#WrestleBudapest

Must-watch storylines from Budapest Ranking Series

Tuesday, June 4, 2024 - 23:52 By Vinay Siwach

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (June 4) -- As the Budapest Ranking Series gets underway Thursday in the Hungary capital, a few intriguing storylines will be seen on the mats. Countries will be finalizing their Olympic line-ups, a few star wrestlers are returning to competition while others are competing for the ranking points.

Here are the top storylines that no wrestling fan should miss at the Budapest Ranking Series which will be live on uww.org using UWW+.

Iran's dilemma

A wrestle-off is set to be held by Iran in Budapest to decide on the Paris Olympic team. Tokyo Olympic champion Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) won the spot by winning bronze at the World Championships. But Saeid ESMAEILI LEIVESI (IRI) won the Asian Championships to lay his claim for the 67kg gold medal.

60kg will also see a wrestle-off as Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) is set to face Amirreza DEHBOZORGI (IRI) to decide who goes to the Paris Games.

Also, Mohammadali GERAEI (IRI) is wrestling!

Hassan YAZDANI (IRI)Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) will wrestle for the first time since winning gold medal at the Asian Games. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Sachiko Hotaka)

Yazdani returns

Undoubtedly Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) returning to competition is the big show in Budapest. Since winning the silver medal at the World Championships in Belgrade, Yazdani has wrestled only once, winning the gold medal at the Asian Games. A shoulder injury kept him out for eight months but Yazdani will be wrestling at 86kg on Thursday.

Before the Ranking Series, there were talks in Iran about a potential clash of Yazdani against 92kg world champion Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) who is looking to make the Paris Olympic team for Iran. But Iran decided to send Yazdani alone and will assess his performance before deciding on a trial between the two.

Ziqi FENG (CHN)Ziqi FENG (CHN) gave a scare to Yui SUSAKI (JPN) in the Asian Championships final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

China's problem of plenty

China rarely sends a portion of its team to the Ranking Series. But it has sent only five wrestlers for Budapest, all in Women's Wrestling. Three wrestlers are entered at 50kg and two at 57kg, expected for a wrestle-off.

Yu ZHANG (CHN), Jiang ZHU (CHN) and Ziqi FENG (CHN) are fighting for the Paris Olympic spot at 50kg. Feng won the quota for China by winning the bronze medal at the World Championships in Belgrade.

Qi ZHANG (CHN) and Kexin HONG (CHN) will wrestle off for the spot at 57kg. Hong won the quota at the Asian Olympic Qualifier in Bishkek. But Zhang, a world champion at 59kg, won the Asian Championships, a run that also had a win over Risako KINJO (JPN) in the first round.

Jamalov's switch

Razambek JAMALOV (UZB) has been waiting for his Uzbekistan debut which will finally happen in Budapest. Jamalov will take the mat at 74kg and can also face Bekzhod ABURKHAMANOV (UZB), meaning that their match can also be a wrestle-off.  Jamalov has not wrestled at an international event since finishing fifth at the 2021 European Championships but has previously shown that he can win against any top wrestler on his day.

#WrestleAmman

U20 World Championships day six GR semis set

Saturday, August 19, 2023 - 07:17 By Vinay Siwach

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AMMAN, Jordan (August 19) -- Entering another day of wrestling at the U20 World Championships in Amman, Jordan. Five Greco-Roman weight classes in action as 60kg, 67kg, 72kg, 82kg and 97kg wrestlers take the mats. Saturday is the final full day of wrestling at the tournament.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

The semifinals for the evening session

60kg
Emirlan DUISHENALIEV (KGZ) vs. Suren AGHAJANYAN (ARM)
Amirreza DEHBOZORGI (IRI) vs. SUMIT (IND)

67kg
Nestori MANNILA (FIN) vs. Gaspar TERTERYAN (ARM)
Ahoura BOUVEIRI PIANI (IRI) vs. Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY)

72kg
Levente LEVAI (HUN) vs. Aaron BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Anri PUTKARADZE (GEO) vs. Imran ALIEV (AIN)

82kg
Yasin YAZDI (IRI) vs. Ruben GEVORGYAN (ARM)
Data CHKHAIDZE (GEO) vs. Alperen BERBER (TUR)

97kg
Rostislav COVALI (MDA) vs. Gor AYVAZYAN (GEO)
Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (AIN) vs. Kevin USPENSKI (EST)

15:15: Kevin USPENSKI (EST) with a fall over Sebastian WARCHOL (POL) at 97kg and he moves into the semifinals against Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (AIN)

15:10: Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (AIN) with a monster five-point throw over Magomed MUKHTAROV (AIN) and he then secures a takedown to win 11-3. Mukhtarov challenges for a foul but the review sees a clean takedown. Khaslakhanau wins 12-3 at 97kg

15:00: Alperen BERBER (TUR) marches on at 82kg. He wins 3-1 over Ivan CHMYR (UKR) after scoring from par terre and sneaking out when he was put in par terre

14:40: Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY) once again has this crowd on its feet! He has two big suplexes as he beats Azat SARIYAR (TUR) 11-0 and moves into the 67kg semifinals. 

14:25: Suren AGHAJANYAN (ARM) pins Ilkin GURBANOV (AZE) to move into the 60kg quarterfinals. He will take on U20 European champion Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO) who beats Kuvonchbek YAKHSHIBOEV (UZB) 7-5.

14:15: Amirreza DEHBOZORGI (IRI) looking for a second U20 world gold. He beats Huangsheng WU (CHN) 6-0 in the pre-quarterfinals at 60kg. 

14:05: Alperen BERBER (TUR) with a 10-0 win in his first bout against Wojciech IWANOWSKI (POL) at 82kg. Berber is a former U17 world champion

13:40: Yasin YAZDI (IRI) survives an early onslaught from Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ) to come back and win at 82kg. He moves into the quarterfinals against Reon KAKEGAWA (JPN).

13:15: Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY) gets the crowd involved as he upsets returning champion Kanan ABDULLAZADE (AZE) 7-5 at 72kg. Alameldin got a big throw from par terre and Abdullazade was left to play catch up

12:35: U20 world champion from 2021 Amirreza DEHBOZORGI (IRI) gets going with an 11-0 win over Kemal SEVGILI (TUR) at 67kg. Dehbozorgi looks solid 

12:15: Amirreza AKBARI (IRI) takes out former U17 world silver medalist Darius KIEFER (GER) 6-1. Kiefer failed to turn Akbari from par terre while Akbari kept the pressure to beat Kiefer

11:45: Anri PUTKARADZE (GEO) allowed Gunhee LEE (KOR) to score four points against him but manages to score nine of his own to win his 72kg opening-round bout.

11:35: That bout took ages but Hajime KIKUTA (JPN) won 14-13 against Abdullo ALIEV (UZB) at 72kg. Kikuta led 13-7 with just 15 seconds on the clock and Aliev got a takedown, a back roll and a gut wrench for six points to tie it 13-13. Kikuta, however, had criteria for a four-pointer he hit earlier.

11:20: Defending champion Kanan ABDULLAZADE (AZE) trailed 2-2 against UMESH (IND) but he scores two pushouts on Umesh's attacks to win 4-2 at 72kg. That bout took a lot out of Abdullazade there. 

11:10: Former U17 world champion Joel ADAMS (USA) suffers an opening round loss to Artur JEREMEJEV (EST) at 67kg. Adams will look to improve his strength for the U20 level after his first year at this level

10:55: Zsolt TAKACS (HUN) thought he has a chance against Ahoura BOUVEIRI PIANI (IRI) but the latter rolls to a 10-2 win at 67kg after Takacs got an initial takedown

10:40: What better start we could have asked for? A thriller between Nika BROLADZE (GEO) and Arslanbek SALIMOV (POL) saw the Poland wrestler win 11-11 on criteria. Broladze used a big four-point throw to make it 11-9 but in the final second, Salimov scored a stepout for one point. Broladze was cautioned for fleeing which made the score 11-11 and gave Salimov the win.

10:30: Done with the first round of repechage bouts and we are moving into the qualification rounds of five Greco-Roman weight classes -- 60kg, 67kg, 72kg, 82kg and 97kg. 

10:00: Five days of high-paced wrestling have flown by. But welcome to another day of wrestling as Greco-Roman continues in Amman.