#WrestleAmman

U20 World Championships Greco semis set

Friday, August 18, 2023 - 07:19 By Vinay Siwach

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AMMAN, Jordan (August 18) -- The attention turns to Greco-Roman with five weight classes -- 55kg, 63kg, 77kg, 87kg and 130kg -- in action in Amman. The evening session will also see the women's wrestling world champions crowned.

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Here are the semifinals for the Greco-Roman evening session

55kg
Nuristan SUIORKULOV (KGZ) vs. Iskhar KURBAYEV (KAZ)
Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) vs. Farid SADIKHLI (AZE)

63kg
Zhantoro MIRZALIEV (KGZ) vs. Dinislam SAGITZHAN (KAZ)
Komei SAWADA (JPN) vs. Ahmadreza MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI)

77kg
Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI) vs. Tornike MIKELADZE (GEO)
Erlan MARS UULU (KGZ) vs. Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA)

87kg
Abolfazl CHOUBANI (IRI) vs. Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM)
Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO) vs. Tourpal MAGAMADOV (FRA)

130kg
Wenhao JIANG (CHN) vs. Achilleas CHRYSIDIS (GRE)
Fekry EISSA (EGY) vs. Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) 

14:30: Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) blanks Talip CIFTCI (TUR) 8-0 in the 130kg quarterfinals. He won a silver medal last year. But so far, he has looked unstoppable in Amman

14:15: No stopping Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA) as he moves into the semifinals with another technical superiority win, this time over Mihael LUKAC (CRO). Par terre domination peaks

13:50: Returning bronze medalist at 130kg Aden ATTAO (USA) with a thrilling 8-7 win over former U20 European champion Koppany LASZLO (HUN). Attao was trailing 7-5 but scored a takedown against a tiring Laszlo which the Hungary team challenged but lost.

13:35: Yurik HOVEYAN (ARM) moves into the quarterfinals at 63kg with a resounding 12-2 win over Matej REBIC (CRO). At 130kg, returning silver medalist Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) gets an 8-0 shutout against Aramayis HARUTYUNYAN (ARM).

13:15: Absolute domination from Iran so far in Greco-Roman. All three wrestlers who have wrestled so far have started with a win. Two got byes to pre-quarters. Ahmadreza MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI) and Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) coming up now

12:50: Clutch from Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) as he gets a takedown in the final 15 seconds over returning silver medalist Denis MIHAI (ROU) and then throws him for four to get a 6-5 win. Mihai is devasted here.

12:30: Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM) and Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO) remain on a collision course as both win their respective pre-quarterfinals. Nazaryan won over Nurassyl AMANALY (KAZ) while Bolkvadze beat Tomislav BRKAN (CRO). In the quarterfinals, Nazaryan has David ANDREASIAN (AIN) and Bolkvadze faces Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ)

12:15: Abolfazl CHOUBANI (IRI) gets an 8-0 win over Ivaylo IVANOV (BUL) to move into the 87kg quarterfinals. He will now take on Wyatt VOELKER (USA) who defeated Mohit KHOKHAR (IND).

12:00: The crowd cannot stop cheering for Suhib ALHASANAT (JOR) as he pins Rati KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO)! Alhasant was put in par terre but as Khozrevanidze tried a back throw, he fell on his back and Alhasant pinned him. Georgia called for a leg foul but it was assessed clean on review. The results can have huge complications for Georgia in the team title race

11:53: One for the vault that! U20 European champion Yurik HOVEYAN (ARM) survives a comeback from Faraim MUSTAFAYEV (AZE) to win 7-7 at 63kg. From par terre in the first period, Hoveyan scored exposure and a four-pointer while Mustafayev managed only two turns and two stepouts, giving Hoveyan the bigger technique advantage and the win. Hoveyan had defeated Mustafayev 8-5 in the quarterfinals at U20 Euros 

11:45: Emre MUTLU (TUR), who missed out on a medal last year, wins 9-4 against Maxim SARMANOV (MDA) at 55kg. Mutlu is a former U23 European champion and a senior European bronze medalist

11:32: Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) goes big from par terre and finishes his opening bout against  Lukas BENZING (GER) at 55kg via technical superiority. On Mat B, Alisher GANIEV (UZB) wins 9-0 over Alibek AMIROV (AIN)

11:20: Former U17 world champion and returning silver medalist from 72kg Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA) has opened his campaign with a 4-0 win over Abdulmasih ABDULMASIH (AIN) at 77kg.

10:45: Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO) goes big and high and finishes the bout 10-0 against Kareem ELDESOUKY (EGY) at 87kg. Unparalleled athleticism from the wrestler

10:35: Returning world champion Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM) gets a first-period technical superiority win over Daisei ISOE (JPN) at 87kg. He will have silver medalist Abofazl CHOUBANI (IRI) and Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO) as his biggest rivals.

10:00: Welcome to day five of the U20 World Championships in Amman. Greco-Roman will be in action as we move toward the final three days of the tournament.

#WrestleTirana

Olympic medalists in strong field set to light up Tirana

Monday, February 24, 2025 - 12:21 By Vinay Siwach

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TIRANA, Albania (February 24) -- After he won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics, Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) was asked his wrestling journey. He replied that he "had many problems" but will go through it again without second thoughts.

Taking his first step in the new Olympic cycle for 2028 LA Olympic, Novikov won the prestigious Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov tournament in January and is now wrestling his first Ranking Series event of the year -- the Muhamet Malo in Tirana.

Novikov is the only Paris Olympic champion who has returned to a UWW tournament since winning gold in August last year. He will be up against a top 87kg Greco-Roman field at the second Ranking Series of the year.

The tournament will be held in Tirana from February 26 to March 2 with important Ranking Series points up for grabs. The Zagreb Open, held two weeks ago, and Muhamet Malo will be crucial for wrestler hoping to get seeded at the continental championships that begin in March.

Novikov will be expecting rematches with David LOSONCZI (HUN) and Alireza MOHAMADIPIANI (IRI), both of whom he beat in Paris. Losonczi has Istvan TAKACS (HUN) and Tamas LEVAI (HUN) to watch out for as Hungary to second its pick for the European Championships.

Georgia is doing the same with Gurami KHETSURIANI (GEO), Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) and Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO) entered at 87kg while other strong contenders include Marcel STERKENBURG (NED) and Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB).

Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI)Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) is hoping to be Iran's mainstay at 60kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake KIRKMAN)

Despite the dropouts in other weight classes across styles just days before the tournament, it still throws quite a strong field.

At 60kg, Iran is pushing for Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) as it's flagbearer after struggling to find a world-beater. His first senior test will see him go up against a few stars including world champion Victor CIOBANU (MDA), Olympian Enes BASAR (TUR) and Yu SHIOTANI (JPN) among others.

Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) was at 60kg earlier and was about to retire after Paris Olympics. However, he is wrestling at 63kg in Tirana and Turkiye's Kerem KAMAL (TUR) is also returning to action.

At 72kg, Levente LEVAI (HUN), who surprisingly won Zagreb Open gold, will look to continue his run but has hurdles in the name of former world champion Ali ARSALAN (SRB) and European champion Selcuk CAN (TUR).

Paris Olympic bronze medalist Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) is warming up for the Asian Championships and will be the favorite to win the gold medal at 130kg. He has Tokyo silver medalist Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) and age-group world champion Hamza BAKIR (TUR) in the bracket as well.

Chermen VALIEV (ALB)Chermen VALIEV (ALB) is a Paris Olympic medalist at 74kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Freestyle

Albania's star Freestyle trio of Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB), Islam DUDAEV (ALB) and Chermen VALIEV (ALB) are wrestler in front of their home crowd. All three are returning to action since the Paris Games in which Dudaev and Valiev won bronze medals.

Abakarov will be tested by former European champion Nachyn MONGUSH (UWW) and Artem GOBAEV (UWW) at 61kg.

Dudaev will have tougher challenges at 65kg. He is likely to have a Paris rematch with silver medalist Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) who is expected to be Iran's representative at the Asian Championships.

U23 world champion Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (UWW) is also entered and is always the biggest threat for the gold medal. Amouzad and Dudaev will be cautious of the rising star.

For Valiev, Yones EMAMI (IRI) and Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) could be the trouble-makers at 74kg, a weight class he is expected to dominate. Valiev and Salkazanov match for styles but Valiev seems to always find a way to score points while Salkazanov is more of a tactical wrestler who can play the clock well.

Naychn KUULAR (KAZ)Nachyn KUULAR (KAZ), a former U23 world champion, wrestling in Bundesliga. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

At 70kg, former U23 world champion Nachyn KUULAR (KAZ) is turning up for UWW competition after six years, this time for Kazakhstan. Kuular, who represented Russia previously, has kept himself in the news with a win over Olympic champion Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN) in the Bundesliga, albeit at 71kg.

Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) won't have great memories of Tirana as he lost the World Championships semifinal to Abdulrashid SADULAEV in the last second and returned empty-handed. But he is back in Tirana with less expectations and pressure at 92kg as he begins an Olympic cycle in which he may finally get to be at the Olympics.

At 125kg, Olympic silver medalist Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) will be in action and the favorite to win gold medal as well.

Kyle SNYDER (USA) will be wrestling at back-to-back Ranking Series events. He won the gold medal in Zagreb and is expected to be in Tirana as well. A second gold medal this year will push him to the top of the ranking at 97kg.

Moe KIYOOKA (JPN)Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) is the world champion at 55kg but wrestling at 53kg in Tirana. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Wrestling

Japan is sending its six Emperor's Cup winners to Tirana. The six include two world champions from last year as Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) and Ami ISHII (JPN) return to Tirana for another trip.

Others include former age-group world champion Umi ITO (JPN) who finished with a bronze at the U23 World Championships, will also be returning to Tirana. Former world champion Haruna MURAYAMA (JPN) [nee OKUNO], is registered at 55kg, U20 world champion Sakura ONISHI (JPN) is at 59kg, world bronze medalist Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) at 65kg and Nodoka YAMAMOTO (JPN) is at 76kg.

China too is sending a strong but a relatively new team. It will be led by former 59kg world champion Qi ZHANG (CHN) who is moving up to 62kg for this tournament. She will be wrestling for the Asian Championships spot as well against teammate LILI (CHN) who won world bronze medal in 2023.

Grace BULLEN (NOR)Grace BULLEN (NOR) is returning to action at 62kg after Paris. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

However, Paris Olympic bronze medalist Grace BULLEN (NOR) will be the favorite in this weight class which also Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA) and Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL). Bullen will be wrestling at her first competition since winning the first Olympic medal for Norway in Women's Wrestling in Paris.

62kg silver medalist at Paris Olympic Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) is wrestling at 65kg for the Ranking Series. She will be up against former world champions Irina RINGACI (MDA) and Morikawa in her bracket which will be divided into two groups as the weight class has only seven wrestlers. There is a chance that all three wrestler end up in the same group.

Another loaded weight class is the 55kg in which Zagreb Open champion Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) will be looking to add a second gold medal of the Ranking Series. In Zagreb, she wrestled only one match -- final -- but Albania has a bigger bracket which also includes Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (UWW), Okuno, Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA) and Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR).

At 72kg, three-time world silver medalist Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ) will hope to win gold in Tirana as she lost the World Championships final here last year despite leading it at one point. 

Her compatriot and former Asian champion Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ) is registered at 76kg but her path to gold medal may not be as easy. The weight class also has Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ), Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU) and Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) who will look to confirm her spot at 76kg for Ukraine in the new Olympic cycle.