#WrestleIstanbul

Live Blog: Yasar Dogu, Vehbi Emre & Hamit Kaplan Day 2

By United World Wrestling Press

ISTANBUL, Turkey (February 25) -- The second day of the Ranking Series event in Istanbul will features wrestlers from three Greco-Roman weights and four women's wrestling weights. Uzbekistan dominated the all-Greco day one.

Greco-Roman 72kg, 77kg and 82kg wrestlers that include stars like Rafiq HUSEYNOV (AZE), Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE), will fight for the gold medal

Women's wrestling will have 57kg, 62kg, 68kg and 76kg. Olympic silver medalists Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR), Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ), Blessing OBRODUDU (NGR) and world champion Bilyana DUDUVA (BUL) are wrestling.

MATCH ORDER | WATCH LIVE

Women's Wrestling Finals (As they come in):
57kg: Evelina NIKOLOVA (BUL)  vs. Bolortuya KHURELKHUU (MGL) 
62kg: Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL) vs. Winner 144
68kg: Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ) vs. Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) 
76kg: Winner 184 vs. Winner 224

Greco-Roman Finals (As they come in):
72kg: Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU) vs. Selcuk CAN (TUR) 
77kg: Yunus Emre BASAR (TUR) vs. Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) 
82kg: Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) vs. Mihail BRADU (MDA) 

15:15: In today's early session match-of-the-morning, Olympic bronze medalist Evelina Georgieva NIKOLOVA (BUL) pinned Olympic silver medalist Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) and punched her ticket to the 57kg finals.

14:15: A world championships rematch at 82kg. Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) is taking on Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) on Mat B. Akbudak was awarded a point for Huseynov's inactivity. He then gets four rolls and wins 9-0. That was anti-climatic

14:15: Here is the 57kg semifinal line-up

 

#WrestleIstanbul

Here are the 57kg quarters results

- Evelina NIKOLOVA ?? df Esther KOLAWOLE ??, 10-6
- df Bolortuya KHURELKHUU ??df Veronika CHUMIKOVA ?? , via fall
- Iryna KURACHKINA ?? df Sandra PARUSZEWSKI ??, 8-5
- Anhelina LYSAK ?? df Giullia DE OLIVEIRA ??, via fall https://t.co/enhl37tLJd

— United World Wrestling (@wrestling) February 25, 2022

 

13:55: World champion Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ) starts with a pin! She gets Tatiana SMOLIAK (RWF) in a cradle and secures a first-period fall at 68kg.

13:45: Khanum VALIEVA (RWF) with a big 10-0 win over Azoda ESBERGENOVA (UZB) at 68kg. She does this with 2:48 remaining as well. Quietly she is in the semifinals

13:40: Lot of step-outs and inactivity points in that bout. But it's all for Medet Kyzy. She scores three takedowns as well to beat Shumova 10-0 with 43 seconds remaining at 76kg

13:30: U23 world champion and senior World bronze medalist Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ) is up against Kristina SHUMOVA (RWF) in their 76kg pre-quarterfinal bout on Mat C

13:15: World bronze medalist Samar HAMZA (EGY) is moving into the 76kg quarterfinals after a 9-6 win over Gursharanpreet (IND).  

13:03: A victory via fall! Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL) gets Taybe YUSEIN (BUL) in a headlock and keeps her back to the mat. She moves on at 62kg

13:00: Taybe YUSEIN (BUL) is up against Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL) at 62kg. Yusein is the Tokyo bronze medalist. On Mat A, Martina KUENZ (AUT) is wrestling Victoria FRANCIS (USA)

12:35: Lais NUNES DE OLIVEIRA (BRA) has done it! She humbles Olympic silver medalist Tynybekova 10-0 in the quarterfinals of the 62kg. No attacks from the Kyrgyzstan wrestler.

12:25: Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) is up on Mat B against Lais NUNES DE OLIVEIRA (BRA) at 62kg. Inactivity called on Tynybekova and she is down 0-1 at the end of the first period. A crotch life from the Brazil wrestler to lead 3-0. A stepout to add one more

12:15: Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) takes some time but wins 8-0 against SAJAN (IND). A solid warm-up win for him. On Mat B, Nikolova has got another pin. That's two in two for her.

12:10: Huseynov takes little time! He has two big throws to beat Harpreet SINGH (IND) 8-0 at 82kg. Trademark reverse lifts from the world champion there

12:06: Tokyo Olympian Khanum VALIEVA (RWF) gets going with an easy 10-0 win over Solin PIEARCY (USA) at 68kg

12:02: Rafiq HUSEYNOV (AZE), world champion at 82kg, will be up on Mat B while 77kg world silver medalist Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) is coming up on Mat C

11:53: World champion Viktor NEMES (SRB) and silver medalist Aram VARDANYAN (UZB) on Mat A. Vardanyan was awarded a point for Nemes' inactivity. He leads 1-0 at the break. Nemes leads on criteria 1-1 after Vardanyan's inactivity. Too and fro battle but Nemes wins 1-1

11:43: Four-time Ranking Series medalist Seluk CAN (TUR) begins his day with a win. He beats Mateusz BERNATEK (POL) after a roll from par terre at 72kg

11:17: There's your comeback of the competition!

Lais NUNES DE OLIVEIRA (BRA) fell behind 8-0 against Anastasiia PAROKHINA (RUS) in their first-round meeting, but scored eleven unanswered points to win the match, 11-8. She'll wrestle reigning two-time world champion and Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) next (Bout 166).

11:04: Rio Olympic bronze medalists Marwa AMRI (TUN)  and Sakshi MALIK (IND) are wrestling on Mats A and B, respectively. 

10:55: One of the biggest storylines we're going to be following today is the potential top-side matchup of 57kg Olympic medalists Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) and  Evelina Georgieva NIKOLOVA (BUL), If they continue to win, they'll meet in tonight's semifinals (Bout 143).

Both wrestlers picked up falls in their first-round matches. Kurachkina pinned  Alicja CZYZOWICZ (POL) and Nikolova pinned Ozge FINDIKCI (TUR).

#WrestleTirana

Kamal soars high with Tirana Ranking Series gold

By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (March 1) -- The last time Kerem KAMAL (TUR) was in action internationally, he did not have a favorable outcome. A bloody battle with Georgij TIBILOV (SRB) ended in a loss at the European Championships.

But Kamal, who impressed all with his performance at all the age-group World Championships and continentals, started the 2025 season with a scintillating victory at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series, capturing the 63kg gold medal.

The 2022 U23 world champion was in his elements as he defeated Doolotbek CHOIBEKOV (KGZ), 10-0, in the final with two big throws for four points each. His first shoulder throw gave him a 4-0 lead, then he got the par terre position from which he performed a suplex for four points to win in just over a minute. Choibekov challenged for a leg-foul but Kamal's movements were clean.

In his earlier bouts, he defeated Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) 5-1 in the quarterfinals with some incredible defense from par terre in the first period. When Mohsen Nejad tried to turn Kamal, the Turkish wrestler moved forward on the mat to break Mohsen Nejad's grip.

Mohsen Nejad needed to score to break Kamal's 1-1 criteria lead and tried a big throw which Kamal blocked and pinned Mohsen Nejad on the mat for four points.

"At the Turkish Championships six weeks ago, I moved up to the new weight class of 63kg," Kamal said. "This time I competed against very strong opponents like Mohsen Nejad from Iran and [Razvan] Arnaut from Romania. I’m happy that I was able to win all my matches. It was a good start to the new year.

Kamal will now be busy for the preparation of European Championships to be held in second week of April in Bratislava, Slovakia.

"I’m not yet 100 percent fit," he said. "I focused a lot on endurance training during the training camp, and my preparations are fully aligned with the European Championships. I wanted to test my ground defense -- I did a good job [in Tirana] but I will work even harder to make sure I can reach my full potential at the European Championships."

Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ)Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) throws Valentin PETIC (MDA) for four points during the 67kg final in Tirana. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Kyrgyzstan did win a gold medal as U23 world champion Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) brought out his best in the final against Valentin PETIC (MDA), beating the Moldovan 11-0 to capture the 67kg gold medal.

This was the second gold medal for Kyrgyzstan in Tirana after Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ) won the 77kg gold medal on Friday.

Beishekeev, the U23 world champion last year in Tirana, needed only the first par terre position to complete the technical superiority win over Petic. He went for the reverse left and scored four points and as Petic landed on his back, Beishekeev went for the fall. However, Petic blocked Beishekeev with his hands on legs was docked two caution points.

With a 7-0 lead and restart in par terre, Beishkeev once again went for the reverse lift and scored a four-pointer to complete the 11-0 win.

RESULTS

63kg
GOLD: Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Doolotbek CHOIBEKOV (KGZ), 10-0

BRONZE: Baiaman APILOV (KGZ) df. Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) df. Razvan ARNAUT (ROU), 3-1

67kg
GOLD: Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) df. Valentin PETIC (MDA), 11-0

BRONZE: Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO) df. Madiyar MAULITKANOV (KAZ), 7-2
BRONZE: Bagdat SABAZ (KAZ) df. Lei LI (CHN), 9-1