#WrestlePontevedra

Russia and Azerbaijan to Meet Twice in Saturday's Freestyle Finals

Friday, June 7, 2019 - 18:07 By Eric Olanowski

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PONTEVEDRA, Spain (June 7) – Russia’s Greco-Roman squad won 14 of 15 matches on their opening day of competition and inserted four wrestlers into the finals. Their freestyle team matched their Greco-Roman countrymen, placing four wrestlers into the finals, but did so by winning 12 out of 13 matches. 

Russia’s four Day 6 finalists are Nachyn MONGUSH, Muslim SAIDULAEV, Magomed ABDULKADYROV, and Amkhad TASHUKHADZHIEV. The quartet will wrestle for gold medals at 57kg, 65kg, 70kg, and 79kg, respectively. 

Russia will take on Azerbaijan in two of their four gold medal bouts on Saturday night

The first Russian and Azerbaijan finals meeting will be at 65kg where Muslim Saidulaev will wrestle defending cadet world and European champion Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE); and the second meeting between Russia and Azerbaijan will happen at 79kg, where Amkhad Tashukhadzhiev will meet 2016 cadet world champion Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE). 

Returning junior world bronze medalist Vasile DIACON (MDA) is one of two Moldovan wrestlers competing in Saturday night's freestyle finals. He'll wrestle in the 70kg gold-medal bout. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Similar to Azerbaijan, Moldova and Turkey will also have two representatives in Saturday night’s finals. 

Junior world bronze medalist Vasile DIACON (MDA) and 2015 cadet European bronze medalist Radu LEFTER (MDA) will wrestle for Moldova in the 70kg and 97kg finals, respectively; and Ahmet DUMAN (TUR) and Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR), the 2015 cadet European champion, will compete in the 57kg and 97kg gold-medal matches, respectively.

The Day 6 freestyle finals will start at 18:00 (local time) and can be followed live on www.unitedworldwrestling.org.

RESULTS 

57kg 
GOLD -Ahmet DUMAN (TUR) vs. Nachyn MONGUSH (RUS)
SEMIFINALS - Ahmet DUMAN (TUR) df. Kamil KERYMOV (UKR), 8-5
SEMIFINALS - Nachyn MONGUSH (RUS) df. Ioannis MARTIDIS (GRE), 11-0 

65kg 
GOLD -Muslim SAIDULAEV (RUS) vs. Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE)
SEMIFINALS - Muslim SAIDULAEV (RUS) df. Dzianis SALAVEI (BLR), 10-0 
SEMIFINALS - Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) df. Nicolai GRAHMEZ (MDA), 3-1 

70kg 
GOLD -Vasile DIACON (MDA) vs. Magomed ABDULKADYROV (RUS)
SEMIFINALS - Vasile DIACON (MDA) df. Omer CAYIR (TUR), 2-2 
SEMIFINALS - Magomed ABDULKADYROV (RUS) df. Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM), 2-2 

79kg 
GOLD -Amkhad TASHUKHADZHIEV (RUS) vs. Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE)
SEMIFINALS - Amkhad TASHUKHADZHIEV (RUS) df. Arman AVAGYAN (ARM), 9-8 
SEMIFINALS - Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE) df. Erik REINBOK (EST), 10-0 

97kg
GOLD -Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR) vs. Radu LEFTER (MDA)
SEMIFINALS - Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR) df. Artur VEGH (HUN), 13-0  
SEMIFINALS - Radu LEFTER (MDA) df. Aleh MATORNY (BLR), 10-0 

#WrestleBudapest

Ranking Series: Tazhudinov Shows No Rust on His Way to Gold

Thursday, July 17, 2025 - 21:32 By Vinay Siwach

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 17) --  Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) gave an early preview to what to expect from him at the World Championships in September.

The Paris Olympic champion won the gold medal in the 97kg weight class at the Budapest Ranking Series, outscoring his opponents 44-2 in four bouts and never appearing in trouble on the mat.

"I feel very good," Tazhudinov said. "I'm very happy to be back on the mat. It’s been almost a year I haven’t been competing  and it’s such a pleasure for us when you come back and win a gold medal."

The final Ranking Series event of the season kicked off in Budapest on Thursday with several familiar names winning gold medals. Asian champion Takara SUDA (JPN), world silver medalist Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN), world U20 champion Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) and SUJEET (IND) were among the gold medalists on day one.

But none were as dominant as Tazhudinov.

The Bahrain star returned to competition for the first time since Paris Olympics competing last week in Madrid, where he won gold at the Grand Prix of Spain. In Budapest, he followed it up with another flawless run, claiming his second gold medal in as many weeks.

"Overall I’m satisfied with my performance. I would say I’m not yet in full form, so I’m pleased with how I did. I’ll reach 100% form by the World Championships," he said.

Wrestling in just his third career Ranking Series, Tazhudinov capped the day with an 11-0 technical superiority win over veteran Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL) in the final.

He opened the tournament with a 14-2 win over Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA), who clearly looked smaller for the weight class and had trouble matching Tazhudinov in every aspect of the game.

Tazhudinov hit a big double-leg attack for four points but Viskhanov got two points for exposure. But that was only opening Tazhudinov allowed for the rest of the bout. Viskhanov tried a few leg attacks but Tazhudinov scored a takedown and two turns to be up 10-2 before an arm-bar attempt turned into takedown for his win.

In the quarterfinals, Tazhudinov needed just one minute to defeat Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW). In the semifinals, he dispatched Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO) in 1:48, winning 10-0.

Despite the dominant performance in Budapest, Tazhudinov admitted the World Championships would present a tougher challenge. He’s expected to defend his 97kg world title in Zagreb.

"We’ll have two training camps leading up to the World Championships, and I think after those camps I’ll be fully ready," he said. "There will be very strong, tough opponents. So I’ll prepare thoroughly and focus on performing even better."