#WrestlePlovdiv

Live Blog: U23 European Championships Day 5

Friday, March 11, 2022 - 08:44 By Vinay Siwach

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PLOVDIV, Bulgaria (March 11) -- The U23 European Championships move to day five with freestyle action in five weight classes. The wrestlers from 57kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg and 97kg will try to reach the semifinals later tonight. Senior World bronze medalist Horst LEHR (GER) is also in the mix.

MATCH ORDER | LIVE STREAM

1320: We finish the session with an incredible comeback from Ivailo TISOV (BUL) against Demin LIUTCANOV (MDA). He was down 8-2 and then 14-8 but secures a fall to move into the semifinals at 57kg.

1310: Senior World bronze medalist Horst LEHR (GER) was trailing 2-0 until the final minute but blasted a double leg attack and secured the fall

1245: Nicolai GRAHMEZ (MDA) looks unstoppable today. He has his second fall of the day he moves into the 70kg semifinals

1240: What a bout we had. Bayramov and Alaca put on a show for the fans. Bayramov began with a four-point double and then laced two times to lead 9-1. But Alaca scripted a comeback to be 11-8 but Bayramov stayed composed to win it.

1210: Returning silver medalist Nicolai GRAHMEZ (MDA) with a fall in 21 seconds over Roland BIRO (HUN) at 70kg

1200: Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) with a fall over Abdulvasi BALTA (TUR). The two were involved in a tough battle but the Greece wrestler with a big four-pointer to lead 13-3 but secured the fall

1145: Junior Worlds silver medalist Ziraddin BAYRAMOV (AZE) begins with a big 12-1 win over Stilyan ILIEV (BUL)

1143: Ugrelidze with a small comeback as he cuts Alaca's lead to 8-4. There is still a minute to go in the bout. Can the Georgian cause an upset? He can't. Alaca wins 8-5.

1130: Cadet world champion Hamza ALACA (TUR) is now on Mat A against Gia UGRELIDZE (GEO). He starts with a takedown and then two leg laces to make it 5-0. A duck under for two more. 

1115: Welcome to day five of the U23 European Championships in Plovdiv. We will have Hrachya MARGARYAN (ARM) beginning against Dominik LARITZ (SUI) on Mat A 

Esmaeili survives Jafarov shock to win ISG 2025 gold

Tuesday, November 18, 2025 - 18:51 By Vinay Siwach

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (November 18) -- He needed some strong defense to win the world title and on Tuesday, Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) needed some clutch offense to beat Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) for the second time in two one month.

Esmaeili and Jafarov clashed in the final of the 67kg weight class at the Islamic Solidarity Games 2025 in Riyad, Saudi Arabi and it seemed that the latter was on his way to upset the Olympic champion and avenge his loss from the World Championships final.

Down 3-3 on criteria, all seemed to be over for Esmaeili as the clock ticked down. In the last 10 seconds, Esmaeili worked on a double-arm lock and then managed to throw Jafarov in danger from standing for four points which changed the result and gave him the win.

Azerbaijan challenged the call but there was no change in the result and Esmaeili defeated Jafarov 8-3, to capture yet another gold medal this year after Asian and World Championships.

Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI)Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) throws Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) during their 67kg bout. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

In Zagreb, Esmaeili was put in par terre for third passivity call. Jafarov, down 2-1, needed a point to turn the result but he failed to score any points as Esmaeili defended the par terre position and captured his first world title.

Jafarov blamed a lapse in concentration in the final seconds that costed him the gold medal in Riyadh.

Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI)Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) won his fourth gold medal this year. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Iran's other world champion from Zagreb, Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) made it seem a little easier as he defeated former world U20 champion Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ), 6-0, winning his third gold in one month.

Farokhi, who won gold at 82kg at the World Championships, moved to 87kg for U23 World Championships and won gold without giving up a point in Novi Sad. Just two weeks later, he now gold at 87kg on Tuesday.

Against Yevloyev in the final, Farokhi was awarded both par terre position which gave him a 2-0 lead. From the second par terre, he managed to score a point as he threw Yevloyev for a stepout. The Kazakhstan wrestler was docked two points for defensive foul making it 5-0.

Kazakhstan challenged the foul call but Yevloyev had clearly blocked Farokhi using his elbow on the Iranian's face. The lost challenged made it 6-0 for Farokhi, giving him the win.

Farokhi had a tough match in semifinals against world bronze medalist Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ) and needed a takedown in the final minute to win 7-6, first time he has shown some difficulty winning bouts.

Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ)Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) won the 77kg gold medal at the Islamic Solidarity Games. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Two other gold medals were awarded on Tuesday with former U23 world champion Alisher GANIEV (UZB) winning the 60kg one and two-time Olympic medalist Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) marking his comeback with gold medal at 77kg.

Makhmudov, who has not wrestled in a full tournament since winning bronze in Paris, was in some form as he made no mistake in his run to the gold medal. In the final, he wrestled Amir ABDI (IRI) and performed a reverse lift throw for five points before securing the fall in the second period.

Abdi got the par terre position in the first period but Makhmudov defended the position, giving only a 1-0 lead to the Iranian. When he got the par terre position, he jumped to the front before performing the lift and holding Abdi on the mat for fall.

Ganiev, who defeated European champion Nihad MAMMADLI (AZE) in the quarterfinal, defeated Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) in the semifinal and humbled Ekrem OZTURK (TUR), 8-0, in the final.

RESULTS

60kg
GOLD: Alisher GANIEV (UZB) df. Ekrem OZTURK (TUR), 8-0

BRONZE: Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) df. Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE), 3-2
BRONZE: Sajjad ALBIDHAN (IRQ) df. Fergat ABDELKRIM (ALG), 5-1

67kg
GOLD: Saeid ESMAEILI LEIVESI (IRI) df. Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE), 8-3

BRONZE: Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) df. Aref MOHAMMADI (QAT), 5-2
BRONZE: Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) df. Hassan ABDELREHIM (EGY), via fall (9-0)

77kg
GOLD: Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) df. Amir ABDI (IRI), via fall (6-1)

BRONZE: Abdullo ALIEV (UZB) df. Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE), 2-2
BRONZE: Shahin BADAGHIMOFRAD (QAT) df. Sami SLAMA (TUN), via fall (8-1)

87kg
GOLD: Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) df. Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ), 6-0

BRONZE: Sid BACHIR (ALG) df. Sukhrob ABDULKHAEV (TJK), 9-0
BRONZE: Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ) df. Islam ABBASOV (AZE), 5-1