#WrestleOslo

#WrestleOslo Day Eight Preview: GR 63kg, 67kg and 87kg

Saturday, September 25, 2021 - 14:38 By Vinay Siwach

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (September 25) -- A day when two Olympic weight classes will be in action, a total of eight wrestlers who competed in Tokyo will take the mat in Oslo, Norway. Olympic champion Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) will be leading the field at 67kg with former world champion Hansu RYU (KOR). At 87kg, five Tokyo Olympians will be in action as bronze medalist Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB) will be taking on Islam ABBASOV (AZE), Kiryl MASKEVICH (BLR), Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) and Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ).

The third will be 63kg, a non-Olympic weight, but a number of age-group world medalists are entered including U23 World champion Meysam DALKHANI (IRI). The host country Norway is going ahead with veteran Stig BERGE (NOR) who won a bronze medal at the Rio Olympics.

But the fireworks are sure to go off at 87kg as big-throwing and dark horse Maskevich tries to put the disappointment of Tokyo behind him. He was in serious form going into the Olympics but suffered a tame loss to Mohamed METWALLY (EGY) in the opening round. Maskevich won the gold at the Individual World Cup in 2020 and a silver at the 2021 European Championships after suffering a loss to Datunashvili in the final.

If Datunashvili can build on his success from Tokyo, it will hardly be a surprise that he reaches the final in Oslo. After winning the European Championships, he qualified for the Tokyo Games from Last Chance Qualifier in Bulgaria before winning the bronze in Tokyo. He lost to eventual champion Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) but rallied back to beat Bachir SID AZARA (ALG) and Ivan HUKLEK (CRO) in the repechage and bronze medal bout respectively.

Abbasov and Gobadze will also be big threats to the gold medal as the former is a European Championships and Games silver medalist and Gobadze will like to win the gold in the Olympic weight class after winning the 82kg at the 2019 World Championships. Both were in Tokyo but lost in the opening rounds. Unlike Datunashvili, they did not get a chance in repechage and had to return empty-handed from Japan.

Belenuik decided to take a break after winning the gold in Tokyo but Ukraine can still hope for a golden run in Oslo as the talented Semen NAVIKOV (UKR) looks to finally step up and take over the weight class. He won the U23 World Championships twice and even captured the gold at the senior European Championships in 2020.

Malid ALIRZAEV (ROC), another U23 world champion, will also try to fill the big shoes of Davit CHAKVETADZE (ROC) as he was selected for the Oslo tournament.

ROC named a young squad for the Oslo World Championships as Nazir ABDULLAEV (ROC) was included for the 67kg weight class. The Individual World Cup winner will be a big threat to Geraei's quest to become an Olympic and World champion in the same year.

Mohammadreza GERAEIMohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) won the gold in Tokyo. (Photo: UWW / Tony Rotundo)

Geraei's run in Tokyo was a big savior for Iran's otherwise disappointing performance. He defeated three-time world champion Frank STABLER (GER) in the quarterfinal and then Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO) in the semifinal. In the final, Parviz NASIBOV (UKR) in the final. The U23 world champion is likely to face, who finished fifth in Tokyo, again in Oslo. Zoidze won a U23 world silver medal but has been one of the top performers at the continental level in Europe. He now has a chance to take things to the next level by winning a senior Worlds medal.

But a wrestler who will try to regain his lost form is two-time world champion Ryu. The two-time Asian Games winner was once again denied an Olympic medal after he lost in the opening round to young star and Tokyo bronze medalist Mohamed EL-SAYED (EGY).

An under-the-radar wrestler in Oslo could be Zaur KABALOEV (ITA). The former Russian Wrestling Federation national champion has made the switch to Italy after 2019 and will now be representing the European nation in Oslo. Along with Asian champion Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (JPN) and Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ), a multiple-time world bronze medalist, Kabaloev can stun the field at 67kg.

Sultan ASSETULYSultan ASSETULY (KAZ) and Meysam DALKHANI (IRI) wrestled in the final of 2021 Asian Championships. (Photo: UWW / Sachiko HOTAKA)

Senior Asian champion Sultan ASSETULY (KAZ) and U23 world champion Dalkhani will be the top names at 63kg in Oslo. The two wrestled in the final of the Asian Championships in 2021 with the Kazakhstan wrestler winning the gold. Assetuly will now have a chance to win his first senior World Championships medal.

The same goes for Dalkhani who has shown great results at the age-group level but will be tested at this level for the first time.

Testing them will be local hope and veteran Berge who will look to excite the local fans who are allowed to attend the competition. Berge's performances have fallen a little in the last couple of years but his silver medals at European Championships and Matteo Pellicone in 2020 served as a reminder that he can still pull off big performances.

Apart from Berge, U23 European champion Hrachya POGHOSYAN (ARM) will also be in the mix in Oslo. The 22-year-old Armenian will be wrestling at his first senior Worlds and only the third international tournament at this level. He finished fifth at the senior European Championships last year.

Ibragim LABAZANOV (ROC), a silver medalist from the European Championships, will also be looking to win the gold medal for his country. The 2016 Rio Olympian has the experience of performing at the big stage and this could well be his chance to claim his spot back in the Russian Wrestling Federation team.

Former cadet world champion Leri ABULADZE (GEO) can also upset a few in Oslo as he transforms into a senior wrestler. His bronze medal at the senior Euros in 2020 can be seen as the first step and he will be keen on winning another medal on the final day of the World Championships as the finals for all three weight classes will be held on October 10, Tuesday.

Obituary

Japanese legend and Olympic champ Obara passes away aged 44

Saturday, July 19, 2025 - 11:00 By Ken Marantz

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TOKYO (July 19) — Legendary Japanese wrestler Hitomi OBARA, the 2012 London Olympic gold medalist at women's 48kg and an eight-time world champion, passed away on Friday, the Japanese media reported on Saturday. She was 44.

The Japan Self-Defense Force Physical Training School, where Obara was a women's coach, said it was withholding the cause of death "out of consideration for the privacy and emotions of the bereaved family," according to The Yomiuri Shimbun.

Obara, the mother of two elementary school-aged children, was a director in the Japan Wrestling Federation, and had just been appointed in June as a coach of the women's national team for the run-up to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics along with fellow former Olympic champion Kaori ICHO.

Obara, who won six of her world titles at 51kg under her maiden name of SAKAMOTO, became a model case for the ups and downs of high-level sports and the ability to overcome grave disappointment. Her victory at the London Olympics, at age 31, came after being denied spots on Japan's team at both of the two previous Olympics by fellow legend Saori YOSHIDA.

Born in 1981 in the wrestling hotbed of Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, in northern Japan, Obara went on to attend Chukyo University (now Shigakkan), which she helped turn into a national powerhouse along with Yoshida and fellow Hachinohe native Icho.

"It's hard, it's hard, I can't keep from crying," former Shigakkan and national team coach Kazuhito SAKAE was quoted as telling the Japanese media. "She was a wrestling prodigy. At the least, she was a hard worker with a strong sense of responsibility. She was wrestling's heaven-sent child. I still can't believe it." 

Obara won back-to-back world 51kg titles in 1999 and 2000. A serious knee injury would keep her from returning to the world championships until 2005, from which she won four in a row.

In between, she attempted to make the Japanese's squad to the 2004 Athens Olympics, but that dream ended with a loss by fall to Yoshida in the 55kg final at the All-Japan Championships in December 2002. She would only compete once in 2003 before returning in earnest in 2004 and beginning her streak of world titles the following year.

But more disappointment came her way in the qualifying process for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Again it was Yoshida who squashed her dreams, beating her 2-0 (2-0, 4-0) in the 2006 All-Japan final. After the match, Obara sat for hours sobbing in a corner of the warm-up room, a towel draped over her head.

Obara managed to rebound from the defeat to win a playoff for the 51kg spot at the 2007 World Championships, where she won gold No. 5. After adding No. 6 a year later with a run to the gold that included a victory over future Olympic champ Helen MAROULIS (USA), she decided to retire.

But despite all of her success, the lack of a Olympic gold -- or even an appearance, for that matter -- still left a sting that would not abate. That, and the decision of her younger sister Makiko to retire, led her to attempt the difficult path of cutting down to 48kg to make it to London.

Makiko was a world bronze medalist at 48kg in 2005 and 2008, but decided to end her career after placing eighth in 2009. Hitomi had never wanted to displace her sister from the national team, but now the door to 48kg was open.

Her biggest battle may have been with the scale. On the mat, she was as unbeatable as ever, storming to world golds in 2010 and 2011 -- now as Obara after getting married in 2010.

There was one slip-up along the way -- a semifinal loss to So Sim HYANG (PRK) at the 2010 Asian Games that ended her 70-match winning streak in international matches. But she regained her confidence with a decisive win at the All-Japan, and it was with a full head of steam that she headed to the London Olympics, which she had announced would be her swan song.

In London, Obara knocked off defending Olympic champion Carol HUYNH (CAN) in the semifinals before coming from behind in the final to defeat Mariya STADNIK (AZE) 2-1 (0-4, 1-0, 2-0) -- a replay of the gold-medal match at the 2011 worlds.

"If you keep doing what you love and never give up, you can achieve your dream," Obara told students at the junior high school she attended during a visit in January last year.

Upon retiring, Obara joined the staff at the Self-Defense Force Physical Training School, where she was also an officer. Among the members she coached were Haruna MURAYAMA OKUNO, Himeka TOKUHARA and Masako FURUICHI, who all made Japan's team to this year's World Championships.

In 2022, Obara was inducted into UWW's Hall of Fame along with Yoshida and Icho.