WrestleOlegKaravaev

Oleg Karavaev Entries

By Eric Olanowski

MINSK, Belarus (July 19) --- The regular season closes out next week with the final Greco-Roman Ranking Series event, the Oleg Karavaev. The two-day tournament, which will be held in Minsk, Belarus, will feature nearly 175 wrestlers from 19 different nations.

Emrah KUS (TUR), the reigning world runner-up and No. 1-ranked wrestler in the world at 82kg, leads a field littered with 24 wrestlers who are ranked inside the top-20 of the latest Greco-Roman rankings. Kus' weight of 82kg will feature six ranked wrestlers -- which is the most top-20 guys in one bracket.

Two other stacked weight classes to pay attention to are 67kg and 130kg. Both weights house at least four top-20 competitors.

Wrestling at the Palace of Sports begins on July 26 and can be followed live on www.unitedworldwrestling.org.

ENTRIES

55kg
Manjeet MANJEET (IND)
Vijay VIJAY (IND)
Maksym VYSOTSKYI (ISR)
Vladimir ZABEYVOROTA RUS)

Emin Narimanovitch SEFERSHAEV (RUS)

60kg
Ihar DROZD (BLR)
Dzmitry BRYCHAK (BLR)
Marat GARIPOV  (BRA)
Gautam YADAV (IND)
Vijay VIJAY (IND)
Manish MANISH (IND)
Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN)
Khorlan ZHAKANSHA  (KAZ)
Amangali BEKBOLATOV (KAZ)
Zhanserik SARSENBIYEV (KAZ)
Seunghak KIM (KOR)
Artur PETROSIAN (RUS)
Sadyk LALAEV(RUS)

Ahmet UYAR   (TUR)
Andriy MARTYNYUK (UKR)
Ihor KUROCHKIN (UKR)
Javokhir MIRAKHMEDOV (UZB)
Ilkhom BAKHROMOV (UZB)

63kg
Yahor BELIAK  (BLR)
Aliaksandr PECHURENKA (BLR)
Erbatu TUO (CHN)
Sailike WALIHAN (CHN)
Juuso Aleksi LATVALA (FIN)
Sagar SAGAR (IND)
Shinobu OTA (JPN)
Aidos SULTANGALI (KAZ)
Mirambek AINAGULOV (KAZ)
Damir ZARLYKHANOV (KAZ)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Roman Aleksandrovich IVANOV (RUS)
Shamil Salauddinovitch MUALIEV (RUS)
Fadis VALITOV (RUS)
Nasrullakh NASIBOV (UKR)
Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB)
Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB)
Firuz TUKHTAEV (UZB)

Second-ranked Hansu RYU (KOR) will lock up the No. 2 seed at the World Championships with a win in Minsk. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

67kg 
Soslan DAUROV (BLR)
Maksim NEHODA (BLR)
Mikita BARANAU (BLR)
Fredrik Holmquist BJERREHUUS (DEN)
Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed Ibrahi ELSAYED (EGY)
Abouhalima Mohamed Elsaid ABOUHALIMA (EGY)
Manish MANISH (IND)
Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (JPN)
Shogo TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Daniyar KALENOV (KAZ)
Ruslan ITEMGENOV (KAZ)
Hansu RYU (KOR)
Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT)
Edgaras VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Alen MIRZOIAN (RUS)
Miakhdi Abubakarovitch IAKHIAEV (RUS)
Enes BASAR (TUR)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)
Vasyl SYMONENKO (UKR)
Aram VARDANYAN (UZB)
Makhmud BAKHSHILLOEV (UZB)
Mirzobek RAKHMATOV (UZB)

72kg 
Ruslan AHAMALYIEU (BLR)
Anton KORABAU (BLR)
Uladzislau MANKEVICH (BLR)
Gaoquan ZHANG (CHN)
Hassan Hassan Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY)
Miras AKHMETZHANOV (KAZ)
Meiirzhan SHERMAKHANBET (KAZ)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Magomed YARBILOV (RUS)
Narek OGANIAN (RUS)
Arslan ZUBAIROV (RUS)
Andrii KULYK (UKR)

77kg 
Pavel LIAKH (BLR)
Tsimur BERDYIEU (BLR)
Anton SAKHNO (BLR)
Ridong ZHANG (CHN)
Hujun ZHANG  (CHN)
Jakub BIELESZ (CZE)
Mohamed Ehab Mohamed Zahab KHALIL (EGY)
Sakke Petteri PUROLAINEN (FIN)
Niko Olavi Oskari ERKKOLA (FIN)
Yogesh YOGESH (IND)
Sajan SAJAN (IND)
Naotsugu SHOJI (JPN)
Shohei YABIKU (JPN)
Ibragim MAGOMADOV (KAZ)
Paulius GALKINAS (LTU)
Rafael IUNUSOV (RUS)
Islam OPIEV (RUS)
Akhmed KAYTSUKOV  (RUS)
Serkan AKKOYUN (TUR)
Ivan KRAICHEV (UKR)
Yasaf ZEINALOV (UKR)


Top-ranked Emrah KUS (TUR) leads an 82kg field that has six ranked wrestler that'll be in action. (Photo: Gabor Martin) 

82kg 
Viktar SASUNOUSKI (BLR)
Stanislau SHAFARENKA (BLR)
Mikita KLIMOVICH (BLR)
Haitao QIAN (CHN)
Bin YANG (CHN)
Oldrich VARGA (CZE)
Rajbek Alvievich BISULTANOV (DEN)
Singh GURPREET (IND)
Singh HARPREET (IND)
Igor PETRISHIN (ISR)
Maxat YEREZHEPOV (KAZ)
Askhat ZHANBIROV (KAZ)
Miras BARSHYLYKOV (KAZ)
Milad Valerikovitch ALIRZAEV (RUS)
Emrah KUS (TUR)
Ruslan KONIEV (UKR)
Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)
Bilan NALGIEV (UZB)
Nurbek KHASHIMBEKOV (UZB)

87kg
Radzik KULIYEU (BLR)
Mikalai STADUB (BLR)
Kiryl MASKEVICH (BLR)
Junjie NA (CHN)
Mohamed Moustafa Ahmed Abdall METWALLY (EGY)
Kumar SUNIL (IND)
Takahiro TSURUDA (JPN)
Masato SUMI  (JPN)
Azamat KUSTUBAYEV (KAZ)
Baurzhan MUSSIN (KAZ)
Laimutis ADOMAITIS (LTU)
Martynas NEMSEVICIUS (LTU)
Julius MATUZEVICIUS (LTU)
Vaag MARGARIAN (RUS)
Gazi KHALILOV (RUS)
Dogan GOKTAS (TUR)
Muhammadali SHAMSIDDINOV (UZB)
Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB)

97kg
Aliaksandr HRABOVIK (BLR)
Siarhei STARADUB (BLR)
Dzmitry KAMINSKI (BLR)
Yanan CHEN (CHN)
Yan LIU (CHN)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Ondrej DADAK (CZE)
Mathias BAK (DEN)
Ravi RAVI (IND)
Yuta NARA (JPN)
Olzhas SYRLYBAY (KAZ)
Yerulan ISKAKOV (KAZ)
Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ)
Vilius LAURINAITIS (LTU)
Ruslan BEKUZAROV (RUS)
Fatih BASKOY (TUR)
Suleyman DEMIRCI (TUR)
Ibrahim TIGCI (TUR)
Zielimkhan DZIHASOV (UKR)
Oleksandr SHYSHMAN (UKR)
Jahongir TURDIEV (UZB)

KIM Minseok (KOR), a Budapest world bronze medalist, only need one point to lock up at least a top-four seed at the World Championships. (Photo: Max Rose-Fyne)

130kg
Kiryl HRYSHCHANKA (BLR)
Georgi CHUGOSHVILI (BLR)
Javid HAMZATAU (BLR)
Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ (CHI)
Di XIAO (CHN)
Lingzhe MENG (CHN)
Stepan DAVID (CZE)
Abdellatif Mohamed Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY)
Konsta Johannes MAEENPAEAE (FIN)
Tuomas Heikki Juhani LAHTI (FIN)
Naveen NAVEEN (IND)
Damir KUZEMBAYEV (KAZ)
Mansur SHADUKAYEV (KAZ)
Minseok KIM (KOR)
Romas FRIDRIKAS (LTU)
Oleg Kahaberovitch AGAKHANOV (RUS)
Osman YILDIRIM (TUR)
Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)

#JapanWrestling

I Want to Win Second Olympic Gold at LA 2028: Higuchi

By United World Wrestling Press

TOKYO (May 22) -- Paris Olympic champion at 57kg Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) returned to competition for the 2026 Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships in Tokyo. After reaching the 61kg final on Saturday, Higuchi defeated Toshihiro HASEGAWA (JPN), 3-0, in the gold medal bout.

Normally, the two should have wrestle off to earn a spot on the Japan team for the 2026 World Championships. However, Higuchi withdrew from the play-off to everyone's surprise. He later talked to the press. Excerpts:

UWW Plus

-- On withdrawing from World Championships wrestle-off against Hasegawa

Higuchi: In December, the qualifying process at 57kg starts for [the 2028] Los Angeles [Olympics]. There is the World Championships, but all I am thinking of is a second straight title in Los Angeles. Strategically speaking, I have six months from now to get my body ready and drop to 57kg, and I want to give that priority. That's how I came to this decision."

-- On his performance at the Meiji Cup

Higuchi: I tried various new takedowns, and I was able to apply pressure in the clinch as well. I think it went pretty well, more or less. There was one throw I felt I could have executed better, and there were a few other areas where I wanted to finish things off more decisively. I guess there’s a mix of things to reflect on and things that went well. It feels like a bit of a mixed bag. 

-- On his return after 21 months since 2024 Paris Olympics

Higuchi: It was definitely fun. It was my first match in a long time, so I was really excited and nervous, but I’m not the type to feel too much pressure. Even as an Olympic champion, how should I put it?, I’m sure there were people hoping for an upset, but whether I win or lose, the fact that I’m an Olympic gold medalist doesn’t change. So in that sense, I was able to let go of the pressure and really enjoy the wrestling.

-- On his physical health

Higuchi: In the first match, I definitely felt like my legs were really heavy. It had been a while since my last match, and it had been a while since I’d reduce weight too. There were moments where I wondered, “Is this really okay?” But by the second match, the semifinal, I was gradually finding my rhythm and moving well. I really feel it was great that I was able to compete once six months ago, rather than starting all of a sudden this December.

-- On any improvements for future

Higuchi: First of all, I need to build a body that’s properly suited for the 57kg weight class. It’s been a while since I’ve competed, so I didn’t perform as well as I’d hoped. I think if I refocus and tighten up my game, I’ll be able to deliver an even better performance. I really want to get back to training soon. It was so much fun. It’s been a while, but I feel like I can pull off all sorts of new moves and do so much more, so I’m eager to get back to training. 

-- On motivation for LA 2028

Higuchi: There’s only one person in the history of Japanese wrestling [Freestyle] who has won back-to-back Olympic gold medals. My goal is to become the strongest wrestler in the history of Japanese wrestling. In terms of records. There are many great predecessors, but I want to break their records. I want to become the kind of figure where people say, “Rei Higuchi was the strongest in Japanese wrestling history.”

I want to wrap things up by winning two consecutive gold medals in Los Angeles.