#WrestleAlmaty

LIVE BLOG: Asian Olympic Qualifier, Day One

By United World Wrestling Press

Kyrgyzstan led the way with three wrestlers qualifying for the Tokyo Olympic Games at tge Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Almaty on Friday. China, Iran, and South Korea qualified two each while Japan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan managed to get one spot each.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

2000 hrs: GOLD MEDAL! Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) claims the 130kg gold medal after Minseok KIM (KOR) after the Korean pulls out due to injury

1940 hrs: Mohammadhadi Abdollah SARAVI (IRI) caps off his day with a stunning 10-0 win over Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ) to win the gold medal at 97kg. Second gold of the day for Iran

1920 hrs: GOLD MEDAL! TURSYNOV (KAZ) will capture the gold medal at 87kg after Fei PENG (CHN) is out injured

1900 hrs: GOLD MEDAL! Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) finishes his day with a 7-3 win over Shohei YABIKU (JPN) and takes home the gold medal at 77kg. What a day for the youngster

1845 hrs: GOLD MEDAL! Mohammadreza Abdolhamid GERAEI (IRI) with a big throw and the win! He beats Hansu RYU (KOR) 9-0 to win the 67kg gold medal

 1833 hrs: Aram VARDANYAN (UZB) captures the bronze medal by defeating Azatjan ACHILOV (TKM) 11-2 while ASHU (IND) is the winner on Mat B as he beats Sheroz OCHILOV (TJK) 8-1 at 67kg

1825 hrs: Azatjan ACHILOV (TKM) and Aram VARDANYAN (UZB) are wrestling on Mat A while Sheroz OCHILOV (TJK) is up against ASHU (IND) on Mat B at 67kg

1823 hrs: GOLD MEDAL! Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) with a solid defence to clinch the 60kg gold medal against Sailike WALIHAN (CHN)

1810 hrs: Hanjae CHUNG (KOR) with a reversal in the final 10 seconds to win the bronze medal over GYANENDER (IND) 4-3. Firuz MIRZORAJBNOV (TJK) fights off a tough battle against F Kh M J ALAJMI (KUW) 4-2 to win the bronze at 60kg

1800 hrs: Mohammad F Kh M J ALAJMI (KUW) and Firuz MIRZORAJABOV (TJK) will wrestle for the bronze medal on Mat A while Hanjae CHUNG (KOR) is wrestling GYANENDER (IND) for the second bronze medal at 60kg

1755 hrs: We are five minutes away from the medal bouts in Almaty. Here's the match order

The #WrestleAlmaty medal matches get underway in ten minutes.

Here's the match order.

EVENT PAGE: https://t.co/sRE0ARGXnj pic.twitter.com/IJAX9TT2DK

— United World Wrestling (@wrestling) April 9, 2021

1430 hrs: Here are the 12 Tokyo Olympics qualified wrestlers in Greco-Roman from Almaty

60kg: Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) vs Sailike WALIHAN (CHN)
67kg: Hansu RYU (KOR) vs Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI)
77kg: Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) vs Shohei YABIKU (JPN)
87kg: Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ) vs Fei PENG (CHN)
97kg: Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ) vs Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI)
130kg: Minseok KIM (KOR) vs Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)

1300 hrs: We are underway with the semi-finals in Almaty. First up is the 60kg weight category

1255 hrs: We are a few moments away from the semi-final bouts in Almaty. The winners of those bouts will qualify their countries for the Tokyo Games

1235 hrs: Gurpreet SINGH (IND) stuns 2012 Olympic gold and 2016 Rio Olympic bronze medalist Hyeonwoo KIM (KOR) with a pin. Three four point throws.

1215 hrs: Massive four! Kazakhstan's Nursultan TURSYNOV was trailing 1-3 but comes up with a big four pointer to defeat Masato SUMI (JPN) 5-3 and advance to the semi-final at 87kg

1203 hrs: Aram VARDANYAN (UZB) with a top finish winning his quarter-final against Marlen ASIKEEV (KGZ) 9-1. Stunning finish from the Uzbek wrestler

 

We need to come up with a good nickname for Mohammadreza GERAEI ??!

His brother,???Mohammadali GERAEI ??, is nicknamed, "The Falcon."

— United World Wrestling (@wrestling) April 9, 2021

 

1200 hrs: Asikeev leading Vardanyan 1-0 at the break in the 67kg quarter-final. Big four-point throw from Vardanyan to lead 4-1

1155 hrs: Big bout on Mat A! 2019 World silver at 72kg Aram VARDANYAN (UZB) is wrestling Marlen ASIKEEV (KGZ) who has already effected an upset

1150 hrs: Five-time Asian champion and two-time world champion Hansu RYU (KOR) has already reached the semi-finals at 67kg 

1130 hrs: Top bout on Mat A. Minseok KIM (KOR) holds off Lingzhe MENG (CHN) for a 3-3 win in their Round 1 at 130 kg

1120 hrs: Upset on Mat B! Marlen ASIKEEV (KGZ) defeats World bronze medalist and Asian silver medalist Meiirzhan SHERMAKHANBET (KAZ) 8-2 and that will be the end of the Olympic dream here for the Kazak wrestler. Some good tactical wrestling from Asikeev giving up little to nothing 

1107 hrs: U23 World and Asia champion Mohammadreza Abdolhamid GERAEI (IRI) begins his day with a 52 second technical superiority win against Sheroz OCHILOV (TJK) 

1100 hrs: And we are off! All three mats begin the action with 130kg weight category 

#WrestleZagreb, #development

Enhance Zagreb experience: Conferences, workshops, fan zones

By United World Wrestling Press

ZAGREB, Croatia (September 3) -- The World Championships in Zagreb will be another milestone for United World Wrestling and its promote wrestling.

From assistance to first-ever world conference, UWW is set to host numerous activities before and during the World Championships that enhance the experience of wrestlers, coaches, fans and other stakeholders.

As many 114 athletes and coaches from 41 countries will receive financial assistance from UWW's Technical Assistance Program for the World Championships. They will receive financial support to participate in the tournament for their respective nations. 

Continuing it's Elite Female Coaches Scholarships, UWW has awarded it to five coaches for the World Championships. Four-time Olympic champion Kaori ICHO (JPN) and Africa's first Olympic medalist in Women's Wrestling Marwa AMRI (TUN) will be two of the beneficiaries of this scholarships.

During the World Championships, UWW will host its first-ever World Conference, from September 17-19. The three-day event will bring together leaders from national federations and various commissions to discuss the future of wrestling. Key topics include athlete career transitions, anti-doping, sports nutrition, and the advancement of women's wrestling.

A workshop for the National Federations is also scheduled to be held on September 19 during the World Conference.

The Scientific Symposium will also held during September 17-19 to discuss scientific wrestling, weight management, data analysis among other topics.

The World Championships will also witness the UWW Athletes' Commission Elections. These will be held throughout the World Championships, September 13-21, with participating wrestlers able to vote for the nominees.

For the wrestlers, the Croatian Wrestling Federation, with the support of UWW will organize an acclimatization camp from September 5 to 16 in Porec, organized by the Croatian NF and financially supported by UWW.

During the acclimatization camp, an education booth will be set up by the Integrational Testing Agency (ITA), on September 8 and 9. The booth is set up to educate wrestlers, coaches and mangers about anti-doping programs.
 
The Zagreb Arena will have fan zones with activities as well throughout the September 13-21 World Championships.