#IranLeague

Sanaye Win Iranian Freestyle League Title

Saturday, December 11, 2021 - 13:24 By Ali Feizasa

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TEHRAN, Iran (December 11) --- Sanaye Mazandaran captured the '21 Iranian freestyle wrestling league team title, while 13 world and Olympic medalists competed in the final day at the Azadi Sport complex in Tehran, Iran.

Cornered by former world champion Reza Yazdani as their head coach, Sanaye Mazandaran enjoyed wins from Russian world champions Abasgadghi MAGOMEDOV and Magomedrasul GAZIMAGOMEDOV. which helped their team beat Amol team, 6-4 in the final match. 

Meanwhile, Iran's '21 world bronze medalist Mojtaba GOLEIJ and Amouzad brothers were key wrestlers for the champion team. Despite the Sanaye team missing 92kg world champion Kamran GHASEMPOUR for the finals due to injury, '20 Asian silver medalist Ahmad BAZRI was a worthy successor for him and achieved two important victories.

In third-place match, Sahand Aras defeated Mazandaran Azad University, 9-1. World champion Zagir SHAKHIEV and three time world and Olympic bronze medal winner Artur Naifonov were Russian stars of Aras team.

Russian world champion Shakhiev loses to Iranian Olympian
During the semifinal match, current 65kg world champion Zagir Shakhiev from Aras team had a tough rival as Iranian Tokyo Olympian Morteza GHIASI succeed to the earn 6-4 victory. Shakhiev beat Hassan MORADGHOLI, helping his team to place third.

“Yesterday I had an injury during the training and I didn’t want to wrestle against Ghiasi but the team decided to send me on mat.” Shakhiev said. He added, “Everything is in high level in Ira's  league but I am upset no to see Iranian fans in the hall. My motivation for coming Iran league was to wrestle in front of Iranian fans. Many expected to see my match with Amir Mohammad YAZDANI but his weight has moved up.” 

Olympic 74kg silver medalist suffers deficit in 79kg
In the 79kg bout of the final match, '20 Olympics silver medalist in 74kg, Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU suffered a narrow loss against Ali SAVADKOUHI and couldn’t help his team's chance at winning the team title. “I liked to compete with Kadzimahamedau. Today I had a good day and I was motivated for this match.” Savadkouhi said.

But, the Dagestani-born wrestler of Belarus won the battle against 2021 world silver medalist Mohammad NOKHODI from Aras team, 8-7 in the semi final match.

Easy day for heavy weight world champion, Zare
Reigning heavyweight world champion Amirhossein ZARE appeared on mat for Amol team and had an easy day. The Iranian wrestler who had been named United World Wrestling’s Breakthrough Performance of the Year award winner, had a 5-0 victory against Esmaeil NEJATIAN but it was not enough for his team to win the final match. Zare was also the winner of the semi final by forfeit.

“It was a great sense to win the award of Breakthrough Performance of the Year. It was my first year in senior level and I am glad for winning Olympic medal and world heavy weight title. I hope to repeat it for many years” Zare said. 

Four Russians remained invincible
Four Russian wrestlers remained invincible during the final day of the '21 season of Iran league.

The veteran Magomedrasul Gazimagomedov (2015 & 2018 world champion) earned two victories for the championship Sanaye while his team member, 61kg world champion Abasgadghi Magomedov competed in 57kg and had two technical Fall victory over Iranian Olympian wrestler Reza ATRI and Reza MOMENI.

This year's world bronze medalist at 74kg, Timur BIZHOEV and Olympic bronze medalist Artur NAIFONOV were other Russian wrestlers who downed their rivals.

“There were good wrestlers in Iran league and the organization of that was in high level. I'd like to compete again in the Iran league.” Bizhoev said. Asking about his future in the world of wrestling, he answered: “There is no difference where I compete. I want to be champion in all upcoming events.”

Two Technical Fall Victory for Naifonov in absence of Yazdani
Despite the contract of Iranian superstar Hassan Yazdani with Amol team, he didn’t step on mat during the final day while, his Russian rival Artur Naifonov celebrated two technical fall victories. “Yazdani suffered some injuries after two high level events, so we preferred not to see him on mat during the final day of the league” said Iranian freestyle head coach Pejman DOROSTKAT.

Final Match: Sanaye Mazandaran df. Fooladin Zob Amol, 6-4
57kg: Abasgadghi Magomedov (Sanaye) TF. Reza Atri (Amol), 10-0
61kg: Rahman Amouzad (Sanaye) TF. Peyman Nemati (Amol), 10-0
65kg: Farzad Amouzad (Sanaye) df. Morteza Ghiasi (Amol), 2-2
70kg: Magomedrasul Gazimagomedov (Sanaye) df. Erfan Elahi (Amol), 6-0
74kg: Timur Bizhoev (Amol) df. Jamal Ebadi (Sanaye), 6-0
79kg: Ali Savadkouhi (Sanaye) df. Mahamedkhabib Kadzimahamedau (Amol), 6-5
86kg: Ahmad Bazri (Sanaye) df. Hadi Vafaeipour (Amol), 11-0
92kg: Amir Hossein Firouzpour (Amol) df. Mohammad Javad Ebrahimi (Sanaye) by forfeit
97kg: Mohammad Hossein Mohammadian (Amol) df. Mojtaba Goleij (Sanaye), 2-2
125kg: Amirhossein Zare (Amol) df. Esmaeil Nejatian (Sanaye), 5-0

Third place match: Sahand Aras df. Mazandaran Azad University, 9-1
57kg: Alireza Sarlak (Aras) TF. Erfan Aeini (Azad Uni.), 10-0
61kg: Mohammad Ramezanpour (Aras) df. Mehdi Shirazi (Azad Uni.), 3-1
65kg: Zagir Shakhiev (Aras) df. Hassan Moradgholi (Azad Uni.), 6-2
70kg: Mohammad Bakhshi (Azad Uni.) df. Amirhossein Hosseini (Aras), 4-2
74kg: Mostafa Hosseinkhani (Aras) df. Sobhan Yari (Azad Uni.), 5-0
79kg: Mohammad Nokhodi (Aras) df. Bahman Teymouri (Azad Uni.), 4-0
86kg: Artur Naifonov (Aras) TF. Alireza Saberian (Azad Uni.), 10-0
92kg: Amirali Azarpira (Aras) df. Amir Mohammadi (Azad Uni.), 2-1
97kg: Danial Shariatinia (Aras) df. Meysam Abdi (Azad Uni.), 7-0
125kg: Amin Taheri (Aras) df. Ali Akbarpour (Azad Uni.), 3-0

Semifinals:
Match 1: Fooladin Zob Amol df. Sahand Aras, 8-2
57kg: Reza Atri (Amol) df. Alireza Sarlak (Aras), 4-4
61kg: Majid Ramezanpour (Aras) df. Peyman Nemati (Amol), 2-1
65kg: Morteza Ghiasi (Amol) df. Zagir Shakhiev (Aras), 6-4
70kg: Erfan Elahi (Amol) df. Amirhossein Hosseini (Aras), 7-4
74kg: Timur Bizhoev (Amol) df. Mostafa Hosseinkhani (Aras), 2-2
79kg: Mahamedkhabib Kadzimahamedau (Amol) df. Mohammad Nokhodi (Aras), 8-7
86kg: Artur Naifonov (Aras) TF. Hadi Vafaeipour (Amol), 12-1
92kg: Amirhossein Firoozpour (Amol) df. Alireza Karimi (Aras), 2-1
97kg: Mohammadhossein Mohammadian (Amol) TF. Amirali Azarpira (Aras), 10-0
125kg: Amirhossein Zare (Amol) df. Amin Taheri (Aras) by forfeit

Match 2: Sanaye Mazandaran df. Mazandaran Azad University, 9-1
57kg: Abasgadghi Magomedov (Sanaye) TF. Reza Momeni (Azad Uni.), 12-1
61kg: Rahman Amouzad (Sanaye) TF. Mehdi Shirazi (Azad Uni.)
65kg: Farzad Amouzad (Sanaye) df. Hassan Moradgholi (Azad Uni.), 5-2
70kg: Magomedrasul Gazimagomedov (Sanaye) Tf. Farhad Nouri (Azad Uni.), 14-3
74kg: Jamal Ebadi (Sanaye) df. Hamed Rashidi (Azad Uni.), 7-3
79kg: Ali Savadkouhi (Sanaye) df. Bahman Teymouri (Azad Uni.), 4-3
86kg: Ahmad Bazri (Sanaye) TF. Alireza Saberian (Azad Uni.), 10-0
92kg: Amir Mohammadi (Azad Uni.) df. Sajad Gholami (Sanaye). 5-1
97kg: Esmaeil Nejatian (Sanaye) df. Meysam Abdi (Azad Uni.), 3-2
125kg: Mojtaba Goleij (Sanaye) df. Ali Akbarpour (Azad Uni.), 6-0

#WrestleUlaanbaatar

Kamal survives scare in Ulaanbaatar amid Turkiye gold rush

Friday, May 30, 2025 - 13:58 By Vinay Siwach

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ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (May 30) -- Turkiye captured all three Greco-Roman gold medals on offer on Friday with European champion Kerem KAMAL (TUR) surviving a tough final to win at 63kg, and Paris Olympians Enes BASAR (TUR) and Hamza BAKIR (TUR) winning at 60kg and 130kg respectively.

Kamal, who won European Championships gold in dominant fashion, could not replicate that performance from April but still managed to win gold. In the final, he survived a scare against Asian Championships bronze medalist Hanjae CHUNG (KOR), winning 6-6 on criteria, thanks to a foul from Chung.

Both had wrestled in the group stages as well as this weight category only had seven wrestlers and were divided into two groups. Kamal came out on top 6-3 in that match.

But the final began with Chung scoring a takedown in the first minute and then adding another point when he was given the par terre advantage. However, he failed to score from that position.

In the second period, Kamal scored a push from par terre and had Chung's back on the mat for two points. He then lifted Chung upside down and completed a throw during which Chung committed a defensive leg foul.

Korea challenged the call but lost which gave Kamal a 6-4 lead. Chung tried to score and during the final 10 seconds, he pushed Kamal to the zone and the Turkish wrestler lost his balance, giving up a takedown.

Chung tied it 6-6 but Kamal led on criteria as Chung had committed the leg foul earlier. Chung realized it later that he was losing the final.

"I think it was a bit of a misjudgment because I thought I was winning and I didn't try hard for last 7 seconds at the end," Chung said. "I'm training hard with [former world champion] Hansu RYU (KOR) as my role model, and I'm trying to copy his style a lot."

For Kamal, the tournament was an eye-opener, especially for his performance against the Asian wrestlers.

"It was a very difficult tournament," Kamal said. "From the first round to the final match, I had very strong and very tough opponents. It was one of the hardest matches I've had this year. Winning is important, but in this tournament I realized that I have many mistakes. I'm thinking that I'm going to watch all my matches over and over again and analyze them and try to wrestle in a way that is more error-free and less pointless."

As he gears up to win his first senior world title in Zagreb later this September, Kamal is now wary of his opponents from Asia and wants to tackle them with more conviction.

"All my opponents are Asian," he said. "Kyrgyz, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Iranian. These are my strongest opponents. When you look at it, most of my opponents are from Asia, so I try to wrestle like Asians. I try to train like them, because they are very difficult to keep up with, they are very active. But as I said, as much as I can stop them, as much as I can do, as long as I can, I will continue to wrestle with them and wrestle like him."

Despite his close matches against Chung, Kamal looked in supreme form, especially while defending on par terre, as he captured his second Ranking Series gold medal of the year. His first gold was in Tirana, Albania.

"I don't think about it there [on the mat], to be honest, because I'm in a completely negative position," he said. "I'm trying to get out of it by doing all the weird things I can. The important thing is that I don't get scored there. It doesn't matter how I do it, what I do, the important thing is not to give points to my opponent and to continue in that way. So I'm very happy that I was able to do that."

Enes BASAR (TUR)Enes BASAR (TUR), blue, won gold medal at 60kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Basar, who was at the Paris Olympics at 60kg, won four bouts in the day to claim the gold medal. He began with an 8-3 win over Kurmanbek ZHAPAROV (KGZ) but his second against Akyl SULAIMANOV (KGZ) tested him to the limits. He made two comebacks to win 16-5, using a strong gut-wrench.

He followed that win by beating SURAJ (IND), 8-0, in a minute and 13 seconds before finishing his campaign with a 10-2 win over Ganbayar NAMSRAI (MGL).

Hamza BAKIR (TUR)Hamza BAKIR (TUR) claimed the 130kg gold medal in Ulaanbaatar. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

The most dominant run of the day came from Hamza BAKIR (TUR) at 130kg, as he won all his four bouts via technical superiority.

In his first bout, he gave up a point for passivity but still managed to win 9-1 against Erlan MANATBEKOV (KGZ). That was the only point he gave in the competition, winning his next three bouts via technical superiority.

He defeated Turbat BATBAYAR (MGL), 8-0, in Round 2, PREM (IND) with identical scoreline in Round 3 and in Round 5, he won against Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL), 8-0.

RESULTS

60kg
GOLD: Enes BASAR (TUR)
SILVER: SURAJ (IND)
BRONZE: Akyl SULAIMANOV (KGZ)

63kg
GOLD: Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Hanjae CHUNG (KOR), 6-6

BRONZE: Aref MOHAMMADI (QAT) df. Mohammad KESHTKAR (IRI),

130kg
GOLD: Hamza BAKIR (TUR)
SILVER: Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL)
BRONZE: Erlan MANATBEKOV (KGZ)