Junior Asian Championships

Iran Collects 3 Freestyle Golds on Saturday at Junior Asian C'ships

Saturday, July 13, 2019 - 17:17 By United World Wrestling Press

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CHON BURI, Thailand (July 13) - Iran started the freestyle competition at the Junior Asian Championships with a bang, collecting three of the five gold medals on Saturday. 

Earlier in the week, Iran ran away with the team title in Greco-Roman on the strength of seven champions. Now the Iranians are in prime position to win the freestyle title heading into the final day.

Iran's freestyle gold medalists on Saturday were Mohmmadsadegh FIROUZPOURBANDPEI (70kg), Abdollah SHEIKHAZAMI (79kg) and Alireza REKABI (97kg).

Mohmmadsadegh FIROUZPOURBANDPEI (IRI) registered a 10-1 win in the finals. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

Firouzpourbandpei earned his gold medal with a 10-1 victory in the 70kg finals over Sangho HAN (KOR). 

Sheikhazami rolled to a 10-0 technical superiority in the finals at 79kg over Tanggesi TANGGESI (CHN).

Alireza REKABI (IRI) won by 10-0 technical superiority in the finals at 97kg. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

Iran's third gold medalist on Saturday, Rekabi, dominated in the finals at 97kg, winning 10-0 over Zyyamuhammet SAPAROV (TKM).

Syrbaz TALGAT (KAZ) improved on his silver-medal performance from a year ago. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

Syrbaz TALGAT (KAZ), a returning junior world bronze medalist, earned gold at 65kg after finishing with a silver in last year's Junior Asian Championships. 

Yuto TAKESHITA (JPN) finished on top at 57kg. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

Japan crowned a champion at 57kg as Yuto TAKESHITA topped Vijay Bajirao PATIL 7-4 in the gold-medal match. 

The Junior Asian Championships wrap up on Sunday with the final five freestyle weight categories: 61kg, 74kg, 86kg, 92kg and 125kg. Action is set to begin at 10 a.m. local time.

RESULTS

Freestyle

57kg    
GOLD - Yuto TAKESHITA (JPN) df. Vijay Bajirao PATIL (IND), 7-4
BRONZE - Hyeonsu CHO (KOR) df. Narankhuu NARMANDAKH (MGL), 14-4
BRONZE - Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) df. Abzal OKENOV (KAZ), 6 - 2

65kg
GOLD - Syrbaz TALGAT (KAZ) df. Alireza ASHKIVAR (IRI), 4-4
BRONZE - Bobur ISLOMOV (UZB) df. Sunny SUNNY (IND), 5-4
BRONZE - Taiki TSUTSUMI (JPN) df. Injong HWANG (KOR), 8-1

70kg
GOLD - Mohmmadsadegh FIROUZPOURBANDPEI (IRI) df. Sangho HAN (KOR), 10-1
BRONZE - Ayumu SUZUKI (JPN) df. Vishal KALIRAMANA (IND), 6-3
BRONZE - Mirkamol BESHIMOV (UZB) df. Parinya CHAMNANJAN (THA), FALL

79kg
GOLD - Abdollah SHEIKHAZAMI (IRI) df. Tanggesi TANGGESI (CHN), 10-0
BRONZE - Sandeep Singh MANN (IND) df. Tilek KABYKENOV (KAZ), 13-8
BRONZE - Shoto KANEKO (JPN) df. Daehyun NAM (KOR), INJURY

97kg
GOLD - Alireza REKABI (IRI) df. Zyyamuhammet SAPAROV (TKM), 10-0
BRONZE - Akash ANTIL (IND) df. Reheman RUSIDANMU (CHN), 12-2
BRONZE - Arslanbek TURDUBEKOV (KGZ) df. Haroon ABID (PAK), 12-1
 

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UWW's 2024 Wrestlers of the Year: Petriashvili, Tosun, Kusaka

Monday, December 16, 2024 - 16:45 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 16) -- United World Wrestling has announced the wrestlers of the year in Freestyle, Women's Wrestling and Greco-Roman. UWW’s 2024 Wrestler of the Year award winners are Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO), Buse TOSUN (TUR) and Nao KUSAKA (JPN).

Freestyle: Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO)

The 30-year-old Georgian finished with a style-best 68,200 Ranking Series points through his finishes at the four point-based events of the year -- Olympic Games, European Championships, Croatian and Hungarian Ranking Series -- in which he collected a 13-4 record with 8 wins coming against top 20 ranked opponents.

Petriashvili’s 2024 season didn’t start well, as he finished in fifth place with a 3-2 record at the Croatian Ranking Series. This marked Petriashvili’s sixth consecutive full season in which he started on a losing note before regaining focus and peaking at the most opportune times.

In his next outing, Petriashvili scored three wins before reaching the European finals for the seventh time in his career. However, he fell short against career rival Taha AKGUL (TUR) for silver.

The three-time world champion then went to Hungary for the final tune-up before the Paris Olympics. While at the second Ranking Series event of the year, Petriashvili grabbed three wins, but not before falling to Yusup BATIRMURZAEV (KAZ) in the semifinals while nursing a left elbow injury.

Petriashvili headed to Paris hungry to improve his 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medal. The father of two did exactly that, picking up four victories including a 10-9 shock win over two-time reigning world champion Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI), becoming Georgia’s third-ever freestyle Olympic gold medalist.
 
Greco-Roman: Nao KUSAKA (JPN)

23-year-old Nao KUSAKA (JPN), finished with a Greco-Roman best 79,200 Ranking Series points after winning golds at the Olympics, Asian Championships, and Hungarian Ranking Series events while also winning a bronze at the Croatian Ranking Series event at the beginning of the season.

After falling in the semifinals of his first competition of the year, Kusaka rallied off 14 consecutive victories -- four of which came against former world champions Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR), Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA), Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) and Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) -- on his way to winning golds in Paris, Bishkek and Budapest.

Kusaka’s win in Paris at 77kg, alongside his fellow teammate Kenichiro FUMITA’s gold, ended Japan’s 40-year Greco-Roman Olympic gold-medal drought.

Women's Wrestling: Buse TOSUN (TUR)

Buse TOSUN (TUR) is UWW’s Women’s wrestler of the year after topping the rankings with a style best 60,200 points. She narrowly edged Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) by 200 points for the coveted award.

Tosun, the reigning world champion at 68kg, finished 2024 with an impressive 11-2 record. Of those 11 wins during the season, a staggering eight came against wrestlers in the top 15 of the world rankings.

She dropped her first match of the season to Feng ZHOU (CHN) but went on to win 11 of her remaining 12 bouts, falling only at the Paris Olympics to eventual champion Amit ELOR (USA), en route to winning an Olympic bronze which was just Turkiye's second-ever women’s wrestling Olympic medal.

United World Wrestling congratulates Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO), Nao KUSAKA (JPN), and Buse TOSUN (TUR) for their incredible achievements this year and for being named the 2024 Wrestlers of the Year.