Saravi, Mirzazadeh shine in Bishkek

Thursday, June 1, 2023 - 19:29 By Vinay Siwach

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (June 1) -- Two of Iran's biggest Greco-Roman stars got their preparations for the World Championships underway with gold medals.

Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) and Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) won the 97kg and 130kg weight classes respectively at the Kaba Uulu Kozhomkul & Raatbek Sanatbaev Ranking Series event in Bishkek on Monday.

Saravi, who has not competed since winning a bronze medal at the World Championships in September 2022, returned to the mat and powered himself to the top of the podium in a 25-2 rout of his opponents.

While he controlled all his bouts, the most significant win for Saravi was over compatriot Mehdi BALIHAMZEHDEH (IRI) in the semifinals. This also makes him the front-runner to represent Iran at the World Championships in Belgrade in September.

Balihamzehdeh was hoping to earn a place on the national team but his 7-1 loss to Saravi all but closes the doors for him.

In the final, Saravi was up against Yiming LI (CHN) and walked to a 3-1 win to clinch the gold. He got the turn from pat terre while Li failed to do the same which proved to be the difference between the two.

Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) defeated Oscar PINO (CUB) 2-1 in the final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Mirzazadeh, a world silver medalist, claimed two confidence-boosting wins, first over Osman YILDIRIM (TUR) who defeated him a year ago in Almaty and second over 2019 world silver medalist and Pan-American champion Oscar PINO (CUB) at 130kg.

After winning the Asian Championships last month, Mirzazadeh came into Bishkek with the same form and faced Yilidrim 4-1. Yildirim had beaten Mirzazadeh in Almaty in 2022 at the Bolat Turlykhanov Cup.

In a bout worthy of being a World Championships final, Pino began as the favorite in the final but as Mirzazadeh build pressure, he tired up and Mirzazadeh gained the upper hand. The two exchanged passivity but Mirzazadeh got an extra stepout to win the medal which has pushed him to the top of the rankings as well, replacing world and European champion Riza KAYAALP (TUR).

"I feel happy to win this gold," Mirzazadeh said. "I worked really hard for this competition. I will do the same to win the gold medal in Belgrade."

On winning against Pino, Mirzazadeh said that it is always difficult to win at 130kg.

"In my weight class, most are good wrestlers," he said. "But I train very hard for the Olympics. My weight has good wrestlers from Turkiye and Cuba but I am training really hard for the gold medal and I am the best."

Another young Iranian who shone in Bishkek was Daniel SHORABI (IRI) who won the 67kg. The U20 and U23 world champion wrestled Abror ATABAEV (UZB) in his first bout and came out on top 7-5. If he thought his next bout be an easier one, Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO) did not let that happen. Despite a barn-burner, it was Shorabi who won 6-5.

In the semifinal, Shorabi defeated Sultan ASSETULY (KAZ) 10-2 and booked a place in the final against HUSIYUETU (CHN) who blanked Olympic champion Luis ORTA (CUB) 9-0, his second win over the Cuban in four months. But Husiyuetu failed to hold up against Shorabi who won the gold medal after a dominating 8-2 win.

Uzbekistan emerged as the second-best team with two gold medals while Georgia and Kazakhstan won one gold each.

In 87kg and 60kg, Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB) and Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB) became the champions respectively.

Berdimuratov was up against Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ) in the opening round and won 1-1 after getting the second activity point. He faced Melis AITBEKOV (KGZ) and won 9-0 before beating another Kyrgyzstan wrestler Azat SALIDINOV (KGZ) 8-0 in the semifinal.

In the final, Gurami KHETSURIANI (GEO) did put up a fight against Berdimuratov but the Uzbekistan wrestler was strong enough to win 5-3 and capture his first gold medal at 87kg.

"This is my first gold medal in the new weight category," Berdimuratov said. "This medal gives me strength and self-confidence and now I will try to win gold in the next championships."

Berdimuratov has spent a major part of his career at 82kg and won a silver medalist at this weight class in Belgrade as well. But with Paris Olympics approaching, he switched to 87kg, an Olympic weight class.

"For me, this is a comfortable weight," he said. "I have prepared a lot for this weight and preparations are still going on. I lost earlier and now I have begun to win and believe in myself."

The Uzbekistan wrestler was performing at the new weight class at the Zagreb Ranking Series as well but he says that those were his early days at the weight.

"In Zagreb, I was not ready for this weight," he said. "But I continued to work on myself, then I placed third in Asia and now won here I won gold. I am not preparing for a certain wrestler. Whoever is in the draw, I will fight."

Bakhramov, a three-time Ranking Series gold medalist, added a fourth gold as he defeated Nursultan BAZARBAYEV (KAZ), 6-0, in the final to give Uzbekistan its second gold medal of the night.

Uzbekistan could have won a third gold medal but world bronze medalist Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB) suffered a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Marlan MUKASHEV (KAZ) at 55kg.

At 63kg, world silver medalist and European champion Leri ABULADZE (GEO) denied Uzbekistan another gold medal as he defeated Shermukhammad SHARIBJANOV (UZB), 7-4 in the final.

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Marlan MUKASHEV (KAZ) df. Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB), 4-2

BRONZE: MANJEET (IND) df. Yersin ABYIR (KAZ), 14-9
BRONZE: Amangali BEKBOLATOV (KAZ) df. Jasurbek ORTIKBOEV (UZB), 4-1

60kg
GOLD: Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB) df. Nursultan BAZARBAYEV (KAZ), 6-0

BRONZE: Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) df. Aftandil TAALAIBEK UULU (KGZ), 8-0
BRONZE: Yernar FIDAKHMETOV (KAZ) df. Balbai DORDOKOV (KGZ), 11-6

63kg
GOLD: Leri ABULADZE (GEO) df. Shermukhammad SHARIBJANOV (UZB), 7-4

BRONZE: Dastan KADYROV (KGZ) df. Baiaman KARIMOV (KGZ), 9-0
BRONZE: Iman MOHAMMADI (IRI) df. Geminghan REHETI (CHN), 6-0

67kg
GOLD: Danial SOHRABI (IRI) df. HUSIYUETU (CHN), 8-2

BRONZE: Abror ATABAEV (UZB) df. Sultan ASSETULY (KAZ), 11-1
BRONZE: Luis ORTA (CUB) df. Mahmud BAKHSHILLOEV (UZB), 7-1

87kg
GOLD: Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB) df. Gurami KHETSURIANI (GEO), 5-3

BRONZE: Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ) df. Azat SALIDINOV (KGZ), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Ali CENGIZ (TUR) df. Azamat KUSTUBAYEV (KAZ), 1-1

97kg
GOLD: Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) df. Yiming LI (CHN), 3-1

BRONZE: Beksultan MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) df. Zhantas NURGALI (KAZ), 3-1,
BRONZE: Artur OMAROV (CZE) df. Mehdi BALIHAMZEHDEH (IRI), 5-1

130kg
GOLD: Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) df. Oscar PINO (CUB), 2-1

BRONZE: Fatih BOZKURT (TUR) df. Sulkhan BUIDZE (GEO), 9-0
BRONZE: Osman YILDIRIM (TUR) df. Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU), via walkover

#WrestleTirana

World Championships: Five years after third, Kinjo earns shot at fourth gold

Tuesday, October 29, 2024 - 17:12 By Ken Marantz

TIRANA, Albania (October 29) -- Two-time Olympic champion Risako KINJO (JPN) earned a shot at a fourth world title and first in five years, but Jia LONG (CHN) denied the powerful Japanese team a potential sweep of the women's golds.

Kinjo broke open a tight semifinal at 59kg against Svetlana LIPATOVA (AIN), scoring eight points in the second period for a 9-0 victory at the Non-Olympic Weight Categories World Championships on Tuesday in Tirana.

Japanese hopes of winning all four of the women's titles on Wednesday ended when Asian champion Long rode a second-period surge to an 11-1 victory over Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) at 65kg, avenging a loss to the Japanese in the final at the 2022 World Championships.

The two other Japanese in action, Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) at 55kg and Ami ISHII (JPN) at 72kg, had little trouble advancing to the finals of their respective weight classes.

At 59kg, Kinjo earned just an activity point in the first period against Lipatova, but came out firing in the second, scoring a takedown off a low-ankle shot that she topped off with an exposure and gut wrench for a 7-0 lead. Kinjo then added a double-leg takedown.

Kinjo, who needed a dramatic last-second victory in a domestic playoff with 18-year-old Sakura ONISHI (JPN) to earn her ticket to Tirana, will be aiming to add to her consecutive world titles from 2017 to 2019 in Wednesday's final against veteran Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL).

Sukhee, a world champion in 2014 and silver medalist in 2015, scored a late takedown to clinch a 4-1 victory over MANSI (IND) in the other semifinal. Both Kinjo and Sukhee were bronze medalists this year at the Asian Championships, with the Mongolian's coming at 62kg.

Kinjo could have been expected to retire after failing to make Japan's team to Paris 2024 in a bid for an Olympic three-peat, but she has often said that she wants her daughter, now 2 1/2, to see
how good her mother was, not just hear about it.

The 30-somethings Kinjo and Lipatova's careers had crossed paths before, meeting in the semifinals at the 2018 World Championships. Kinjo won that one 10-0 en route to the second of her three consecutive gold medals.

Kiyooka, winner of both the world U23 and U20 golds in 2022, will be aiming to capture her first senior global title, after seeing her brother Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN) and Ikuei University teammates Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN) and Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) all strike gold at the Paris Olympics.

She got the parade into the final started by scoring a takedown in each period for a 4-0 victory over reigning European champion Iryna KURACHKINA (AIN), who was the losing finalist to Kinjo in the 57kg final at the Tokyo Olympics.

In the final, Kiyooka will face world U20 champion Jin ZHANG (CHN), who advanced with a victory by fall over Areana VILLAESCUSA (USA). Zhang got in on a deep single for a takedown that led to two quick exposures, then levered the American over before securing the fall.

At 65kg, Morikawa was ahead 1-1 on criteria in the second period when Long used a counter lift for 2 points (originally ruled 4, but later changed on the challenge). She had Morikawa's arm locked and used that for three rolls. After the match was resumed following the challenge, Long ended it with 43 seconds left with another counter lift.

In the final, Long will face European silver medalist Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU), who scored a second-period fall over Valeriia DONDUPOVA (AIN) after building up an 11-6 lead.

Morikawa and Long were meeting for the second time, but one round earlier than before. Morikawa edged the Chinese 2-0 in the final at the 2022 World Championships.

The two finalists at 62kg at the World U23 Championships held last week at the same venue, champion Iryna BONDAR (UKR) and runnerup Macey KILTY (USA), lost to Morikawa and Zelenykh, respectively.

Ishii, the 2022 world 68kg silver medalist, won a battle of newly crowned world U23 champions by overwhelming Kylie WELKER (USA) with a 12-1 technical fall that she concluded in the final seconds. Ishii had won the U23 68kg title, while Welker had triumphed at 72kg.

In the final, Ishii will face three-time former Asian champion Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ), who will be looking to take home a first world gold after winning two silvers and a bronze over the past three years.

Bakbergenova prevailed in an entertaining 8-6 victory over Bolortungalag ZORIGT (MGL), scoring 4 points in a first-period scramble and clinching the win with a late takedown in the second.

Both Morikawa and Ishii lost out on the place at the Paris Olympics at 68kg to Nonoka OZAKI (JPN), who ended up with a bronze medal.

For Ishii, the pain of missing out on Paris was particularly sharp, as she had earned the quota for Japan by placing fifth at the 2023 World Championships, only to lose in the last second of a playoff against Ozaki.

Morikawa rebounded from her disappointment by making the team at 72kg to the 2023 worlds, from which she took home a bronze. Now she is back at her normal weight class, in which she won the world gold in 2022 and finished second in 2021.

Women's Wrestling Results

55kg (18 entries)
SF: Jin ZHANG (CHN) df. Areana VILLAESCUSA (USA) by Fall, 1:28 (8-0)
SF: Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) df. Iryna KURACHKINA (AIN), 4-0

59kg (22 entries)
SF: Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL) df. MANSI (IND), 4-1
SF: Risako KINJO (JPN) df. Svetlana LIPATOVA (AIN), 9-0

65kg (19 entries)
SF: Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU) df. Valeriia DONDUPOVA (AIN) by Fall, 1:59 (11-6)
SF: Jia LONG (CHN) df. Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) by TF, 11-1, 5:17

72kg (18 entries)
SF: Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ) df. Bolortungalag ZORIGT (MGL), 8-6
SF: Ami ISHII (JPN) df. Kylie WELKER (USA) by TF, 12-1, 5:58

Saravi, Mirzazadeh shine in Bishkek

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World Championships: Five years after third, Kinjo earns shot at fourth gold