Tumur Ochir's 'god's gift' lands Asian Games gold

Friday, October 6, 2023 - 18:43 By Vinay Siwach

LIN'AN, Hangzhou, China (October 6) -- Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL) flips the medal a few times before claiming it as the "best medal and God gift."

The Mongolian has his Asian Games gold medal around his neck. He can't stop staring at it before finally agreeing to speak for the interview.

There is one more thing that he calls a God's gift to him -- underhook, the deadly move he has mastered to win wrestling bouts.

It's a move that needs timing, accuracy, and perfect execution, combined with power to be perfect. Tumur Ochir has performed the move numerous times in his career and won. But what he did on Friday in the Lin'an Sports Culture and Exhibition Center was perfection. An underhook that brought down Asian champion Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) in the 65kg gold-medal bout was so clean that even Amouzad, who is equally good at it if not better, failed to defend himself.

Once he got the four points, Tumur Ochir continued to punish Amouzad for weak defense from par terre, getting three gut wrenches to win the 65kg gold medal 11-1. This is Tumur Ochir's first gold at a championship or Games at the senior level.

The activity point for Amouzad was the only point that Tumur Ochir gave up in five bouts in Hangzhou, winning other bouts by blanking his opponents. He won three of those 10-0 and the semifinal against Kwang Jin KIM (PRK) via fall.

"God gave me this [move]," Tumur Ochir said. "My body is for wrestling. This is the most important thing for me."

The final in Hangzhou was a rematch of the Asian Championships final from Astan which Amouzad won 3-1. While Tumur Ochir failed to break Amouzad's defense in Astana, he worked it out on Friday.

Once he got the underhook, Tumur Ochir positioned his left arm on Amouzad's biceps. A little adjustment and he launched the throw, using a little pull of Amouzad's left arm. He then transitioned it into a gut wrench and effortlessly turned Amouzad three times.

"In the second round, Amouzad was slowly getting tired and that is when I thought that I could perform this move. It was my chance to score," he said.

Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL) scores against Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) in the 65kg final. (Photo: UWW / Sachiko Hotaka)

Amouzad's conditioning was also in question at the World Championships in Belgrade where he was the defending champion. He finished fifth after suffering a loss to eventual champion Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) and Shami MAMMEDOV (AIN).

In Hangzhou, Amouzad's first bout against Abbos RAKHMONOV (UZB) made it more evident that the weight loss could be hampering his performance on the mat. Amouzad fell behind against Rakhmonov thrice before putting up a 12-6 win using counters. Kaiki YAMAGUCHI (JPN) then pushed him to the brink but he held on for a 2-1 win and booked a spot in the semifinal against BAJRANG. The underhook defense worked perfectly against Bajrang who was returning to international competition for the first time in 13 months. Amouzad got a huge four and then added a double-leg lift for another four to win 8-1 to enter the final.

The World Championships were disappointing for Tumur Ochir as well. He was the returning bronze medalist but finished 19th this year after suffering a close loss to Haji ALIYEV (AZE). The loss impacted Tumur Ochir significantly but he recovered from it to push himself at the Asian Games.

"At the World Championships, I lost and it made me feel very bad for a long time," he said. "But in the 10 days after that, I recovered from everything and I got the gold medal and I am really happy. I felt extremely disheartened after the World Championships."

As he failed to win a medal or finish in the top five at the World Championships, Tumur Ochir will have to try an Olympic quota for Mongolia at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Bishkek next year. With no Asian country qualifying at the World Championships barring Iran, it would be a tough ask.

"I will train hard and try my best," he said. "I will need to prepare for the Asian Qualifiers in Bishkek. I am researching about everyone who will be there."

Toshihiro HASEGAWA (JPN) won the gold at 57kg, Japan's first in Freestyle. (Photo: UWW / Sachiko Hotaka)

The second Freestyle gold medal at the Asian Games on Friday was won by former U23 world champion Toshihiro HASEGAWA (JPN) as he defeated Chongsong HAN (PRK) in the final. The gold medal ended Japan's 13-year wait for an Asian Games champion in Freestyle. Tatsuhiro YONEMITSU (JPN) was the last Asian Games champion in 2010.

Yonemitsu, who was in Hasegawa's corner in Hangzhou, himself had ended Japan's 16-year-long wait for a gold medal in the Asian Games after the 1994 edition.

Hasegawa, 27, was in control of the final from the opening whistle and mostly kept Han under check in the 7-3 win. Han was close to scoring on a few occasions but Hasegawa managed to defend the attacks.

"At the end, there were many times I nearly gave up points," he said. "At that time, I panicked a bit. I could hear [my coach]. I'm the type who listens to the coach, when I hear him, it calms me down. [Hearing to the coach] is not the biggest reason [for the win], but it was a big plus for me."

However, Hasegawa remained unsatisfied with his performance despite winning the gold medal.

"I'm not really that happy," Hasegawa said. "My feeling is that if it weren't for the great deal of support I received, I wouldn't have been here at all. Every time coach {Kenichi] Yumoto is in my corner I can wrestle relaxed. He told me to stay calm. When things get tough, he would shout advice, like the opponent is getting tired, or give it all to the end. I could clearly hear him and that spurred me on."

Toshihiro HASEGAWA (JPN) defeated Asian champion AMAN 12-10 in the 57kg semifinal. (Photo: UWW / Sachiko Hotaka)

Yumoto's advice came in handy in the semifinal against Asian champion AMAN as Hasegawa won 12-10 despite building a 6-1 lead at the break.

Aman stormed back with a takedown and increased the pace of the bout which challenged Hasegawa. But the Japanese was up for the challenge and countered Aman's single-leg attacks with takedowns.

He had earlier beaten Minghu LIU (CHN) and Nodirjon SAFAROV (UZB) 7-0 and 10-0 in the opening bout and quarterfinals.

A product of the Nippon Sports Science University, Hasegawa is employed by San-Ei Transportation along with the World Championships bronze medalist in Greco-Roman 77kg Nao KUSAKA (JPN). Both train full-time at the NSSU campus despite being employed.

"Kusaka got the ball rolling by taking third at the World Championships," Hasegawa said. "Unlike other companies, they really watch out for us. The president is always available and people are calling us. I think I'm really blessed."

In the bronze medal bouts, Asian champion Aman scored a 11-0 technical superiority win over Minghu LIU (CHN) to claim his first Asian Games medal at just 19 years of age. The second bronze medal was won by Nasanbuyan NARMANDAKH (MGL) as he defeated Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ), 8-2.

At 65kg, Kaiki YAMAGUCHI (JPN) put up an impressive display against defending champion and four-time world medalist BAJRANG to win 10-0. The blanking meant that Bajrang will finish without a medal at an international tournament for the first time since 2017.

Kwang Jin KIM (PRK) claimed the other gold medal as he broke Sanzhar MUKHTAR (KAZ) to win 11-6.

The 65kg medalists at the Asian Games in Hangzhou. (Photo: UWW / Sachiko Hotaka)

RESULTS

57kg
GOLD: Toshihiro HASEGAWA (JPN) df. Chongsong HAN (PRK), 7-3

BRONZE: AMAN df. Minghu LIU (CHN), 11-0
BRONZE: Nasanbuyan NARMANDAKH (MGL) df. Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ), 8-2

65kg
GOLD: Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL) df. Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI), 11-1

BRONZE: Kaiki YAMAGUCHI (JPN) df. BAJRANG, 10-0
BRONZE: Kwang Jin KIM (PRK) df. Sanzhar MUKHTAR (KAZ), 11-6

#WrestleTirana

After Olympic disappointment, Malmgren starts afresh with U23 world gold

Friday, October 25, 2024 - 05:37 By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (October 24) -- Jonna MALMGREN (SWE) was one of the favorites to win a medal at the Paris Olympics. She began well, winning her first bout via fall. She scored two points on returning silver medalist Qianyu PANG (CHN) but fell short in the quarterfinals, losing 10-2.

The loss hurt Malmgren.

"I actually had a really tough time after the Olympics," Malmgren said. "Everybody who goes to the Olympics feels some kind of emptiness after and so did I and it was a tough couple of months getting back to the mat."

Malmgren spent some time with her family, coached at her club and pondered over her Olympic campaign. She could not remain disappointed in the Olympics and wanted to get out of it.

"I decided to go to U23 Worlds, to get some sort of revenge and get a good ending to the season," she said. "That was pretty much my goal. I went up one weight class and I just wanted to have fun and get to wrestle the way that I know I can.

"I also come to a point where maybe I don't need to feel the best. I do train for the U23 worlds to wrestle my best. I know wrestling. I know how to wrestle. Sometimes you just have to put your brain aside and just go in and do what you love."

Wrestling at 55kg, Malmgren won the gold medal at the U23 World Championships in Tirana, dominating the final against Zeltzin HERNANDEZ (MEX). She won the final 10-0 in just over three minutes. On her way to the final, Malmgren also defeated former world silver medalist Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR), 4-3, who was making a comeback to international wrestling after more than a year.

"I don't have too many world medals," Malmgren, who won the U20 World Championships gold in 2021, said. "That's why I also wanted to go because I feel like it's a good, confident boost for me as well to be here and just feel like I leave it all on the mat."

Barring the Olympics, Malmgren has had an incredible year. She opened the year with a gold medal at the Henri Deglane Grand Prix and followed that with a silver medal at the European Championships. Three months later she won gold at 53kg at the U23 European Championships before claiming the 53kg gold at the Budapest Ranking Series. Then came the Olympics and Malmgren failed to reach the medal bouts in her debut Games.

"I did my best to be as prepared as I could for the Olympics," she said. "That's why the disappointment was so tough for me. I had a really good feeling when I went up on the mat on the Olympics and I don't feel like I wrestled the way that I wanted and how I expected to wrestle."

Now with four more years for the next Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, Malmgren is going to continue wrestling at 53kg and 55kg.

"I feel good in 55, there's no doubt about it, but I feel good in 53 as well," she said. "I feel like that's my weight now, but like if I would go up, I would definitely need to get stronger to wrestle the 57 girls. The most important thing is that I wrestle and I feel good in 53kg and 55kg. I like to switch between those just to skip like cutting weight all the time."

Another wrestler who had to put away her disappointment was Ami ISHII (JPN). The world silver medalist had won the Paris Olympics quota for Japan at 68kg but without a medal. According to Japan federation, a wrestler winning quota without had to go through a trial. Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) defeated Ishii in the playoff and earned a right to go to the Paris Games.

Though she missed the Olympics, Ishii did not forget the two World Championships to be held after the Games. She arrived in Tirana as the hot favorite to win the gold and did not disappoint, beating Paris Olympian Nesrin BAS (TUR) 8-1 for the gold medal.

"I was definitely aiming to win this tournament," Ishii said. "It wasn't as difficult as I thought."

Ishii had two victories via technical superiority and two via fall. Only the final in which she failed to finish the bout before time. Ishii was even cautioned for twisting the foot of Bas. Five days later, she will aim to win the 72kg gold medal at the World Championships in Non-Olympic weight classes.

A gold medal in that tournament will only help her forget the disappointment in Paris and focus on the next year.

"Everyone else except me was practicing, so I didn't feel comfortable being the only one not practicing," she said. "I didn't take much time off and started practicing wrestling right away. My goal is to go to the world championships and win the same way next year."

U.S. wins two golds

The United States has been in exceptional form at the U23 World Championshis and captured two gold medals. Sage MORTIMER (USA) at 50kg and Yelena MAKOYED (USA) at 76kg won gold medals in contrasting finals.

Mortimer stunned defending champion Umi ITO (JPN) in the semifinal with a fall despite trailing 12-4. She carried the same confidence in the final but was tested. She faced Natalia PUDOVA (AIN) in the final and swelled her early lead. However, in the second period, Mortimer allowed some sloppy takedown which made the score 7-5. Pudova failed to turn Mortimer in the end and suffered a 7-5 loss.

Ito returned to win the bronze medal but the loss against Mortimer has made her criticized herself.

"I wasn't particularly conscious of winning consecutive matches overseas, but this was my first loss in a match overseas," Ito said. "I felt very disappointed to lose like this. No matter what the situation is, I was able to learn once again that I should not focus on the immediate value, but rather perform each technique carefully and without being sloppy."

Ito has been stuck behind Yui SUSAKI (JPN) and Remina YOSHIMOTO (JPN) at the senior level in Japan and is awaiting her first break at the senior level.

"It's not the end here, I'm aiming for the Los Angeles Olympics," she said. "It's an experience for me to grow in order to participate in the Los Angeles Olympics. I will take this as a positive experience and do my best for the next tournament."

The second gold medal was won by Yelena MAKOYED (USA) who had the most impressive run to the gold with three technical superiorities and one fall. Makoyed gave little chance to Shuiyan CHENG (CHN) in the final and after leading 8-0, she managed to secure a pin for the win.

Makoyed was happy to get a title under her belt after long and relieved that she back to winning ways after a indifferent year as far as the results were concerned.

RESULTS

50kg
GOLD: Sage MORTIMER (USA) df. Natalia PUDOVA (AIN), 7-5

BRONZE: Nataliia KLIVCHUTSKA (UKR) df. Natallia VARAKINA (AIN), 9-1
BRONZE: Umi ITO (JPN) df. Laura GANIKYZY (KAZ), 11-0

55kg
GOLD: Jonna MALMGREN (SWE) df. Zeltzin HERNANDEZ GUERRA (MEX), 10-0

BRONZE: Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR) df. Ekaterina KARPUSHKINA (AIN), 5-0
BRONZE: Amani JONES (USA) df. Bhavika PATEL (IND), 5-2

59kg
GOLD: Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR) df. ANJLI (IND), 7-4

BRONZE: Hong LIANG (CHN) df. Aurora RUSSO (ITA), via fall (6-1)
BRONZE: Himeka TOKUHARA (JPN) df. Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (AIN), 6-1

68kg
GOLD: Ami ISHII (JPN) df. Nesrin BAS (TUR), 8-1

BRONZE: Alina SHAUCHUK (AIN) df. Brooklyn HAYS (USA), 6-4
BRONZE: MONIKA (IND) df. Xinze DU (CHN), 5-3

76kg
GOLD: Yelena MAKOYED (USA) df. Shuiyan CHENG (CHN), via fall (8-0)

BRONZE: Valeriia TRIFONOVA (AIN) df. Zsofia VIRAG (HUN), via fall
BRONZE: Nodoka YAMAMOTO (JPN) df. Alina YERTOSTIK (KAZ), 11-0

Semifinals

53kg
GOLD: Yu SAKAMOTO (JPN) vs. Serena DI BENEDETTO (CAN)

SF 1: Serena DI BENEDETTO (CAN) df. Xiaomin XIE (CHN), 10-5
SF 2: Yu SAKAMOTO (JPN) df. Otgontuya CHINBOLD (MGL), 4-4

57kg
GOLD: Ruka NATAMI (JPN) vs. Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)

SF 1: Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE) df. Sofia MACALUSO (USA), via fall (10-0)
SF 2: Ruka NATAMI (JPN) df. Neha SHARMA (IND), 3-2

62kg
GOLD: Macey KILTY (USA) vs. Iryna BONDAR (UKR)

SF 1: Iryna BONDAR (UKR) df. Hanying ZHANG (CHN), 2-1
SF 2: Macey KILTY (USA) df. Viktoria VESSO (EST), 12-2

65kg
GOLD: Irina RINGACI (MDA) vs. Alina KASABIEVA (AIN)

SF 1: Alina KASABIEVA (AIN) df. Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU), 3-2
SF 2: Irina RINGACI (MDA) df. SHIKSHA (IND), 10-0

72kg
GOLD: Kylie WELKER (USA) vs. Vianne ROULEAU (CAN)

SF 1: Vianne ROULEAU (CAN) df. Viktoryia RADZKOVA (AIN), 10-0
SF 2: Kylie WELKER (USA) df. Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR), 3-1

Tumur Ochir's 'god's gift' lands Asian Games gold

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After Olympic disappointment, Malmgren starts afresh with U23 world gold