#GRWorldClubsCup

Iran Team Wins GR World Clubs Cup, Azizli & Kayaalp Remain Undefeated

By Ali Feizasa

ARDABIL, Iran (December 24) -- Iran's Team Bimeh Razi Ardabil defeated Team Russia to capture 2018 Greco-Roman World Clubs Cup title in Ardabil city of Iran.

The Iranian team which had two 2018 world champions in the line up defeated Russia, 8-2 in the final match.

Azerbaijan’s world champion Eldaniz Azizli gave the first win to the Iranian team by a technical fall victory over Vitalii Kabaloev (RUS) at 55kg. Azlili won all of his matches in the tournament with technical falls.

Mehrdad Mardani (60kg) and Saman Abdevali (63kg) added other victories, helping Bimeh Razi take the 3-0 lead.

The first victory of the Russian team came from the 67kg bout, where Maksim Surkov beat Mohammad Elyasi narrowly, 1-1. Then Denis Murtazin doubled Russia's wins as he earned a 10-8 victory over Boroumand Aslan in a fantastic match.

But the Iranian team won all other bouts of the final match.

At 77kg, Iran's 2018 world team member Pejman Pashtam defeated Dmitrii Petakin, 6-4. At 82kg, former world champion and 2016 Olympic medal winner, Saeid Abdevali downed Gadzhimurad Dzhalalov, 5-0, while two-time Asian champion Ramin Taheri defeated former world silver medalist Evgeny Saleev, 5-0 in the 87kg match.

Mehdi Aliyari, the only world medalist of Iran in Budapest, gave Bimeh Razi Ardabil their seventh victory as Murat Lokyaev didn’t compete and the last victory of the Iranian side was at 130kg where 2018 Russian world champion Sergey Semenov, who was competed for the Iranian team, pinned Vasilii Parshin. This helped his team defeat Russia 8-2 in the final of 2018 Greco-Roman World Clubs Cup.

In the third place match, another Iranian team Sina Sanat Izeh had a difficult job against Team Turkey, but won the match narrowly, 6-4.

Rio Olympic bronze medal winner Shmagi Bolkvadze from Georgia was in the Iranian team line up and won the 67kg bout against Turkish veteran Atakan Yuksel. Riza Kayaalp, the nine-time world and  Olympic medalist,  2016 Olympic bronze medalist Cenk Ildem and U23 2017 world champion Burhan Akbudak were among winners wrestlers of Team Turkey.

Kayaalp had a great victory over 2018 world champion Sergey Semenov and remained undefeated during the tournament. Kayaalp failed to win his 10th Olympic and world medal during 2018 world championships but had an excellent return in World Clubs Cup.

In fifth place match, Georgia defeated Iranian team Shohadaye Modafe Haram, 6-4, and Ukraine beat Serbia 8-2 to place seventh. Viktor Nemes, 2017 world champion and 2018 world bronze medal winner, competed for Team Serbia and had three wins and one deficit.

Final day results of 2018 Greco-Roman World Clubs Cup:

Final match: Bimeh Razi Ardabil (IRI) df. Russia, 8-2
55kg- Eldaniz AZIZLI (Bimeh) df. Vitalii KABALOEV (RUS) by Tech Fall, 9-0 
60kg- Mehrdad MARDANI (Bimeh) df. Ildus YAMUKOV (RUS), 8-3 
63kg- Saman ABDEVALI (Bimeh) df. Zhambolat LOKAYAEV (RUS) by Tech Fall, 8-0 
67kg- Maksim SURKOV (RUS) df. Mohammad ELYASI (Bimeh), 1-1 
72kg-Denis MURTAZIN (RUS) df. Boroumand ASLAN (Bimeh), 10-8
77kg- Pejman PASHTAM (Bimeh) df. Dmitrii PETAIKIN (RUS), 6-4 
82kg- Saeid ABDEVALI (Bimeh) df. Gadzhimurad DZHALALOV (RUS), 5-0
87kg- Ramin TAHERI (Bimeh) df. Evgeny SALEEV (RUS), 5-0 
97kg- Mehdi ALIYARI (Bimeh) df. Murat LOKYAEV (RUS) by forfeit 
130kg- Sergey SEMENOV (Bimeh) df. Vasilii PARSHIN (RUS) by FALL 

Third place match: Sina Sanat Izeh (IRI) df. Turkey, 6-4
55kg-Pouya NASERPOUR (Izeh) df. Ekrem OZTURK (TUR), 2-1
60kg- Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (Izeh) df. Hammet RUSTEM (TUR) by FALL 
63kg- Abdurahman ALTAN (TUR) df. Mohammad Javad REZAEI (Izeh), 3-1 
67kg- Shmagi BOLKAVADZE (Izeh) df. Atakan YUKSEL (TUR) by Tech Fall, 8-0
72kg- Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR) df. Ramaz ZOIDZE (Izeh), 8-7 
77kg- Keyvan REZAEI (Izeh) df. Fatih CENGIZ (TUR) by Tech Fall, 8-0 
82kg- Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) df. Abbas MEHDIZADEH (Izeh), 4-2 
87kg- Saman AZIZI (Bimeh) df. Metehan BASAR (TUR), 7-3 
97kg- Cenk ILDEM (TUR) df. Mohammad YEGANEH (Izeh), 6-2 
130kg- Riza KAYAALP (TUR) df. Behnam MEHDIZADEH (Izeh) by forfeit 

Fifth place match: Georgia df. Shohadaye Modafe Haram (IRI), 6-4
55kg- Nodari OKROMTCHEDLISHVILI (GEO) – No wrestler 
60kg- Ramaz SURMANIDZE (GEO) df. Omid OLIYAYI (Shohadaye Modafe) by Tech Fall, 16-8
63kg- Mosayeb AKBARI (Shohadaye Modafe) df. Giorgi SHOTADZE (GEO) by Tech Fall, 8-0
67kg- Otar ABULADZE (GEO) df. Mohsen TAHERI (Shohadaye Modafe), 6-0
72kg- Tornike JANGAVADZE (GEO) df. Milad NEDAEI (Shohadaye Modafe) by Tech Fall, 10-0
77kg- Beka MAMUKASHVILI (GEO) df. Mohammad SORKHI NEJAD (Shohadaye Modafe)
82kg- Hadi ALIZADEH POURNIA (Shohadaye Modafe) df. Aivengo RIKADZE (GEO) by forfeit
87kg- Mehdi MOHAMMADZADEH (Shohadaye Modafe) df. Lasha DEVIDZE (GEO) by Tech Fall, 10-1
97kg-Irakli KAJAIA (GEO) df. Ali KANANI (Shohadaye Modafe), 6-0
130kg- Parsa NAZARI (Shohadaye Modafe) df. Sulxani BUIDZE (GEO) by forfeit

Seventh place match: Ukraine df. Serbia, 8-2
55kg- Sergii DZIUBA (UKR) df. Kristijan GAZDAG (SRB), 9-7
60kg- Andriy MARTYNYUK (UKR) – No wrestler
63kg- Hevorh ARZUMANIAN (UKR) – No wrestler
67kg- Oleksii KALINICHENKO (UKR) df. Tamas NAD (SRB) by Tech Fall, 14-6 
72kg- Artur POLITAIEV (UKR) df. Mate NEMES (SRB)
77kg-Oleksandr KUKHTA (UKR) df. Aleksander MAKSIMOVIC (SRB)
82kg- Viktor NEMES (SRB) df. Oleksii OSNIACH (UKR) by Tech Fall, 8-0
87kg- Serhii OMELIN (UKR) df. Oliver TOT (SRB) by Tech Fall, 9-0
97kg- Yevhenii SAVETA (UKR) df. Dejan FRANJKOVIC (SRB) by Tech Fall, 8-0
130kg- Andrii VOZNIUK (UKR) df.Horvat SABOLC (SRB) by Tech Fall, 8-0

Group Standings

Group A:
1Bimeh Razi Ardabil (IRI) 2-Turkey 3- Shohadaye Modafe Haram(IRI) 4- Serbia

Group B:
1Russia 2- Sina Sanat Izeh (IRI) 3- Georgia 4- Ukraine 5- Kyrgyzstan

#WrestleBudapest

Budapest Ranking Series Live: Day 2 Results and Live Blog

By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 18) -- The second day of the Budapest Ranking Series will see action in Freestyle 74kg, 86kg and 92kg and Women's Wrestling 50kg, 53kg, 57kg, 59kg and 72kg.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | DAY 1 RESULTS

14:35: Elena BRUGGER (GER) pins Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (UWW) after an 11-0 to enter the 59kg final. Erika BOGNAR (HUN) gives the hosts a finalists as well after beating Nadzeya BULANAYA (UWW), 5-1.

14:25: A pin from Helen MAROULIS (USA) and she marches into the 57kg final in her first competition since the Olympics. Tamara DOLLAK (HUN) had no answers to Maroulis' class. Maroulis will now face another youngster, NEHA (IND), who defeated Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN) 8-4 in the other semifinal.

14:15: Natalia MALYSHEVA (UWW) survives a huge head-throw from Seoyoung PARK (KOR) in the final 30 seconds to beat her 5-4 and enter the 53kg final in which she will take on ANTIM (IND) after the Indian defeated Felicity TAYLOR (USA) 10-0. A series of five different takedowns there. Antim had beaten Malysheva 10-0 at the Mongolian Open in June.

14:05: Two pins in the 50kg semifinals! Elizaveta SMIRNOVA (UWW) pins Kseniya STANKEVICH (UWW) while Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR) pins Natalia PODUVOA (UWW).

Women's Wrestling semifinals

14:00: Trent HIDLAY (USA) reaches the final at 92kg after Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE) pulls out injured seconds into the bout. Kurugliev seems to have fallen on his knee as Hidlay scored a takedown. Hidlay will take on world silver medalist Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) in the final after the Georgian wins via technical superiority against Musza ARSUNKAEV (HUN)

13:55: Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (UWW) pins Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI) in the 86kg semifinal after building up a lead. Savadkouhi had one exposure turn but that was all as Kadzimahamedau defended another attack and then scored a takedown. He finally pins Savadkouhi to enter the final in which he will face Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) who rolled to a 10-0 win over Osman GOCEN (TUR).

13:40: World U23 champion Magomed KHANIEV (AZE) has had an excellent morning session which he caps off with a semifinal victory over (BRN) Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN). He gets Takahashi for the gold medal bout.

13:35: Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) and David CARR (USA) locked in a battle. Both are the representatives at the World Championships for their respective countries. Takahashi with the first opening but Carr runs out of zone. He is docked a point for fleeing. Takahashi up 2-0. Double-leg from Takahashi but Carr has the chest-wrap. Exposure from Carr but Takahashi keeps control. It's awarded only two points for the Japan wrestlers and nothing for Carr. Takahashi leads 4-0 at the break. Takahashi doesn't slow down in the second period and scores two stepouts to make it 6-2. Carr fires back with a takedown to cut the lead to 6-2. He scores another takedown and now Takahashi is feeling the pace of the bout. Carr tries to turn but is blocked in the process, as Takahashi earns two points. A reversal makes it 8-5. Carr with a takedown with 10 seconds left to make it 8-7. Takahashi defends the final 10 seconds to win 8-7 but we have United States challenge. Nothing on review and Takahashi wins the semifinal

Semifinals begin at 13:30 local time

13:00: Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (UWW) with a top 9-1 win at 86kg against Nurzhan ISSAGALIYEV (KAZ) and he secures his place in the semifinals in which he will face Savadkouhi of Iran.

12:50: Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI) shuts out Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA) in the 86kg quarterfinal and wins 5-0. He reaches the semifinal.

12:40: David CARR (USA) comes out aggressively with the whistle against Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ) and scores a stepout. A takedown to take a 3-0 lead. He adds another stepout and leads 4-0. He adds four more points and doesn't let Toktomambetov any chance to scoring to win 8-0 and advance.

12:37: Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) is slowed down by Murad KURMAGOMEDOV (HUN) but the Hungarian can't stop him from winning the 74kg bout 3-0. Two stepouts in that win.

12:20: Excellent positioning and defense from Helen MAROULIS (USA) as she beats Iryna KURACHKINA (UWW) 7-0 in their 57kg quarterfinal. Maroulis looks in top form in the two bouts so far.

12:10: Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE) has no trouble in seeing off Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE), 5-1, in the 92kg quarterfinal. This is better score line than the European final in which Kurugliev won by two points.

12:00: ANTIM (IND) has just beaten Zeynep YETGIL (TUR) 10-0 in the opening round at 53kg. Yetgil had handed Antim a 10-0 thrashing in the first bout at Paris Olympics and this match was a completely different between the two.

11:45: Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) and Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) are in battle at 74kg. But it Takahashi who comes out the winner 6-6 on criteria. He will face Murad KURMAGOMEDOV (HUN) next

11:35: David CARR (USA) has a back-and-forth bout with Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) but he hands the Azerbaijani a 5-3 loss at 74kg. Carr is the United States representative for the World Championships.

11:20: Two Indians entered at 50kg and both start off with wins. NEELAM (IND) has a close 10-8 match with Madison PARKS (CAN) while Priyanshi PRAJAPAT (IND) beats Audrey JIMENEZ (USA), 3-0.

11:15: First sight of Helen MAROULIS (USA) internationally since the 2024 Paris Olympics. There is absolutely no sign of any rust as she uses the arm-bar to pin compatriot Amanda MARTINEZ (USA) inside the first period at 57kg. Paris Olympic champ Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA) is in the coaches' corner here.

11:00: Natalia PUDOVA (UWW), winner of Mongolia Open Ranking Series, starts with a 12-4 victory over Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA) at 50kg. One of the most attacking wrestlers at 50kg is definitely a medal threat in Zagreb.

10:45: Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE) has no trouble in keeping Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN) off himself and he wins his first bout at 92kg, 6-1, to move one. On the other mat, Trent HIDLAY (USA) beats Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE) 7-2. This means that Nurmagomedov may be the first choice for Azerbaijan now for the World Championships.

10:30: The day two of the Ranking Series event in Budapest will see three Freestyle weight classes and four Women's Wrestling. Big names will be on the mats in the Hungarian capital.