#Grappling

World Grappling Championships: AINs shine, Great Britain wins first-ever gold

By Vinay Siwach

ASTANA, Kazakhstan (October 11) -- Six Individual Neutral Athletes won gold medals in World Grappling Championships in Astana on Friday with Azerbaijan, Moldova and Georgia winning the remaining three in men's Grappling in Astana.

In women's grappling, the United States won two golds out of five. Spain, Great Britain and one AIN won three other gold medals. Injana GOODMAN (GBR) created history in grappling as she became the first Great Britain athlete to win the World Championships gold medal.

In team rankings, as AIN points are not considered, Kazakhstan won the team title in men's with 84 points. The U.S. finished second with 75 points and Poland finished third with 70 points.

In women's grappling, the U.S. won the team title with 85 points, well clear of second-placed Poland which could only get 56 points. Spain was third with 46 points.

RESULTS

Men's Grappling

58kg
GOLD: Farhad BAGIROV (AZE) df. Illia SVIATUN (UKR), via submission (9-0)

BRONZE: Alikhan ALSHINBAY (KAZ) df. Bohdan CHORNEI (UKR), 8-6
BRONZE: Jerzy IZDEBSKI (POL) df. Denis BEENEN (CAN), via submission (0-2)

62kg
GOLD: Magomedbek TEMEEV (AIN) df. Ruslan RADZHABKHANOV (AIN), 3-3

BRONZE: Arulan KURMANALIYEV (KAZ) df. Loris ZANOLINI (ITA), 3-3
BRONZE: Mayis NERSESYAN (ARM) df. Mykola NYKYFORUK (UKR), 6-2

66kg
GOLD: Bakhtiiar IAKHIEIAEV (AIN) df. Syimyk MAKHMEDOV (KGZ), 5-0

BRONZE: Bekzat KAPASHOV (KAZ) df. Vincenzo BUSSOLOTTI (ESP), 4-3
BRONZE: Yurii CHERKALIUK (UKR) df. Artur AGASHIRINOV (AIN), 2-2

71kg
GOLD: Gasan TEMEEV (AIN) df. Nico PULVERMUELLER (GER), 5-0

BRONZE: Jedrzej LOSKA (POL) df. Baiastan OROLBEK UULU (KGZ), 6-2
BRONZE: Nurbek TALBUDIN (KAZ) df. Iker CAMARA (ESP), 2-2

77kg
GOLD: Dumitru CEBAN (MDA) df. Arthur LEROY (FRA), 5-4

BRONZE: Efgan GALOEV (AIN) df. Shamil KUMRATOV (AIN), via submission (11-0)
BRONZE: Sam Eli SCHWARTZAPFEL (USA) df. Kamil ROSIAK (POL), 3-0

84kg
GOLD: Murad ABDULATIPOV (AIN) df. Pawel JAWORSKI (POL), 2-1

BRONZE: Ruslan VALIEV (FRA) df. Jay HILDRETH (USA), 4-2
BRONZE: Maxim COTE (CAN) df. Igor DZIAG (POL), 2-1

92kg
GOLD: Alibek SULEIMANOV (AIN) df. Amirani SVIMONISHVILI (GEO), 5-1

BRONZE: Mantas DAUBLYS (LTU) df. Joris ROOKHUIJZEN (NED), 0-0
BRONZE: Imran KHAMIDOV (AIN) df. Wilfried EDMUND (FRA), via submission (5-0)

100kg
GOLD: Aleksandre TEVZADZE (GEO) df. Henry ZACHARY (USA), 2-2

BRONZE: Ivan MALIN (UKR) df. Kamil WOJCIECHOWSKI (POL), 3-2
BRONZE: Islam ASKHABOV (AIN) df. Roman LUKASHEVICH (AIN), via walkover

130kg
GOLD: Khamzat STAMBULOV (AIN) df. John HANSEN (USA), 7-5

BRONZE: Nasrutdin DZHAFAROV (AIN) df. Yerlan SHAKISHOV (KAZ), 6-2
BRONZE: Travis CLARK (USA) df. Amir Ali FARHADPOR (IRI), via submission (4-0)

Injana GOODMAN (GBR)Injana GOODMAN (GBR), second from left, became the first-ever gold medals from Great Britain in World Grappling Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Women's Grappling

53kg
GOLD: Carlota PRENDES LARIOS (ESP) df. Alicja STYPULKOWSKA (POL), via submission (2-1)

BRONZE: Anorbi GRISHINA (AIN) df. Yuliia ZASULSKA (UKR), via submission (9-1)
BRONZE: Polina KRUPSKAIA (AIN) df. Breanna STIKKELMAN (USA), 2-2

58kg
GOLD: Alexandria ENRIQUEZ (USA) df. Nuraiym MUNAITBAS (KAZ), via submission (2-0)

BRONZE: Minerva MONTERO PEREZA (ESP) df. Tetiana ASTAKHOVA (UKR), 6-0
BRONZE: Nikolett KIS (HUN) df. Rachel GUTIERREZ (USA), via submission (3-0)

64kg
GOLD: Injana GOODMAN (GBR) df. Ekaterina PLITKINA (AIN), via submission (2-2)

BRONZE: Alycia QUENEE (FRA) df. Viktoriia PANCHENKO (UKR), via submission (2-1)
BRONZE: Sheliah LINDSEY (USA) df. Giulia RODIO (ITA), via submission (6-0)

71kg
GOLD: Anna REMNEVA (AIN) df. Sandra TRIEBEL (GER), via submission (3-2)

BRONZE: Emily GUENZLER (GER) df. Valeriia PROKOPIUK (UKR), 12-0
BRONZE: Weronika ROT (POL) df. Christina HANSEN (USA), via submission (6-0)

90kg
GOLD: Kendall REUSING (USA) df. Vlada BOIAKHCHIEVA (AIN), via submission (6-0)

BRONZE: Alena VLASOVA (AIN) df. Annabelle BOURGAULT (CAN), in overtime
BRONZE: Justyna SITKO (POL) df. Aikorkem IKHSANOVA (KAZ), via submission (9-0)

Islamic Solidarity Games 2025 Day 4: Tazhudinov, Ghasempour lose

By Vinay Siwach

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (November 21) -- The final day at the Islamic Solidarity Games 2025 will see four Freestyle weight classes in action -- 74kg, 86kg, 97kg and 125kg. Every weight class has a world champion wrestling today.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER

12:50: Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) drops his semifinal against Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) 15-3. Aitmukhan with three exposure for six points in the second period. Tazhudinov struggled to finish his attacks. We have a Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) vs Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) final.

12:40: World silver medalist Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) with a lace to beat Rifat GIDAK (TUR) 11-0 and enter the final at 97kg.

12:37: Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) reaches the 86kg final with an 5-1 win over Magomet EVLOEV (TJK) in the semifinal. Dzhioev will now take on Saipudunov for the gold medal.

12:33: Another Bahrain wrestler in the final as Khidir SAIPUDINOV (BRN) survives an late onslaught from Osman GOCEN (TUR) and wins 8-6 at 86kg. Gocen got a four-pointer which kept him in the match which was otherwise dominated by Saipudinov

12:30: Top match at 74kg semifinal as Younes EMAMI (IRI) holds off Norkhoza KAIPONOV (KAZ) 6-5. Kaiponov was up 4-1 and scored a stepout to make it 5-1. Emami got a stepout to make it 5-2 and a beautiful duckunder to close it to 5-4. He continued the action and used a gut-wrench to make it 6-5 with less than a minute remaining. He defended his lead to enter the final in which he will take on Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE)

12:22: Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE) with a takedown in the final 10 seconds to upset Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN) who was leading 5-2 till the last 30 seconds. The takedown gave Novruzov a 5-5 criteria lead before Asluev tried to hit exposure. Novruzov got an counter exposure for the 7-5 win. 

12:15: Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) is into the 125kg final after a 7-0 blanking of Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR) in the semifinal. Easy win for the world champion

12:11: World silver medalist Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE) goes down 7-6 against Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN) in the 125kg semifinal. Sharipov scored a four-pointer and led 5-0. But in Meshvildishvili comes back in the second period to make it 6-4 and needed three points for a win. He scored a takedown to make it 6-6 but was down on criteria. In the final 10 seconds, he was close to scoring two times but Sharipov managed to defend. A lost challenge gave him another point.

12:06: Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) downs Olympic bronze medalist Mogomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE) 12-2 at 97kg. Aitmukhan with a four-pointer and three takedowns in his victory. Solid defense as well whenever Magomedov seemed threatening.

11:55: Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) with a cradle to get the fall over Abossolo CEDRIC (CMR) in the second period of his 97kg quarterfinal.

11:50: Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) wins his quarterfinal at 97kg against Muhammad GULZAR (PAK) 11-0 after three rolls from par terre. He will wrestle Rifat GIDAK (TUR) who defeated Oucif HOUSSEM (ALG) 13-2

11:42: After taking out Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI), Arsenii DHZIOEV (AZE) continues his winning run and enters the semifinal at 86kg with an 11-0 victory over Benferdjallah FATEH (ALG)

11:30: Younes EMAMI (IRI) with an strong defensive performance as he beats Orozbek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ), 5-2, at 74kg. Emami got a point every time he seemed passive in the match.

11:20: Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) powers his way to a 10-0 victory over Arslanbek TURDUBEKOV (KGZ) at 125kg. World champion Zare is a strong favorite to win gold here.

11:18: Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN) stops Shams QURAISHI (AFG) from more upsets but not after an incredible match. Quraishi managed to score 9 points on Asluev before dropping his bout 12-9

11:10: Olympic champion Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) opens his 97kg with an 11-1 technical superiority win over 92kg U20 world champion Sherzod POYONOV (UZB).

11:00: Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) works his incredible underhook and manages an easy 11-0 victory over Iqbal AHMADI (AFG) at 97kg. Azarpira is a world silver medalist from Zagreb.

10:50: Former world 92kg champion Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) makes it look easy rolling to a 10-0 win over Mohamed SALAHELDIN (EGY) at 97kg.

10:45: Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) takes out Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) in the opening bout at 86kg. In a bout of two halves, Ghasempour got a takedown and passivity point in opening period before Dzhioev scored a takedown during Ghasempour's activity time to lead 3-3 on criteria with just over a minute left. Ghasempour tried a desperate leg attack at the end only to give a takedown and hand the win to Dzhioev

10:37: Osman GOCEN (TUR) hangs on for a 2-2 criteria win over Bobur ISLOMOV (UZB) at 86kg. It was a scramble in which both wrestlers were awarded two points each with Gocen getting it later and holding the criteria. No points were scored in the second period but both wrestler were involved in scrambles. Gocen manages to hold off and win.

10:33: Haider BUTT (PAK) led 3-0 against Farhad MALIK ZADA (AFG) and on the way to give Afghanistan it's first win of the tournament. However, Malik Zada with a comeback and beats the Pakistan wrestler 8-4 at 86kg.

10:25: Orozbek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ) took his own time but he manages to beat Khaireddine BEN TLILI (TUN), 11-1, in their 74kg. A four-pointer in the first period for Toktomambetov

10:15: Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ), one of the four world champs in action today, starts off with an 11-0 victory over Jafar CHULIBOYEV (UZB) at 74kg. He got a stepout before a takedown and four turns.

10:10: Afghanistan is really having a solid Games for itself. After some impressive wins yesterday and a fifth-place finish, Shams QURAISHI (AFG) gets a fall at 74kg against Omar MOURAD (EGY).

10:00: Last day of the ISG 2025 with four weight classes in Freestyle. Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) vs Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) likely to face in the 97kg.