#WrestleBaku

'Wrestling brothers' Huseynov, Akbudak ready for GR World Cup

Friday, November 4, 2022 - 19:38 By Vinay Siwach

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BAKU, Azerbaijan (November 4) -- When Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) came to know that Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) will also be at the opening press conference for the Greco-Roman World Cup, he drove to the team hotel to pick up Akbudak.

Though aware that the two teams can compete in the World Cup final on Sunday, Huseynov puts that rivalry aside to set an example of hospitality, not just for Akbudak but for participants as well.

"We are friends," Huseynov said. "We have known each other for a long time."

At most competitions, the two would be busy with the preparations to win a medal at the World or European Championships. But the World Cup provides an opportunity for the wrestlers to engage more. The relaxed feel of the tournament also allows the wrestlers to mix with each other.

Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE)Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) and Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) wrestling at the 2021 World Championships. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Huseynov and Akbudak have been wrestling together for the last six years. A common language, cultural similarities and the same weight class have helped them become even closer.

"We are like brothers in wrestling," Huseynov said. "We train together in camps and we meet every competition. So we became close friends."

Azerbaijan and Turkiye have hosted numerous training camps together and it was at one of these camps in 2015 that Akbudak and Huseynov, sparring partners, became friends.

But along with the friendship comes the rivalry. Since both compete in the same weight class, the two face each other on the mat at international tournaments.

Both have met three times with Huseynov winning two bouts and Akbudak winning one, in February 2022, incidentally in his hometown Istanbul. In 2021, Huseynov became a world champion at 82kg by beating Akbudak 2-1 in the gold medal bout.

Huseynov did not forget to respect Akbudak after winning the gold and carried the Turkiye flag along with the Azerbaijan flag during the celebrations.

Even in Baku, one can see flags of Azerbaijan and Turkiye being hoisted together on balconies, in malls and even in public transport denoting the close relationships between the two countries.

With another bout between the two peers looming at the World Cup, this time in Huseynov's backyard Baku, both are ready to put the friendship aside and put on a show for the fans.

"When we wrestle, we wrestle to win," Huseynov said. "That's the plan. But if I win or him, we win together."

Akbudak, the newly crowned world champion, echoed the same thoughts as he leads a talented Turkish team into the World Cup. Turkiye faces a strong Iran team in the morning session Saturday.

"We are very close friends for long," Akbudak said. "It has more to do with Turkiye and Azerbaijan being close countries now. We hope to win as well."

Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) and Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (UWW) will resume their rivalry at the Greco-Roman World Cup. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

The Greco-Roman World Cup will see Azerbaijan and the All-World team in Group A after Serbia had to pull out due to COVID-19 cases in the camp.

Azerbaijan will hope to win this battle against the All-World team, participating for the first time in the World Cup, and reach the final.

"As you know the Greco-Roman team of Azerbaijan has been performing stronger," Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE), a two-time world champion, said. "It doesn't matter if world champion or not, there is always more pressure when wrestling in the home country and in Baku.

"But we want to win and prove that Azerbaijan is a strong team."

The All-World team will have Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (UWW) at 55kg who would hope to get his first win over Azizli. Among other losses, two of them have come in the World Championships finals.

World Championships silver medalists Leri ABULADZE (UWW), Zoltan LEVAI (UWW) and Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UWW) are among other stars part of the All-World team.

Manyas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)All-World team member Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (UWW) at the press conference in Baku. (Photo: UWW / Dogukan Karadag)

At 130kg, Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU) will represent the team and was motivated to perform at the World Cup, an opportunity he thinks will rarely come his way.

"I may not ever be part of the World Cup as a team Lithuania," Knystautas said. "But I am motivated to wrestle with other guys in the world who are the best. It's a celebration of wrestling and I am proud to represent Lithuania."

In Group B, Iran will open the session against Turkiye before the two teams collide against Kyrgyzstan. In all likelihood, the winner of the Iran-Turkiye clash will reach the gold medal bout.

Apart from Akbudak, Turkiye boasts of Kerem KAMAL (TUR), Selcuk CAN (TUR), Yunus BASAR (TUR), Metehan BASAR (TUR) and Osman YILDIRIM (TUR).

Iran too has brought a strong squad with Poya DAD MARZ (IRI), Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI), Iman Khoon MOHAMMADI (IRI), Abolfazl CHOUBANI (IRI), Mehdi BALIHAMZEHDEH (IRI) and Aliakbar YOUSOFI (IRI).

Wrestling begins at 1000 hours local time and will be live on uww.org and the UWW official app which can be downloaded from Google Play Store | Apple App Store.

#WrestleAthens

With two Greco golds, Uzbekistan shines at U17 Worlds

Tuesday, July 29, 2025 - 20:12 By Vinay Siwach

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ATHENS, Greece (July 29) -- "There are very few wrestlers as gifted and talented as he is."

Uzbekistan coach Alim KURBANOV was full of praise of his newly-minted world champion ward Bunyod HASANOV (UZB) in Athens on Tuesday.

Hasanov left little doubt about his skills, as he tore through his competition at 48kg and won Uzbekistan's first world title in three year at this level.

A country which has won team titles at Asian U17 level two years in a row is now threatening to win the team title at the World U17 Championships.

Though it has to continue its good show on Wednesday as well as Uzbekistan is currently third in the team race with 58 points, it has two more finalists and two in repechage in Wednesday. If most of the results go its way, Uzbekistan can easily overtake first-place Kazakhstan [61 points] and second-placed Iran [60 points].

Read More: Greece gets Greco finalist at U17 Worlds; Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan keep up

Hasanov defeated Asian U17 champion Nurdaulet KUMARULY (KAZ) 10-1 in the final in a show of some skillful defense and powerful gut-wrench.

Bunyod HASANOV (UZB)Bunyod HASANOV (UZB) celebrates after winning the final at 48kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Kumaruly opened the scoring when he got the par terre position in the first period but Hasanov managed to defend the attempts for gut-wrenches from the Kazakhstan wrestler. In the second period, Hasanov first scored a stepout and then got the par terre position. Out came the deadly gut-wrench as he rolled Kumaruly four times to lead 8-1.

The final finished when Hasanov threw Kumaruly off him and it was scored a takedown. The 10-1 win made Hasanov the first Uzbekistan wrestler to win gold at World U17 in three years.

"I have been wrestling for six years now," Hasanov said. "It was my grandfather’s dream to make me wrestle. He enrolled me in wrestling and dreamt that I would become a national champion and then a world champion. He himself did not wrestle, he just really loves this sport."

The second gold medal for Uzbekistan came from Abdulaziz KHOLMIRZAEV (UZB) who held off Luka MARTIASHVILI (GEO), 14-7, in a high-scoring final at 80kg.

Martiashvili got the first par terre and as he tried turning Kholmirzaev, he was blocked and the Uzbekistan got two points. A stepout for Martiashvili made it 2-2 but he was down on criteria.

In the second period, Kholmirzaev's attempted arm-throw was blocked by Martiashvili who got two points but the favored was returned by Kholmirzaev who added a four-point suplex in the same sequence to lead 8-4. Martiashvili reversed the position and scored a turn when the referee blew the whistle to review the challenge asked by Georgia.

The score was 8-6 for Kholmirzaev but after review, it was 8-7 and the bout restarted in par terre. As Martiashvili tried turning Kholmirzaev again, he was blocked, giving two more points to the Uzbekistan.

A desperate attempt for a throw and win from Martiashvili saw him land on his back, giving Kholmirzaev four points and a fall for the gold medal.

Georgia had more disappointment in store on Tuesday. Just two months ago, Erekle TAVBERIDZE (GEO) won the European U17 gold medal by destroying Janes NAZARYAN (ARM) 9-0 in the final in Skopje. As both wrestlers made it to the World U17 Championships final on Tuesday in Athens, Nazaryan was under pressure to reverse the result from Skopje.

It seemed that Tavberidze would take the gold once again over Nazaryan, a stroke of luck and persistence from Nazaryan saw him score a takedown and take a 5-4 lead for the win in the gold medal-bout.

Nazaryan was off the blocks with a passivity point and then he turned Tavberidze for two more points. The Georgian cut one point with a stepout just before the break to make it 3-1.

Tavberidze kept his composure in the second period and when he got the par terre position, he managed to turn Nazaryan and lead 4-3 with 50 seconds remaining. As both wrestlers battled it out in the center, Tavberidze turned his back in one of the escapes but Nazaryan pounced on him and managed to complete a takedown.

That was all he needed and kept his 5-4 lead and won the world title and managed to equal his head-to-head record against Tavberidze 2-2 in four bouts.

"I faced my opponent from the final for the fourth time," Nazaryan said. "He [Tavberidze] is my friend both on and off the mat. He gives me the motivation to train even harder so that I can beat him."

Born in Vagharshapat, Nazaryan trains at the Vagharshapat club as well as at the Norayr Musheghyan Sports School. While he shares the second name with the legendary two-time Olympic champion Armen NAZARYAN, Janes said he always looked up to Armen.

"He is my idol," he said. "I have watched a lot of videos of his wrestling, and he motivates me greatly. He is my idol, and I want to win even a few more medals than Armen Nazaryan."

Kyrgyzstan's gold medal came at 55kg as Asian U17 champion Alkham ABDIRASULOV (KGZ) won 3-1 against Nurali ASKAR (KAZ) in the final. A foul from Askar saw Abdirasulov get two points and the par terre points became neutral after that.

India won its fourth gold medal in World U17 Championships history as HARDEEP (IND) overcame the Iranian challenge of Yazdan DELROUZ (IRI) at 110kg.

This is the heaviest weight class India has ever won a gold medal in at the World U17 level. Earlier, Vinod KUMAR (IND) won at 45kg in 1980, Pappu YADAV (IND) won at 51kg in 1992 and SURAJ (IND) won at 55kg in 2022.

Hardeep fell behind 3-0 at the break as Delrouz scored two stepouts and one point for passivity. But Hardeep began the second period with a takedown and then got a point for passivity. In a surprising move, the Asian U17 champion asked for a standing restart instead of par terre as he was aware that Delrouz won't be able to sustain the pace of his wrestling.

Photo

RESULTS

48kg
GOLD:  Bunyod HASANOV (UZB) df. Nurdaulet KUMARULY (KAZ), 10-1

BRONZE: Michael RUNDELL (USA) df. Kaisei YAMAMOTO (JPN), 12-6
BRONZE: Amirmohammad HAJIVAND (IRI) df. Baris SOYLU (TUR), 12-3

55kg
GOLD:  Alkham ABDIRASULOV (KGZ) df. Nurali ASKAR (KAZ), 3-1

BRONZE: Amirreza TAHMASBPOUR (IRI) df. Aditya GUPTA (IND), via fall (10-1)
BRONZE: Makhdi BAROTOV (TJK) df. Nihat BAHMANOV (AZE), 8-5

65kg
GOLD: Janes NAZARYAN (ARM) df. Erekle TAVBERIDZE (GEO), via fall (5-4)

BRONZE: Dosbol SHAMIL (KAZ) df. ANUJ (IND), 5-4
BRONZE: Arseni KIKINIOU (USA) df. Yehor TARASENKO (UKR), 5-1

80kg
GOLD: Abdulaziz KHOLMIRZAEV (UZB) df. Luka MARTIASHVILI (GEO), via fall (14-7)

BRONZE: Ismail BEREKET (TUR) df. Nijat YEYLAGALIYEV (AZE), 9-0
BRONZE: Nurislam OSKONBAEV (KGZ) df. Taha NOURI (IRI), 3-1

110kg
GOLD: HARDEEP (IND) df. Yazdan DELROUZ (IRI), 3-3

BRONZE: Temuri SIMSIVE (GEO) df. Hu Anshi NUERLEBIEKE (CHN), 1-1
BRONZE: Anatolii NOVACHENKO (UKR) df. Emrullah CAPKAN (TUR), 5-1