#CadetAsians

Iran Captures FS & GR Titles in Cadets Asian C’ships, Japan Shines in Women’s Wrestling

By Ali Feizasa

NUR-SULTAN, KAZAKHSTAN (July 9) --- The Cadet Asian Championships concluded in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, and Iran topped the tournament in freestyle and Greco-Roman, as Japan won team title in women’s wrestling.

In freestyle, Iran came in strong and medaled in all ten weight classes, claiming seven gold medals, one silver and one bronze, and collected 212 of the 250 possible points.

Ali ARAB FIROUZJAEI (45kg), Rahman AMOUZADKHALILI (48kg) and Ali GHOLIZADEGAN KOLOUKHI (51kg) gave Iran three golds in light weight categories but Aman AMAN from India and Kota TAKAHASHI from Japan made a gap in Iranian’s victories as captured gold medal in 55 and 60kg respectively.

Amir MOTAGHI (65kg), Amirhossein FIROUZPOURBANDPEI (80kg), Soheyl YOUSEFI SANGANI (92kg) and Salar HABIBI EHSANI (110kg) were four other Iranian champions, while Vijay VIJAY (IND) achieved the second gold medal for India at 71kg to help his team place second  (157 points) with two golds, one silver, and five bronze medalist.  The host country Kazakhstan had 8 medals (3 silver and 5 bronze) and 145 points to place third in Freestyle after Iran and India.

In Greco-Roman, Iran and Kazakhstan had a close battle for team title but Iran topped the host nation by six points.

Iran only had one more gold medal than Kazakhstan (4 gold, 2 silver, one bronze) as the host team had one more bronze medal (3 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze).

Amirreza DEHBOZORGI (48kg), Saeid ESMAEILI LEIVESI (51kg), Hojat REZAEI (65kg) and Saeid KARIMIZADEH (92kg) were four Iranian champions who helped their team gather 181points. \

Samatbek IZIMGALI (45kg), Maksat SAILAU (80kg) and Nurtaz KYDYRBAY (110kg) earned three gold medals for Kazakhstan as the host team finished in second place with 175 points, while Kyrgyzstan came third with 137 points.

The three other Greco-Roman titles went to Firuz MIRZORAJABOV from Tajikistan at 55kg, Amirbek SULTONOV from Uzbekistan at 60kg and Bakdaulet EGEMBERDIEV from Kyrgyzstan at 71kg.

In women’s wrestling, the Japanese girls achieved six medals (4 gold and 2 silver) and won the team title with 176 points. India (159 points) was in close competition as they had six medals but only one of them was gold (one gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze). 

Participating in the tournament with eight wrestlers, China team had good performance by seven medals (one gold, 3 silver, 3 bronze), collecting 138 points and placing third in team standings.

Umi ITO (46kg), Mako OONO (53kg), Ami ISHI (65kg) and Rin TERAMOTO (69kg) were the four Japanese champions as North Korea which had only three wrestlers, won two gold medals by Jin Hyang JANG (43kg) and Ji Hyang KIM (in 49kg).

Four countries shared four remaining individual titles as Mushtariy TOLIPBEKOVA from Uzbekistan at 40kg, Priyanka PRIYANKA from India at 57kg, Maral BATTSOOJ from Mongolia at 61kg and Meng DANG from China at 73kg succeed to defeat all of their rivals.

2019 Cadet’s Asian Championships Medal Winners:

Freestyle

45kg
GOLD- Ali ARAB FIROUZJAEI (IRI)
SILVER- Nodirbek YAKUBOV (UZB)
BRONZE- Suraj ANNIKERI (IND)
BRONZE-  Dastan URMATBEK UULU (KGZ)

48kg
GOLD- Rahman AMOUZADKHALILI (IRI)
SILVER- Nurdaulet BAZARBAYEV (KAZ)
BRONZE- Kamronbek KADAMOV (UZB)
BRONZE- Otgonbaatar BOLDBAATAR (MGL)

51kg
GOLD- Ali GHOLIZADEGAN KOLOUKHI (IRI)
SILVER- Samagan ULAN UULU (KGZ)
BRONZE- Merey BAZARBAYEV (KAZ)
BRONZE- Sunil SUNIL (IND)

55kg
GOLD- Aman AMAN (IND)
SILVER- Arslan RAKHIMOV (UZB)
BRONZE- Shamil KALMATOV (KGZ)
BRONZE- Mahdi VEISI (IRI)

60kg
GOLD- Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN)
SILVER- Erfan ELAHI (IRI)
BRONZE- Deepak DEEPAK (IND)
BRONZE- Akniyet TULEGENOV (KAZ)

65kg
GOLD- Amir Hossein MOTAGHI (IRI)
SILVER- Mustafo AKHMEDOV (TJK)
BRONZE- Olzhas OLZHAKANOV (KAZ)
BRONZE- Manish GOSWAMI (IND)

71kg
GOLD- Vijay VIJAY (IND)
SILVER- Shokhruh JURAEV (UZB)
BRONZE- Nurdaulet KUANYSHBAY (KAZ)
BRONZE- Nurman UMAROV (KGZ)

80kg
GOLD- Amirhossein FIROUZPOURBANDPEI (IRI)
SILVER- Bekzat AMANGALI (KAZ)
BRONZE- Pureun KIM (KOR)
BRONZE- Abubakr SHUKUROV (TJK)

92kg
GOLD- Soheyl YOUSEFI SANGANI (IRI)
SILVER- Monu DAHIYA (IND)
BRONZE- Er HURILEBATE (CHN)
BRONZE- Bekzat TAZHI (KAZ)

110kg
GOLD- Salar HABIBI EHSANI (IRI)
SILVER- Islam TAGIROV (KAZ)
BRONZE- Kumar ANIRUDH (IND)
BRONZE- Zihao HUANG (CHN)

Freestyle Team Standings:
1- Iran 212 pts
2- India 157 pts
3- Kazakhstan 145 pts
4- Uzbekistan 127 pts
5- Kyrgyzstan 95 pts
6- Japan 91 pts
7- Korea 65 pts
8- Mongolia 63 pts
9- Tajikistan 55 pts
10- China 54 pts
11- Turkmenistan 30 pts
12- Saudi Arabia 20 pts
13- Taipei Chinese 12 pts
14- Jordan 10 pts
15- Singapore 0 point
15- Syria 0 point

Greco-Roman

45kg
GOLD- Samatbek IZIMGALI (KAZ)
SILVER- Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ)
BRONZE- Kansei KAMIYOSHI (JPN)
BRONZE- Harsh HARSH (IND)

48kg
GOLD- Amirreza DEHBOZORGI (IRI)
SILVER- Yerassyl DAULETBEK (KAZ)
BRONZE- Kuvonchbek TOSHNAZAROV (UZB)
BRONZE- Ulukbek SANSYZBAEV (KGZ)

51kg
GOLD- Saeid ESMAEILI LEIVESI (IRI)
SILVER- Arshad ARSHAD (IND)
BRONZE- Kohei YAMAGIWA (JPN)
BRONZE- Iskhar KURBAYEV (KAZ)

55kg
GOLD- Firuz MIRZORAJABOV (TJK)
SILVER- Abror ATABAEV (UZB)
BRONZE- Yerassyl KENGANOV (KAZ)
BRONZE- Parvin PATIL (IND)

60kg
GOLD- Amirbek SULTONOV (UZB)
SILVER- Seyed Danial SOHRABI (IRI)
BRONZE- Ravi RAVI (IND)
BRONZE- Didar ORAZBERDIYEV (TKM)

65kg
GOLD- Hojat REZAEI (IRI)
SILVER- Din MUKHAMED KOSHKAR (KAZ)
BRONZE- Jianwei OU (CHN)
BRONZE- Neeraj NEERAJ (IND)

71kg
GOLD- Bakdaulet EGEMBERDIEV (KGZ)
SILVER- Reza SAKI (IRI)
BRONZE- Sheroz OCHILOV (TJK)
BRONZE- Samandar BOBONAZAROV (UZB)

80kg
GOLD- Maksat SAILAU (KAZ)
SILVER- Bekzat ORUNKUL UULU (KGZ)
BRONZE- Yifan CHEN (CHN)
BRONZE- Eito NISHIDA (JPN)

92kg
GOLD- Saeid KARIMIZADEH (IRI)
SILVER- Nitesh NITESH (IND)
BRONZE- Ao SUN (CHN)
BRONZE- Djakhongir KHOSHIMOV (UZB)

110kg
GOLD- Nurtaz KYDYRBAY (KAZ)
SILVER- Sonu SONU (IND)
BRONZE- Shahrokh MIKAEILI (IRI)
BRONZE-Davran SADYKOV (KGZ)

Greco-Roman Team Standings:
1- Iran 181 pts
2- Kazakhstan 175 pts
3- Kyrgyzstan 137 pts
4- India 134 pts
5- Uzbekistan 132 pts
6- Japan 85 pts
7- China 81 pts
8- Tajikistan 76 pts
9- Korea 58 pts
10- Turkmenistan 39 pts
11- Saudi Arabia 18 pts
12- Taipei Chinese 12 pts
13- Syria 6 pts
14- Jordan 0 point

Women’s Wrestling

40kg
GOLD- Mushtariy TOLIPBEKOVA (UZB)
SILVER- Komal KOMAL (IND)
BRONZE- Jin A KIM (PRK)

43kg
GOLD- Jin Hyang JANG (PRK)
SILVER- Karin UEMATSU (JPN)
BRONZE- Nazik MIRLAN KYZY (KGZ)

46kg
GOLD- Umi ITO (JPN)
SILVER- Xuejing LIANG (CHN)
BRONZE- Bermet NURIDIN KYZY (KGZ)

49kg
GOLD- Ji Hyang KIM (PRK)
SILVER- Yu SAKAMOTO (JPN)
BRONZE- Zeinep BAYANOVA (KAZ)
BRONZE- Xiaomin XIE (CHN) 

53kg
GOLD- Mako OONO (JPN)
SILVER- Altyn SHAGAYEVA (KAZ)
BRONZE- Ying LU (CHN)

57kg
GOLD- Priyanka PRIYANKA (IND)
SILVER- Yifan TANG (CHN)
BRONZE- Altjin TOGTOKH (MGL)
BRONZE- Burulsun BEKBOLOTOVA (KGZ)

61kg
GOLD- Maral BATTSOOJ (MGL)
SILVER- Laylokhon SOBIROVA (UZB)
BRONZE- DDilnaz SAZANOVA (KGZ)
BRONZE-Bhagyashree FAND (IND)

65kg
GOLD- Ami ISHI (JPN)
SILVER- Sonam SONAM (IND)
BRONZE- Cun LIU (CHN)
BRONZE- Rushana ABDIRASULOVA (UZB)

69kg
GOLD- Rin TERAMOTO (JPN)
SILVER- Yifeng LU (CHN)
BRONZE- Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ)
BRONZE- Reetika REETIKA (IND)

73kg
GOLD - Meng DANG (CHN)
SILVER - Pooja POOJA (IND)
BRONZE - Ayazhan SADU (KAZ)
BRONZE - Delgertsetseg BAASANKHUU (MGL)

Women’s Wrestling Team Standings:
1- Japan 176 pts
2- India 159 pts
3-China 138 pts
4- Mongolia 123 pts
5- Uzbekistan 114 pts
6- Kazakhstan 111 pts
7- Kyrgyzstan 110 pts
8- DPR Korea 65 pts
9- Taipei Chinese 58 pts

#WrestleBudapest

Big-throwing Machado claims debut Ranking Series gold

By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 20) -- Thamires MACHADO (BRA) made brief headlines at the Pan-American Olympic Games Qualifiers in Mexico. She threw Amit ELOR (USA) for a lateral drop for four points. Machado had Elor in trouble which could have seen Elor, the champion in Paris Games, lose early. However, Machado fizzled out and lost her bout 6-4.

A year later on Saturday, the Brazilian won her first major gold medal at the Budapest Ranking Series after a stunning show of strength and big throws at the Ranking Series over the weekend.

"In every practice back home, I try to do the four-point moves. I want to throw," Machado said after receiving the gold medal.

In other weight classes, Grace BULLEN (NOR) had another epic match with Irina RINGACI (MDA) and won gold at 65kg and Kennedy BLADES (USA) won another Ranking Series gold to remain undefeated at 68kg going into the World Championships.

European champion Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW) and Amina TANDELOVA (UWW) won at 55kg and 62kg respectively.

Machado, competing in her first-ever Ranking Series event, won the 76kg gold medal with wins over Asian champion Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ) and world U20 champion PRIYA (IND) in semifinal and final, respectively.

In the gold-medal bout, Machadofaced former world U17 and U20 champion Priya and used a similar lateral drop like she did against Elor to score a four-pointer over Priya in the first minute.

Priya was pushing for a stepout and Machado used that momentum to drop her for four-points. It was catch-up from there on for Priya who failed to score any points in the first period. She got a stepout in the second get on board. Struggling to get to Machado's legs, Priya forced another stepout to make it 4-2.

Machado was put on the activity clock in the last minute but she was happy to conceded that point than to go for all-out attack during those 30 seconds. Priya also waited for the activity clock to expire before pushing for a point, perhaps a mistake to take her foot of the pedal in the final minute.

During that time, Machado managed to catch her breath and defended all attacks, including one in the last five seconds to win 4-3 and the gold medal.

"I am happy to win this gold medal in Ranking Series," she said. "This is so special for me"

In the semifinals, Machado got the better of Medet Kyzy, who opened the scoring with a double-leg takedown for two points. She led 3-0 at the break as Machado failed to score after being put on the 30-second activity clock.

Machado got her first points when she defended a leg attack from Medet Kyzy and scored a go-behind takedown. She then launched a powerful gut-wrench and turned her three times to lead 8-3. Two stepouts in quick succession for Medet Kyzy cut Machado's lead to 8-5 but the Kyrgyzstan wrestler had only a minute left to score more points and secure the win.

As they scrambled for the final minute, Machado and Medet Kyzy locked each other at the edge but it was the latter who fell outside of the zone first which gave another point to Machado with 33 seconds left. Machado held her positions better than Medet Kyzy and managed to score another stepout to lead 10-5 and win the bout.

Born in one of the favellas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Machado was part of one of the social project by the local council which taught wrestling to young kids. She joined the program and managed to learn wrestling.

In 2019, she won gold medal at the Pan-Am U20 Championships, her second ever competition. For five years, she was away from wrestling, but in 2024, she returned and won the Henri Deglane Grand Prix and was second at the 2025 Pan-Am Championships.

Bullen survives Ringaci

If both remain at the same weight class in the future, the Bullen-Ringaci rivalry can be the most fearsome in Women's Wrestling. The latest example was their 65kg final in Budapest where Bullen, down 16-8, pinned Ringaci was claim her second win over the former world champion in four months.

Ringaci, who needed one more turn from par terre or just survive the pin from Bullen, was frustrated with yet another loss and pushed aside Bullen after the bout.

The match began with a wonderful counter from Ringaci, who hit a cut-back after a Bullen snap to pass-by and got four points. Watch above. While Bullen survived the fall attempt, she fell behind 6-0.

A little later, it was Ringaci's chance survive a pin attempt from Bullen who lifted Ringaci well over her waist-level and slammed her for four. The first period ended with Bullen leading 6-6 on criteria.

Bullen tried the exact move of snap to pass-by in the second period and this time she succeeded, scoring two points and taking a clear 8-6 lead. Ringaci scored a takedown 30 seconds into the second period and scored six more points using three gut-wrenches. As she was going for the final turn to win the bout, Bullen blocked and got the headlock to pin Ringaci.

An aghast Ringaci was left in tears as Bullen herself was shocked to have won the bout, having snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

At 68kg, Kennedy BLADES (USA) had a fine tournament, winning her second Ranking Series event and third tournament of 2025. In the final, she defeated Noemi SZABADOS (HUN), 13-2, a wrestler she had defeated 10-0 at the Zagreb Open in February.

The only bout she was not able to win via technical superiority was her semifinal against Yuliana YANEVA (BUL) as the Bulgarian was able to stop Blades to a 6-2 win. Blades had little injury scare in the final few seconds of the match but managed to continue.

Verbina captured the 55kg gold medal after a controlled 6-1 win over Karla GODINEZ (CAN) in the final while Tandelova blanked Alina KASABIEVA (UWW) 3-0 in the 62kg final.

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW) df. Karla GODINEZ (CAN), 6-1

BRONZE: Cristelle RODRIGUEZ (USA) df. Amory ANDRICH (GER), 10-0

62kg
GOLD: Amina TANDELOVA (UWW) df. Alina KASABIEVA (UWW), 3-0

BRONZE: Ana GODINEZ (CAN) df. Nikolett SZABO (HUN), 10-0
BRONZE: MANISHA (IND) df. Krystsina SAZYKINA (UWW), via fall (9-0)

65kg
GOLD: Grace BULLEN (NOR) df. Irina RINGACI (MDA), via fall (10-16)

BRONZE: Eniko ELEKES (HUN) df. Ekaterina KOSHKINA (UWW), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Macey KILTY (USA) df. Kadriye KOCAK AKSOY (TUR), 10-4

68kg
GOLD: Kennedy BLADES (USA) df. Noemi SZABADOS (HUN), 13-2

BRONZE: Brooklyn HAYS (USA) df. Hyeonyeong PARK (KOR), 5-4
BRONZE: Yuliana YANEVA (BUL) df. Alina SHEVCHENKO (UWW), 11-1

76kg
GOLD: Thamires MACHADO (BRA) df. PRIYA (IND), 4-3

BRONZE: Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ) df. Valeriia TRIFONOVA (UWW), 11-0
BRONZE: Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ) df. Seoyeon JEONG (KOR), 12-1