#wrestlenursultan

Sun Sets Down Japan’s Irie in Stunner to Make 50kg Semis; Mukaida Advances

Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - 09:12 By Ken Marantz

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NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan (Sept. 17) --- SUN Yanan (CHN) could not have found a better way to spoil Yuki IRIE (JPN)’s birthday. 

Sun, avenging two losses over the past year to the Japanese, used two big throws then held on for dear life to score a 13-12 victory in the 50kg quarterfinals as the women’s competition got underway on Day 4 of the World Championships.

Sun will attempt to make the final for the first time since winning the 51kg gold in 2013 when she faces 2018 world silver medalist Mariya STADNIK (AZE) in the semifinals, which will be held at the start of the night session at Barys Arena.

 The other semifinal will be a clash between Valentina ISLAMOVA BRIK (KAZ) and Alina VUC (ROU).

Two of the four weight classes in action, the women’s 50kg and 53kg, are Olympic weight classes. As such, the wrestlers who advanced to the semifinals clinched berths for their country at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

For Asian champion Irie, who defeated two-time world champion Yui SUSAKI (JPN) for a place on the team to Nur-Sultan, her only hope will be for Sun to defeat Stadnik, then make her way through the repechage on Wednesday to the bronze-medal match. 

Irie had defeated Sun, the Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medalist and a third-place finisher a year ago in Budapest, at last year’s Women’s World Cup, and again in the final at the Asian Championships in April in Xi’an, China.

SUN Yanan (CHN) throws Yuki IRIE (JPN) in the opening period of the 50kg quarterfinals. (Photo: Tony Rotundo) 

But this time Sun had a strategy to gain revenge. In the first period, when Irie shot for a takedown, Sun locked onto her head, then lifted her over for 4 points. Irie gained a penalty point for grabbing fingers, making it 4-1 going into the second period.

Irie again attacked, but Sun got behind and, with the two standing, launched a textbook back suplex for 5 points and a 9-1 lead. The two traded exposure points, to make it 11-3, then Irie started her comeback, cutting the lead to three. But a late takedown left her one point short and absolutely devastated on her 27thbirthday.

It marks the first time that Japan has not made it to the final of the lightest women’s weight class at the World Championships since 2009.

There was some consolation for the Irie family when younger sister Nanami advanced to the semifinals of the non-Olympic 55kg class. She will take on Marina SEDNEVA (KAZ) for a place in the final. 

The other big name in action, two-time world champion Mayu MUKAIDA (JPN) looked sharp in advancing to the semifinals, capped by a 12-1 technical fall over Sara HILDEBRANDT (USA). 

Mukaida’s stiffest test came in the second round, when she forged out a 7-0 victory over Vinesh VINESH (IND), the gold medalist at both the Asian Championships and Asian Games at 50kg in 2018. 

The other semifinal will be an all-Asian affair between PAK Young Mi (PRK)---who had stunned Mukaida with a last-second victory in the final at the Asian Championships---and 2018 world bronze medalist PANG Qianyu (CHN).

In the other semifinal at 55kg, Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) will face Bediha GUN (TUR).

Leading the semifinalists at 72kg is Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS), the Rio 2016 silver medalist and 2015 world champion at 69kg. She will have to battle the hometown crowd when she faces Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ). 

Battling for the other place in the final will be Asian 76kg champion Paliha PALIHA (CHN) vs European gold medalist Alina MAKHYNIA (UKR).

The night session will feature the final medal matches in Greco-Roman at 60kg, 77kg and 130kg. In the repechage rounds for places in the bronze-medal matches Tuesday, Mohammadali Geraei (IRI) advanced at 77kg, giving Iran a shot at a medal in all three divisions. 

Also making it through was 34-year-old Heiki NABI (EST) at 130kg. A gold medalist in his second appearance at the World Championships back in 2006, he has since then won another world gold, a world bronze, and an Olympic silver (in 2012).  

Day 4 results

Greco-Roman Pairings

60kg (39 entries)
Gold – Sergey EMELIN (RUS) vs Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN)
Bronze – Lenur TEMIROV (UKR) vs Mirambek AINAGULOV (KAZ)
Bronze – Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) vs Alireza NEJATI (IRI)

77kg (38 entries)
Gold – Alex KESSIDIS (SWE) vs Tamas LORINCZ (HUN)
Bronze –Mohammadali Geraei (IRI) vs Karapet CHALYAN (ARM)
Bronze – Jalgasbay BURDIMURATOV (UZB) vs Ashkat DILMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ)

130kg (31 entries)
Gold – Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB) vs Riza KAYAALP (TUR)
Bronze –Heiki NABI (EST) vs Amir GHASEMI (IRI)
Bronze – Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) vs Eduard POPP (GER)

Women’s Wrestling

50kg (29 entries)
Semifinal – Alina VUC (ROU) vs Valentina ISLAMOVA BRIK (KAZ) 
Semifinal – SUN Yanan (CHN) vs Mariya STADNIK (AZE)

53kg (30 entries)
Semifinal – Mayu MUKAIDA (JPN) vs Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE)
Semifinal – PAK Yong Mi (PRK) vs PANG Qianyu (CHN)

55kg (18 entries)
Semifinal – Marina SEDNEVA (KAZ) vs Nanami IRIE (JPN) 
Semifinal – Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) vs Bediha GUN (TUR)

72kg (12 entries)
Semifinal – Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ) vs Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) 
Semifinal – Paliha PALIHA (CHN) vs Alina MAKHYNIA (UKR)

#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)