Suraj ends India's 32-year drought for U17 GR world gold

Tuesday, July 26, 2022 - 19:28 By Vinay Siwach

ROME, Italy (July 26) -- As he warmed up for his gold medal bout, Suraj VASHISHT (IND) saw an emotional Ronit SHARMA (IND). He ran up to Sharma and consoled him after the latter lost 3-3 in the 48kg Greco-Roman final. It could have been India's first gold at the U17 World Championships in 32 years.

A few moments later, Suraj took it upon himself to create history by winning the 55kg title at the U17 World Championships in Rome. His gold was India's first since Pappu YADAV (IND) won one back in 1990.

Since then, India had five different wrestlers reach the final at a U17 World Championships but none could clear the final hurdle. It took Suraj beating European champion Faraim MUSTAFAYEV (AZE), 11-0, to add another historic moment in India's wrestling.

Overall, this was India's only third gold at the U17 Worlds and fourth at all World Championships combined. Apart from Yadav, who also won the 1992 U20 World Championships, Vinod KUMAR (IND) won the U17 Worlds gold in 1980.

In Rome, Suraj eyes lit up seeing his draw as he hoped for a potential semifinal against Khurshidbek NORMUKHAMMADOV (UZB). The Uzbek had beaten Suraj 8-0 a month ago at the U17 Asian Championships.

"That was my first tour," Suraj said. "I had little experience of grips and stances. There was a camp [More Than Medals in Bishkek] in which I learned all this. Minor changes to help me avoid getting countered."

One of the biggest drawbacks of Suraj's technique to go for a one-on-two early was getting countered and giving up a takedown. With a weak par terre, stopping his opponent from a win was close to impossible.

Normukhammadov scored eight points in Bishkek using a similar move. But in Rome, keeping a closed stance and not going for the side attacks, Suraj keep the Uzbekistan wrestler quiet to win the semifinals.

"These wrestlers get tired very easily while I keep going for attacks and keep pushing," he said. "That helps because then you know that your opponent doesn't have much power."

In the final, the 16-year-old decimated Mustafayev with two big four-point throws in the final. An aggressive Suraj tried finding an opening against Mustafayev which made the referee call the Azerbaijan wrestler passive in the first period. Suraj failed to get a turn from par terre and led 1-0.

In the second period, he first avoided being passive and then struck a takedown to extend his lead to 3-0. But he still ran the danger of being called passive with more than a minute left. But Suraj, knowing he had to get to a safe zone, used an underhook to throw and collect four points and lead 7-0. Mustafayev tried a flying move but Suraj throw him on the mat with control to win the bout and gold 11-0.

The four medalists at 55kg with silver medalist Faraim MUSTAFAYEV (AZE), left, gold medalist SURAJ (IND) and two bronze medalists Saba SURMANIDZE (GEO) and Khurshidbek NORMUKHAMMADOV (UZB). (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

Mustafayev looked a force to reckon with Monday as he won two bouts via technical superiority and one via fall. But he looked a shadow of himself from Monday and failed to get going when it mattered most.

According to India coach Inderjeet SINGH, Suraj was unfazed by the achievements of his opponents and followed a set plan for each bout."He had a very open stance so we told him to close his hands," Singh said. "Then the par terre defense of Indian wrestlers is weak so we told him to not be passive. He did well to defend a few par terre situations."

For Suraj, who hails from Rithal village, Rohtak in Haryana, the win meant another opportunity to celebrate by thumping his thigh, a popular celebration in mud-dangals across India. He now hopes that he can repeat the success in bigger stages.

"I have dreams to become the best in my weight class," he said. "Obviously a senior world title is a dream as well."

After a brief celebration, Suraj will stay back in Rome for the More Than Medals camp.

"These More Than Medals camps help us a lot. We get limited training in India but here the quality of partners is better. Ronit and Suraj will stay for the Rome camp," Singh said.

Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) defeated Ronit SHARMA (IND) to win the 48kg gold in Rome. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Sharma could have been the history maker but Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) denied him history with a 3-3 win in the 48kg final. The two had met earlier at the U17 Asian Championships two times with Ahmadi Vafa winning the group stage bout and Sharma winning the final.

Ahmadi Vafa looked in all sorts of trouble in the final in Rome as Sharma secured a quick 3-0 lead with a turn from par terre as Ahmadi Vafa was called passive.

After the break, Sharma went for a front headlock looking for a four but lost his grip midway and Ahmadi Vafa ended up on top of him. Initially called a slip, Iran challenged and won, trimming Sharma's lead to 3-2.

In the final minute of the bout, Sharma is called passive and Ahmadi Vafa gets the 3-3 criteria lead. Despite him failing to turn Sharma from par terre, he defended against the attacks from the Indians to claim the world title for Iran.

Cemal BAKIR (TUR) avenged his European final loss to Laszlo DARABOS (HUN) to win the world gold at 110kg. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

Turkey wins 2 golds

Cemal BAKIR (TUR) and Alperen BERBER (TUR) gave Turkey two gold medals, winning the 110kg and 80kg weight classes respectively.

It was sweet revenge for Bakir as he defeated Laszlo DARABOS (HUN), 1-1, in the 110kg final. Darabos had pinned Bakir in the U17 European Championships final last month to win the gold. But Tuesday, Bakir did not let Darabos get going and defended well from par terre position.

While he also could not turn Darabos, Bakir made sure he defends his 1-1 criteria lead till the end of the four minutes.

Alperen BERBER (TUR) won the 80kg gold medal in Rome. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

Berber faced European silver medalist Ismayil RZAYEV (AZE) in the 80kg final and scored a come-from-behind 3-2 win to claim the gold. He got himself into trouble by trying an arm spin which resulted in Rzayev putting Berber's back on the mat for a pin. While he survived that, Berber then scored a pushout.

Rzayev held 2-2 criteria despite Berber scoring a stepout before the end of the first period. But it was the passivity call in the second period that hurt Rzayev and gave Berber a deserved win.

Berber, who finished fifth at the European Championships, outscored his opponents 31-2 over five bouts.

Joel ADAMS (USA) outscored his opponents 31-0 en route to the 65kg gold medal. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

The final gold of the night went to Joel ADAMS (USA) who defeated Ahoura BOUVEIRI PIANI (IRI), 6-0, in the 65kg final.

Adams had a near-perfect performance over the two days in which he showed a five-point move, a four-pointer, arm drags, duck under, and celebrations like no other with his USA teammates joining from the stands.

Outscoring his opponents 31-0 in Rome, Adams showed why he can be the next Greco-Roman star for the USA which won its third U17 world title in 30 years and second in five years. Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA) won the 100kg title in 2017.

Bouveriri Piani was in some strong position throughout the final but Adams' defense along with his ability to transition that into takedowns wreaked havoc on the Iranian. Adams scored two takedowns in the first period to lead 4-0 and added another in the second period to make it 6-0.

But the highlight from the gold medalist will be the five-point suplex he hit on Takaku SUZUKI (JPN) in the opening round bout.

After the medal bouts on in five weight classes, Azerbaijan leads the team title race with 80 points and Iran sitting a close second with 75 points. Turkey's impressive show has helped them to be number three with 60 points while India occupies the fourth spot with 57 points.

Defending champions Georgia will have to work hard if it wants to finish on the podium this year. Currently, it is fifth with 55 points.

RESULTS

48kg
GOLD: Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) df. Ronit SHARMA (IND), 3-3

BRONZE: Arsen ZHUMA (KAZ) df. Tigran GALSTYAN (ARM), 5-3
BRONZE: Said KHALILOV (AZE) df. Yu TAKEMOTO (JPN), 9-1

55kg
GOLD: SURAJ (IND) df. Faraim MUSTAFAYEV (AZE), 11-0

BRONZE: Saba SURMANIDZE (GEO) df. Halil CINAR (TUR), 9-0
BRONZE: Khurshidbek NORMUKHAMMADOV (UZB) df. Kohaku KANAZAWA (JPN), 5-4

65kg
GOLD: Joel ADAMS (USA) df. Ahoura BOUVEIRI PIANI (IRI), 6-0

BRONZE: Bekhruz BARNOEV (UZB) df. Ali ALIZADA (AZE), 9-3
BRONZE: Aleksandre RUSITASHVILI (GEO) df. Petro SHAFRANSKYI (UKR), 6-4

80kg
GOLD: Alperen BERBER (TUR) df. Ismayil RZAYEV (AZE), 3-2

BRONZE: Luka GELASHVILI (GEO) df. Andrey ATANASOV (BUL), 5-1
BRONZE: Seyed Reza AZARSHAB (IRI) df. Branko DUKIC (SRB), 8-0

110kg
GOLD: Cemal BAKIR (TUR) df. Laszlo DARABOS (HUN), 1-1

BRONZE: Mohammad JAHANGIRI (IRI) df. Dmytro STRYZHEKOZIN (UKR), 9-0
BRONZE: Mazaim MARDANOV (AZE) df. Davit MGELADZE (GEO), via fall

#JapanWrestling

Rising star Onishi closes in on ticket to first World Championships

Thursday, June 19, 2025 - 13:28 By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (June 19) -- A year after coming up just short of knocking off one of Japan's greatest stars that left her out of the senior World Championships, Sakura ONISHI is determined there will be no slip-ups this year. And certainly not another playoff.

Onishi, the reigning world U20 champion and one of Japan's top rising female wrestlers, moved one win away from securing a ticket to her first senior worlds when she advanced to the final at women's 59kg at the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships on Thursday in Tokyo.

The 19-year-old Onishi chalked up a pair of 10-0 victories to make Friday's final, where she will face 2023 world U23 silver medalist Sena NAGAMOTO in a rematch of her gold-medal match victory at the Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships in December.

Others of note making their respective finals were unrelated namesakes and Asian champions Arash YOSHIDA at Freestyle 97kg and Taizo YOSHIDA at Greco 82kg, while four-time world medalist Miwa MORIKAWA went undefeated through four rounds of the round-robin at women's 65kg.

The two All-Japan tournaments are serving as qualifiers for the senior World Championships to be held September 13-21 in Zagreb. Victories at both tournaments automatically clinches a place on the team to Croatia; if the winners are different, a playoff will be held at the end of that day's session.

Only three of Japan's eight gold medalists at the Paris Olympics -- Sakura MOTOKI at women's 62kg, Nao KUSAKA at Greco 77kg and Kotaro KIYOOKA at Freestyle 65kg -- are entered in the four-day tournament at Tokyo Metropolitan Gym and thus eligible for the world team. Motoki could face a showdown with Nonoka OZAKI, a Paris 68kg bronze medalist, on the final day.

Although entries are limited, the tournament is organized to replicate the World Championships with each weight class run through the semifinals on the first day, and repechage and medal matches on the following day.

Sakura ONISHI (JPN) Sakura ONISHI attempts to get behind against high schooler Sae NOGUCHI during their women's 59kg semifinal match. (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp)

Onishi, who will defend her world U20 crown in August and has victories this year at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series tournament and Asian Championships, was a virtual unknown and just out of high school last year when she stunned two-time Olympic champion Risako KINJO in the semifinals before going on to win the title.

But in the world team playoff, Kinjo fought back from a 5-0 deficit and scored a dramatic exposure in the last 10 seconds, then barely held off a near stepout in the last second to beat Onishi 6-6 on criteria. Kinjo then won her fourth world gold at the non-Olympic World Championships in Tirana.

This time, Onishi wants to avoid a playoff at all costs.

"Last year, I lost in the playoff to Kinjo, and that was really disappointing," Onishi said. "I really respect Risako. But it was hard to take that she went on to become the world champion. This time, I'm determined that I will win the title and get the ticket to the World Championships, without there being a playoff. This has been constantly on my mind for the past year."

For Onishi, it is a new challenge to go from newcomer to the one with the target on her back.

"Last year, this tournament is where I made my All-Japan debut," Onishi said. "So nobody was keeping an eye on me. Then I won the title, so from the Emperor's Cup to here, I know that I'm being targeted. Listening to those in the corners of the opponents, I get the feeling that they've been studying me.

"For my own part, I've only been watching videos of my own matches. I hardly watched any of the opponents. More than scouting my opponents, I want to exceed that with my own techniques and continue to progress. That I did that [today] to be honest is a relief."

There's also a chance Onishi might have familiar company in Zagreb. Her older brother, 2022 world U20 bronze medalist Taiga ONISHI, made the final at Greco 55kg, where he will face Sanshiro TAKAHASHI. Takahashi defeated Emperor's Cup and Asian champion Kohei YAMAGIWA in the semifinals, assuring there will be a playoff in the weight class.

Arash YOSHIDA (JPN) Arash YOSHIDA has Takuma TATEOKA in trouble during their freestyle 97kg semifinal. (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp)

In freestyle, Arash Yoshida continued his dominance as Japan's biggest hope in the men's upper weights in decades, storming into the 97kg final with an 11-0 victory over Takuma TATEOKA that he finished at the first-period buzzer. It was his third win by fall or technical fall on the day.

"I was able to wrestle as usual and came out with wins," the Emperor's Cup and two-time Asian champion said. "It was good that there was nothing particularly bad about how I won."

Noah LEIBOWITZ (JPN) High schooler Noah LEIBOWITZ earned a place in the 97kg final with a win by technical fall over collegian Yuta SASAKI. (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp)

In the final, Yoshida will face powerful high schooler Noah LEIBOWITZ, who advanced to the gold-medal match with three technical falls.

Leibowitz is also the product of a mixed marriage, having been born to an American father and Japanese mother in the southern U.S. city of Atlanta. The family moved to Japan when he was 4.

"Just like today, I want to steadily score points, not take too much risk and notch a win without problems," Yoshida said.

Yoshida has been on a tear of sorts since finishing fifth at 92kg at the 2023 World Championships before moving up to 97kg and missing out on qualifying for the Paris Olympics.

The 21-year-old Nihon University student, whose Iranian father runs the kids club where he got his start in the sport, started the year with a victory at the Petko Sirakov-Ivan Iliev U23
tournament in Bulgaria, and followed that by taking the gold at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series.

He then won the Japan qualifier for the world U23 team, before striking gold at the Asian Championships in Amman in March, adding to his Asian gold from 2023.

"My objective is to compete internationally, so what I want to do here is put out on the mat what I have been working on in practice," Yoshida said. "My goal is to become the world champion."

Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN) Taizo YOSHIDA scores a takedown in his Greco 82kg semifinal win over Tesshin HIGUCHI. (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp)

The other prominent Yoshida, Taizo, has been electrifying crowds since he won the senior Asian title as a high schooler in 2024, just a year removed from winning the world U17 crown. A fifth-place finish at last year's senior worlds further boosted his stock, although he was dealt a setback in Amman when he failed to medal in his Asian title defense.

On Thursday, Yoshida made the 82kg final with a pair of 8-0 victories in a combined time of 2:38, and will face Reon KAKEGAWA with a chance to clinch his ticket to Zagreb outright.

"In today's matches, I went on the offensive and was able to score technical falls, which I feel shows that I'm at a good level," Yoshida said. "When the situation got a little messy, I was able to get the points in the end. More specifically, my body movement was good."

Yoshida, a freshman at Nippon Sports Science University, has never had to look far for a positive role model. He has been following in the footsteps of fellow Kagawa Prefecture native Kusaka since he first put on wrestling shoes.

"I have followed the same path as Nao-sempai from kids club to junior high school, high school and now college," Yoshida said, using the honorific for a respected predecessor. "He is entered for the first time since the Olympics, and I hope we can become fellow champions."

At women's 65kg, which has just five entries, Morikawa will aim to take the title in a de facto final on Friday against Nana IKEHATA. Both wrestlers won all three of their round-robin matches by 10-0 technical falls.

The 25-year-old Morikawa is aiming to regain the world title she won at 65kg in 2022. She also has a silver from 2021 and a bronze from last year, as well as a 72kg bronze from 2023 after she missed out on making Japan's Olympic team at 68kg. She won a second career Asian gold in March.

Hayato ISHIGURO (JPN) Hayato ISHIGURO, left, fends off Yudai TAKAHASHI for a dramatic 5-4 victory at freestyle 86kg. (Photo: wrestling-spirits.jp)

Another sparse but highly competitive weight class is freestyle 86kg, where Paris Olympian and two-time world team member Hayato ISHIGURO went 3-0 in the five-man round robin.

Ishiguro notched a nail-biting 5-4 win over 2024 world U23 bronze medalist Yudai TAKAHASHI, who had previously defeated 2022 world U23 champion Tatsuya SHIRAI 5-0.

Ishiguro and Shirai face each other in the final round of a matches, and a win for Shirai, who is the Emperor's Cup champion, could leave the three of them with 3-1 records and the title decided by criteria.

A playoff is also on the cards at Greco 72kg, where Taishi NARIKUNI, still looking to add an elusive Greco world gold to the one he won at freestyle 70kg in 2022, knocked off Emperor's Cup champion Issei HONNA 6-0.

Narikuni will face Ryoma HOJO in the final, with the winner taking on Honna for the ticket to Zagreb.

At women's 72kg, 2022 world U20 champion Ayano MORO defeated Emperor's Cup and former world champion Masako FURUICHI by fall in their preliminary group match, and the two will go at it again after both advanced to the final.

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Day 1 Results

Freestyle

86kg (5 entries)
Standings through 4 rounds: 1. Hayato ISHIGURO, 3-0; 2. Yudai TAKAHASHI, 2-1; Tatsuya SHIRAI, 2-1; Hiroto NINOMIYA, 1-2; Satoshi MIURA, 0-4.

92kg (10 entries)
SF 1: Takashi ISHIGURO df. Shuichiro SATO by TF, 13-0, 3:40
SF 2: Takato UCHIDA df. Rintaro MOTOHASHI, 3-1

97kg (7 entries)
SF 1: Arash YOSHIDA df. Takuma TATEOKA by TF, 11-0, 3:00
SF 2: Noah LEIBOWITZ df. Yuta SASAKI by TF, 11-0, 4:22

125kg (10 entries)
SF 1: Taiki YAMAMOTO df. Hosei FUJITA, 4-4
SF 2: Hibiki ITO df. Ryusei FUJITA, 4-1

Greco-Roman

55kg (11 entries)
SF 1: Sanshiro TAKAHASHI df. Kohei YAMAGIWA, 5-3
SF 2: Taiga ONISHI df. Taketo NINOMIYA, 3-3

63kg (11 entries)
SF 1: Ayata SUZUKI df. Yuto NAGASAWA by TF, 10-1, 4:04
SF 2: Manato NAKAMURA df. Shoya ITO by TF, 9-0, 1:48

72kg (11 entries)
SF 1: Taishi NARIKUNI df. Issei HONNA, 6-0
SF 2: Ryoma HOJO df. Daigo KOBAYASHI, 4-3

82kg (9 entries)
SF 1: Taizo YOSHIDA df. Tesshin HIGUCHI by TF, 8-0, 1:58
SF 2: Reon KAKEGAWA df. Yudai KOBORI by Fall, :49 (5-0)

Women’s Wrestling

55kg (7 entries)
SF 1: Sowaka UCHIDA df. Narumi NAKAMURA by TF, 11-0, 4:28
SF 2: Umi IMAI df. Karina HONDA by TF, 11-0, 4:11

59kg (9 entries)
SF 1: Sakura ONISHI df. Sae NOGUCHI by TF, 10-0, 4:46
SF 2: Sena NAGAMOTO df. Miuna KIMURA by Fall, 5:21 (7-0)

65kg (5 entries)
Standings through 4 rounds: 1. Miwa MORIKAWA, 3-0, and Nana IKEHATA, 3-0; 3. Akari ASAI, 1-2; 4. Ayana HISHINUMA, 1-3; 5. Nana MOROHOSHI, 0-3.

72kg (7 entries)
SF 1: Ayano MORO df. Chisato YOSHIDA by TF, 16-4, 5:12
SF 2: Masako FURUICHI df. Mahiro YOSHITAKE, 5-2

Suraj ends India's 32-year drought for U17 GR world gold

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Rising star Onishi closes in on ticket to first World Championships