#WrestleDortmund

U23 World Champ Bayramov Headlines Tuesday’s Finals

Monday, June 28, 2021 - 19:19 By Eric Olanowski

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DORTMUND, Germany (June 28) --- U23 world champion Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) blitzed his way to Tuesday’s junior European championship finals, while Russia inserted four of five wrestlers into gold-medal matches.

Bayramov, the reigning senior-level European runner-up, went unscathed en route to the 70kg finals match. The 20-year-old outscored his three opponents on Monday 26-0 and will wrestle Stanislav NOVAC (MDA) tomorrow night for a second junior European title.

Meanwhile, Russian freestylers Said KHUNKEROV (57kg), Turpal Ali KHATUEV (65kg), Rasul ASLUEV (79kg) and Ali ALIEV (97kg) earned finals berths and are one match away from winning a continental title.

Khunkerov, a tenth-place finisher at this year’s prestigious Ivan Yariguin, reached the finals with a pair of technical superiority wins. First, he picked up the convincing 18-8 win over three-time cadet world medalist Giorgi GEGELASHVILI (GEO), then shut out Ahmet KARAVUS (TUR), 10–0, to reach his first European finals.


Said KHUNKEROV (RUS) finishes a shot on Giorgi GEGELASHVILI (GEO) during Monday's opening day of wrestling at the Junior European Championships. (Photo Kadir Caliskan)

Khunkerov and Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM) will square off tomorrow for the 57kg title. Khndzrtsyan outscored his three opponents 31-0 – including a 10-0 win over cadet European champion Simone Vincenzo PIRODDU (ITA) – and will try to improve on his ’18 cadet European silver-medal finish.

Turpal Khatuev (RUS) was Russia’s second finalist. He punched his ticket to the finals with a two-point victory in a 24-point shootout with ’19 cadet European champion Sabir JAFAROV (AZE). Khatuev will meet Mykyta HONCHAROV (UKR) tomorrow night for gold. The Ukrainian breezed into the finals with a 7-2 win over Hungarian senior-level National runner-up Marcell BUDAI KOVACS (HUN).

Rasul Asluev nearly shut out Otari ADEISHVILI (GEO) in their semifinal meeting, but ultimately walked away with a 5-1 win and a final meeting against ’18 cadet world runner-up Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE). The Greek wrestler, who won U23 European bronze earlier this year, reached the finals with three wins on the day, which was capped off by a 9-2 throttling of Viktor KRUPA (UKR).

The fourth Russian Day 2 finalist was Ali Aliev. He beat Danylo STASIUK (UKR), 6-2, in the semifinals and will wrestle Polat POLATCI (TUR) in the 97kg finals.

Tomorrow’s wrestling resumes at 11:30 (local time) and can be followed on www.uww.org.

RESULTS
57kg
GOLD - Said KHUNKEROV (RUS) vs. Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM)
SEMIFINAL - Said KHUNKEROV (RUS) df. Ahmet KARAVUS (TUR), 10 - 0
SEMIFINAL - Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM) df. Thomas EPP (SUI), 10 – 0

65kg
GOLD - Turpal Ali KHATUEV (RUS) vs. Mykyta HONCHAROV (UKR)
SEMIFINAL - Turpal Ali KHATUEV (RUS) df. Sabir JAFAROV (AZE), 13-11
SEMIFINAL - Mykyta HONCHAROV (UKR) df. Marcell BUDAI KOVACS (HUN), 7-2

70kg
GOLD - Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) vs. Stanislav NOVAC (MDA)
SEMIFINAL - Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) df. Davit PATSINASHVILI (GEO), 11-0
SEMIFINAL - Stanislav NOVAC (MDA) df. Mevlut OZDEMIR (TUR), 4-3

79kg
GOLD - Rasul ASLUEV (RUS) vs. Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
SEMIFINAL - Rasul ASLUEV (RUS) df. Otari ADEISHVILI (GEO), 5-1
SEMIFINAL - Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) df. Viktor KRUPA (UKR), 9-2

97kg
GOLD - Ali ALIEV (RUS) vs. Polat POLATCI (TUR)
SEMIFINAL - Polat POLATCI (TUR) df. Danylo STASIUK (UKR), 6-2
SEMIFINAL - Ali ALIEV (RUS) df. Milan KORCSOG (HUN), 4-0

#WrestleBudapest

Ranking Series: Tazhudinov Shows No Rust on His Way to Gold

Thursday, July 17, 2025 - 21:32 By Vinay Siwach

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 17) --  Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) gave an early preview to what to expect from him at the World Championships in September.

The Paris Olympic champion won the gold medal in the 97kg weight class at the Budapest Ranking Series, outscoring his opponents 44-2 in four bouts and never appearing in trouble on the mat.

"I feel very good," Tazhudinov said. "I'm very happy to be back on the mat. It’s been almost a year I haven’t been competing  and it’s such a pleasure for us when you come back and win a gold medal."

The final Ranking Series event of the season kicked off in Budapest on Thursday with several familiar names winning gold medals. Asian champion Takara SUDA (JPN), world silver medalist Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN), world U20 champion Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) and SUJEET (IND) were among the gold medalists on day one.

But none were as dominant as Tazhudinov.

The Bahrain star returned to competition for the first time since Paris Olympics competing last week in Madrid, where he won gold at the Grand Prix of Spain. In Budapest, he followed it up with another flawless run, claiming his second gold medal in as many weeks.

"Overall I’m satisfied with my performance. I would say I’m not yet in full form, so I’m pleased with how I did. I’ll reach 100% form by the World Championships," he said.

Wrestling in just his third career Ranking Series, Tazhudinov capped the day with an 11-0 technical superiority win over veteran Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL) in the final.

He opened the tournament with a 14-2 win over Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA), who clearly looked smaller for the weight class and had trouble matching Tazhudinov in every aspect of the game.

Tazhudinov hit a big double-leg attack for four points but Viskhanov got two points for exposure. But that was only opening Tazhudinov allowed for the rest of the bout. Viskhanov tried a few leg attacks but Tazhudinov scored a takedown and two turns to be up 10-2 before an arm-bar attempt turned into takedown for his win.

In the quarterfinals, Tazhudinov needed just one minute to defeat Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW). In the semifinals, he dispatched Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO) in 1:48, winning 10-0.

Despite the dominant performance in Budapest, Tazhudinov admitted the World Championships would present a tougher challenge. He’s expected to defend his 97kg world title in Zagreb.

"We’ll have two training camps leading up to the World Championships, and I think after those camps I’ll be fully ready," he said. "There will be very strong, tough opponents. So I’ll prepare thoroughly and focus on performing even better."