Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! March 05, 2018

Monday, March 5, 2018 - 12:17 By Eric Olanowski

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Reviewing Yazdani's Asian debut, a duo of historic performances, hometown favorites, and the Women's World Cup.

1. Yazdani Adds Asian Championship to Resume 

In his continental championship debut, the reigning world and Olympic champion, Hassan Yazdani Charati (IRI) went 3-0 and defeated two-time Asian medalist Uitumen ORGODOL (MGL) to capture the 86kg Asian championships gold medal.

The Asian Championships was the superstar's first competition since winning gold in Paris at the 2017 World Championships outscoring his opponents 36-2. This weekend, Yazdani only gave up two points and outscored his opponents 35-2. Combining Yazdani's last two tournaments, he’s outscored his opponents by a combined score of 71-4!

What may be more impressive, in his last two finals, Yazdani has picked up 10-0 technical superiority victories. 

2. Navjot Wins Historic Gold For India 

Since 2001, 13 Indian women have made the finals of an Asian Championship, and all 13 women have failed to bring home a gold medal.

This weekend, Kaur NAVJOT (IND) changed India's women's wrestling history when she beat Miyu IMAI (JPN), 9-1 in the finals of the 65kg bout. 

After her historic win, Navjot said: "I have been preparing for this and waiting for this for very long. Today is the best day of my life since I started wrestling." 

3. Host Nations Dynamic Duo 

Muslim EVLOEV (KGZ) and Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) used the hometown crowd as extra motivation on their way to winning Asian gold medals In Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. 

Evloev, now a four-time Asian champion captured the Freestyle 74kg title by beating two-time world bronze medalist Mandakhnaran GANZORIG (MGL), 11-1.

In the 72kg Greco-Roman finals, Makhmudov, the 2017 junior  world silver medalist captured the gold medal by defeating 2017 world silver medalist, Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ), 8-6. 

A topic of discussion from both wrestlers was the support that the Kyrgyzstan fans showed. "The crowd was really supporting me as much as they could and I couldn't fail them, so I did my best," said Evloev. Makhmudov told the Kyrgyz media "The biggest help for me was that the Kyrgyz people screamed for me to be strong and also to do better. When I heard it, I thought, 'I can die here on the floor but I will still win.' This win will be for them!" 

4. Sakandelidze Wins Qatar's First Asian Medal 

This weekend, the Georgian transfer, Giorgi Sakandelidze (QAT) became Qatar's first-ever medalist at an Asian Championships with a second-place finish. In the 125kg finals, Giorgi SAKANDELIDZE (QAT) was defeated by world bronze medalist, Davit MODZMANASHVILI (UZB), 5-0.  

Prior to Sakandelidze 's runner-up finish, Qatar's trio of Ibrahim ADULLARAHMAN(QAT), Bakhit Sharif BADR(QAT) and Abdulqader OMAR (QAT) held the record for Qatar's highest finish at an Asian Championship with fifth place finishes.

5. Two Weeks Away From the Women's World Cup 

Japan, the three-time defending World Cup champions, are set to host the 2018 Women's World Cup March 17-18 in Takasaki, Japan. This will be the fifth time that Japan has hosted the Women's World Cup and the first time since 2014. 

The eight participating teams are separated into two pools. Pool A will consist of Canada, Japan, Sweden and the United States and Pool B will consist of Belarus, China, Mongolia, and Romania. 

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media 

The crowd goes crazy after Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) win the host nations first gold medal of the Asian Championships. 

Kumsong KANG (PRK) gets extremely emotional after his amazing victory in the 57kg final!

Highlights from the first day of Freestyle action at the Asian Championships.

Saitiev, three-time Olympic champion, passes away aged 49

Sunday, March 2, 2025 - 17:40 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (March 2) -- Wrestling legend, three-time Olympic gold medalist and six-time world champion Buvaisar SAITIEV passed away Sunday. He was 49 years old and nine days short of his 50th birthday.

Saitiev was buried in the village of Novokuli in the Novolaksky district of Dagestan on Tuesday, March 4.

Saitiev, widely considered the best Freestyle wrestler of all time, was born in Dagestan but moved to Krasnoyarsk, Siberia to train at the Mindiashvili wrestling academy under the legendary coach Dmitri Mindiashvili.

The 49-year-old announced his retirement soon after winning his third Olympic title in Beijing 2008. His other two titles came in 1996 Atlanta Olympics and 2004 Athens Olympics. In 2000 Sydney Olympics, Brandon SLAY (USA) defeated him.

Apart from the world and Olympic titles, Saitiev was six-time European champion.

 

United World Wrestling President Nenad LALOVIC expressed his shock on the untimely passing of Saitiev.

"The wrestling family is in shock with the passing of Saitiev," Lalovic said. "He was a legend of the sport and we lost him at a very young age of 49. Saitiev inspired wrestlers around the world and many took up the sport because of him. It's an unrepairable loss to the wrestling community and we are with the Saitiev family during this time of grief."

In 2007, Saitiev was awarded as the best Freestyle wrestler in history by UWW [then FILA].

Wrestling majorly in the 74kg weight class, Saitiev stood at 183 centimetres and made his World Championships debut in Atlanta, 1995. A year later, he won the gold medal at 74kg at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

He became world champion in 1997 and 1998 but did not participate in 1999. He lost to Slay in early rounds of the 2000 Sydney Olympics and finished ninth.

But he captured the gold medals again at the 2001 and 2003 World Championships and returned to the top at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He became the world champion in 2005 and 2006 and claimed his third Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games.