZE - Alibek SARSENGALIYEV (KAZ) df. Ilyosbek GULOMJONOV (UZB), 8-0
 

#UnitedWorldWrestling

UWW successfully hosts first-ever World Conference

By United World Wrestling Press

ZAGREB, Croatia (September 24) -- United World Wrestling successfully hosted its first-ever World Conference in Zagreb, Croatia from September 17 to 19.

UWW President Nenad LALOVIC welcomed all the guest to the conference, held during the World Championships in Zagreb, and led the floor with discussions on Artificial Intelligence in wrestling, Amateur MMA, developing wrestling and the impact of social media to keep wrestling at the top.

Nenad LALOVICUnited World Wrestling President Nenad LALOVIC at the World Conference. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

"On behalf of United World Wrestling, I wish you a warm welcome in Zagreb first, but to this conference too," Lalovic said. "We had this idea maybe almost a decade ago. We were seeking for a platform, how these good relations among wrestlers and the national federations can improve our sport."

Injury prevention, weight management, career transitions for wrestlers, as well as the future of the sport were some of the key discussions during the three-day event at the Westin Hotel.

Kolinda GRABAR-KITAROVICInternational Olympic Committee member and former President of Croatia Kolinda GRABAR-KITAROVIC.

Former President of Croatia and International Olympic Committee member Kolinda GRABAR-KITAROVIC marked her presence at the historic event in capital city of Croatia.

Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Croatia State Secretary Josip PAVIC was also present at the conference and expressed his gratitude for entrusting Croatia for hosting the championships and the conference. Croatia Wrestling Federation President Vladimir BREGOVIC, Dean of University of Kinesiology, Zagreb Prof. Mario BAIC and numerous other stakeholders marked their presence at the conference.

On day one of the conference, UWW's growth in media and digital transformation was discussed with focus on strategy, social media, partnership and equipment and new technologies. The discussion then headed to Beach Wrestling and Associated Styles with Amateur MMA and Grappling as the main topics.

Zack ERRETT

The second day of the conference saw UWW Educator Zach ERRETT explaining the rules of Beach Wrestling, International Testing Agency Senior Legal Counsel Ayesha TALPADE presenting details of anti-doping program, followed by a panel discussion.

Kuniko TANIOKA, President of the Shigakkan University in Japan, led the discussion on sport nutrition and weight management along with UWW Medical Commission members Saam FALAHATI, Ioannis BARBAS and Szabolcs MOLNAR.

Former wrestlers shared their experiences on transitioning from wrestling to other jobs. Neven and Nenad ZUGAJ were among the panellists that also included Mijain LOPEZ, Taha AGKUL, Arsen JULFALAKYAN, Don RYAN, Alexei BAZULIN, Erica WEIBE, Bruce BAUMGARTNER.

Sofia MATTSSON

Head of the United States women's team Terry STEINER presented the "coaching the women's" part on day three. He explained how to support and train women wrestlers and led the panel that also had Tanioka, Marwa AMRI, Vincent AKA, Sofia MATTSSON, Wiebe and Nadine PIETSCHMAN.

"Depending on the success of this first World Conference, we will decide if in the future it will be a biannual one or a quadrennial one. Maybe every year if you have so much to say," Lalovic said. "World Championships is the best opportunity for that because people are already here. This physical presence is always more efficient."

WorkshopA national federation workshop organized by United World Wrestling in Zagreb.

NF workshop

UWW also organized a workshop for the National Federations. UWW Sports Director Jean-Daniel REY and UWW Development Director Deqa NIAMKEY welcomed various NFs which had registered for the workshop.

Capacity building, finance and event organization were the key topics at the workshop. Croatia Wrestling Federation Secretary General Tin BREGOVIC, Professor of Kinesiology Nenad BORKOVIC, Professional Master in Social Innovation and Management Ivan BLAZEVIC led a panel discussion on the topic as they were part of the organizing committee for the World Championships in Zagreb.

Azerbaijan, Brazil, Spain and Thailand presented case studies related to event organization and the challenges of competitions.