#WrestleIstanbul

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

Friday, February 25, 2022 - 07:02 By United World Wrestling Press

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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).

#WrestleZagreb

Yousofi wins gold in Zagreb to enter Iran's 130kg race

Sunday, February 9, 2025 - 19:32 By Vinay Siwach

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ZAGREB, Croatia (February 9) -- Iran has selection headache at 130kg. But it's a good one to have.

With Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) and Fardin HEYDAYTI (IRI) already fighting for the spot, Aliakbar YOUSOFI (IRI) has thrown his hat in the process with gold medal at the Zagreb Open.

The 2021 world champion last competed internationally in the 2023 Budapest Ranking Series but returned as the new Olympic cycle began. And his first victim was European champion Sergey SEMENOV (AIN) who stunned Riza KAYAALP (TUR) in the 130kg final to win gold.

Yousofi defeated Sememnov 10-1 in the opening bout, stopped Koppany LASZLO (HUN) 6-1 and won 9-1 against Sarkhan MAMMADOV (AZE).

In the final, Yousofi was put in par terre first against Konsta MAEENPAEAE (FIN) tried the gut wrench but was blocked by Yousofi for two points. Then came the series of stepouts, a typical Iranian style of wrestling as Yousofi claimed a 9-1 victory the gold medal.

Iran's second gold medal came at 82kg as Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) defeated Erik SZILVASSY (HUN), 6-2, in the final. Szilvassy is a world silver medalist, having lost to Mohammadali GERAEI (IRI) in the final in Tirana last year.

Farokhi was too much for Szilvassy who failed to keep up with the force of Farokhi and gave up stepouts as well.

But Iran would be disappointed at the results of 72kg as both Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) and Danial SOHRABI (IRI) lost to 19-year-old Levente LEVAI (HUN). Geraei suffered a loss in the semifinals while Sohrabi was stunned in the final by the teenager.

The final began in a very untraditional manner with Sohrabi getting cautioned for finger grabbing, which gave Levai a 2-0 lead. He was also put in par terre but Levai failed to score but still enjoyed a 3-0 lead.

Sohrabi came back with two stepouts and one point for par terre to make it 3-3 but he trailed on criteria as he was cautioned for two points early in the bout. Unaware of the criteria winner, Sohrabi was not in any attacking mode but with around a minute remaining, he realized that he is trailing on criteria.

A series of desperate attacks were made including one flying squirrel but Levai managed to defend all of them. Sohrabi asked for a challenge for the flying squirrel but no points were awarded on review, giving an extra point to Levai for lost challenge and a further cushion for victory.

In a weight class which had two world champions from Tirana, none finished on the podium. The 60kg weight class had Edlaniz AZIZLI (AZE) and Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE) but both lost to the unheralded Mehroj BAKHRAMOV (UZB) who in turn lost to U23 world champion and compatriot Alisher GANIEV (UZB) 9-0 in the semifinals.

From the other side of the bracket, Georgij TIBILOV (SRB) made it to the final against Ganiev who was leading 4-0 when a moment of brilliance from Tibilov changed it all.

In the second period of the match, Tibilov scissor jumped over Ganiev and the spun the Uzbek like a cartwheel for four points. The move gave Tibilov a 4-4 criteria lead and Uzbekistan challenged the call but lost to make the score 5-4. A second passivity further extended his lead to 6-4.

At 55kg, Elmir ALIYEV (AZE) denied Iran a gold medal, blanking Mahdi AHADI ZENAB (IRI), 6-0.

Sargsian beats Khaslakanau

Artur SARGSIAN (AIN) suffered a heartbreaking elbow injury at the World Championships in Belgrade in 2023. After more than a year of being away from action, Sargsian marked his return with a gold medal at 97kg. He defeated former U20 world champion and Paris Olympian Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (AIN), 5-2, in the final.

Khaslakhanau was awarded the first par terre advantage of the final but he failed to score a point from that position. Soon, Sargsian launched a sag bodylock for four points which Khaslakhanau challenged for a leg four. But it was clean move from Sargsian who now led 5-1.

Khaslakhanau was giving another passivity advantage in the second period but he failed to score from that as well as Sargsian defended his 5-2 lead with ease.

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Elmir ALIYEV (AZE) df. Mahdi AHADI ZENAB (IRI), 6-0

BRONZE: Brady KOONTZ (USA) df. Artium DELEANU (MDA), 9-1

60kg
GOLD: Georgij TIBILOV (SRB) df. Alisher GANIEV (UZB), 6-4

BRONZE: Sadyk LALAEV (AIN) df. Mehroj BAKHRAMOV (UZB), 9-0
BRONZE: Pouya NASERPOUR (IRI) df. Huseyn GARIBOV (AZE), 9-1

72kg
GOLD: Levente LEVAI (HUN) df. Danial SOHRABI (IRI), 4-3

BRONZE: Ruslan NURULLAYEV (AZE) df. Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Krisztian VANCZA (HUN) df. Ulvi GANIZADE (AZE), via inj. def.

82kg
GOLD: Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) df Erik SZILVASSY (HUN), 6-2

BRONZE: Mihail BRADU (MDA) df. Karlo KODRIC (CRO), 2-1
BRONZE: Gurban GURBANOV (AZE) df. Vasile COJOC (ROU), 9-0

97kg
GOLD: Artur SARGSIAN (AIN) df. Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (AIN), 5-2

BRONZE: Murad AHMADIYEV (AZE) df. Shayan HABIBZARE (IRI)
BRONZE: Alex SZOKE (HUN) df. Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN), 7-1

130kg
GOLD: Konsta MAEENPAEAE (FIN) Aliakbar YOUSOFI (IRI)

BRONZE: Marat KAMPAROV (AIN) df. Beka KANDELAKI (AZE), 3-2
BRONZE: Sarkhan MAMMADOV (AZE) df. Koppany LASZLO (HUN), via fall