#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open: Azarpira beats Snyder; Zare, Susaki dominate

By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (January 11) -- He was ready to take over the 97kg weight class in Iran after the Tokyo Olympics. He won the U23 World Championships aged 19 years. He repeated as the champion in 2022. But then Mojtaba GOLEIJ (IRI) rose along with Mohammad MOHAMMADIAN (IRI).

After spending a year struggling at 92kg because of the decision of Iran's management, Amirali AZAPIRA (IRI) is back to his best at 97kg. He defeated Goleij and Mohammadian in Iran and shocked the wrestling world on Thursday with a controlled win over Kyle SNYDER (USA) at the Zagreb Open to win the gold medal.

Snyder, who was the favorite to win the gold medal, especially after his easy 4-0 win over Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) in the semifinal, was shut down by Azarpira in the second period, suffering a 6-3 loss after leading 3-0.

Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI)Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) scores on Kyle SNYDER (USA) in the 97kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Memories from last year's Zagreb Open final must have flashed for Azarpira as he lost that match 3-0 to return with a silver medal. But this year, despite Snyder's 3-0 lead, Azarpira continued his attacks and scored two takedowns in the second period to win 6-3.

"I had already thought about the final," Azarpira said. "I had practiced with the other guys [on the Iran team] for a long time for this competition. Last year, I lost to Snyder in the same tournament and the same final but this year, I was confident that I could defeat him."

Snyder led 1-0 at the break after Azarpira was on the activity clock and opened the second period with a takedown to lead 3-0. But Azarpira answered with a takedown of his own to make it 3-2 and added a stepout which Snyder challenged but lost.

Azarpira led 4-3 with over a minute remaining in the final and Snyder came close to scoring the winning stepout twice but Azarpira's defended well.

"It was a good takedown in the first period and then he got into my legs and scored," Snyder said. "I still had a minute and 15 seconds to score but could not. He had good defense. It was good to compete and keep learning. I need to get better at opening guys up and score points."

Azarpira used Iran's traditional underhooks and kept his legs away from Snyder's reach to avoid getting taken down or double-leg attacks.

"I was three points behind but I didn’t lose my focus because I had a plan," Azarpira said. "I knew that even if I was six points behind, I could win it. I was relieved because I already knew that I was going to win. My mind was ready for this competition and I had gained self-confidence."

Azarpira lost some of his self-confidence in 2023 when Iran decided to prepare him for the World Championships at 92kg after Ghasempour's injury. He finished fourth at the Ranking Series event in Budapest and eighth at the World Championships after a loss to Zahid VALENCIA (USA).

But come 2023, he won the Iran nationals to earn his spot for Zagreb and with the win over Snyder, he will be headed to the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Bishkek in April.

"I’ve been playing at the weight of 97kg for about three or four years and I fit in this weight," he said. "But according to the opinion of the technical staff of my country, they allowed me to participate in the World Championships at 92kg. But at this weight, considering the weight I lost and the circumstances, I didn’t have the necessary preparation for the competition and I was very annoyed during this time. But I wasn’t real me in the World Championships when I lost."

Azarpira opened the day with a 5-0 win over Radoslaw BARAN (POL) and survived a scare against Isaac TRUMBLE (USA) 8-7 before winning 10-0 against VICKY (UWW).

But Snyder was dominant in the first three matches. He defeated Tuerxunbieke MUHEITE (CHN), Erhan YAYLACI (TUR) and Cristian SARCO (VEN) via technical superiority. He would then beat Ghasempour 4-0 in their second career meeting.

Azarpira's win over Snyder has all but ended Ghasempour's Olympic hopes. Winning the quota in Bishkek would mean that Azapira's ticket to Paris is all but guaranteed.

"It can be said that this weight is the hardest weight in the World, Olympic, Asian," Azarpira said. "With the plans I have, I hope I can get the best results in this weight and I have high hopes in myself.

Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI)Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) defeated Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) 5-0 in the 125kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Another Iran wrestler who has confirmed his Paris Olympics ticket is world champion Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) as he defeated Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) in the 125kg final. The bout was a playoff for the Olympic spot as Masoumi had won the national championships. Like their previous encounters, Zare was in control of the bout which he won 5-0.

"Masoumi is a young and powerful wrestler and he wrestles with high physical strength," Zare said. "Because of that, I was under pressure but according to the training I had done before this tournament, I showed my body was ready to defeat all my opponents."

Throughout the day, Zare showed why he remains the top wrestler at 125kg, winning two bouts via technical superiority before the final.

"The competition was high level and in our weight, except for one or two wrestlers, the champions of different countries were all present and this shows that this year is the year of the Olympics," he said.

Having won the World Championships twice now and a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, Zare said that he would do everything in his control to win the Paris Olympics.

"The biggest dream of every athlete is Olympic gold and I practice and work hard every day to achieve the Olympic gold and I wanna do it not just once, but several times."

Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI)Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI) won the 79kg gold after a 6-0 win over Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO). (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Iran's third gold medal was won by Mohamad NOKHODI (IRI) who recovered from a grueling semifinal against Evan WICK (USA) to win gold at 79kg with a 6-0 win over Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO). The two-time world silver medalist Iranian struggled with his conditioning in the semifinal but managed to win 6-6. In the final, he scored all the points in the first period and then defended Kentchadze's attacks to win the gold.

Kentchadze finished with a silver medal last year as well after losing to Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI) in the final.

In the other non-Olympic weight class in Freestyle, Nathan JACKSON (USA) won the gold medal at 92kg after a fall over Andro MARGISHVILI (GEO) in the final.

Yui SUSAKI (JPN)Yui SUSAKI (JPN) defeated Ziqi FENG (CHN) in the 50kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Susaki show

A fully fit and rejuvenated Yui SUSAKI (JPN) remained untouchable in wrestling as she won the 50kg gold medal with ease, finishing each of her five bouts well before time.

Her opponent in the final and world bronze medalist Ziqi FENG (CHN) had similar results, finishing her three bouts before time but suffered a 10-0 loss to Susaki in the final.

At the World Championships, Feng had troubled Susaki and only lost 4-2 but Susaki said it wasn't a big deal.

"I have no injury now," Susaki said. "After the World Championships, I planned a lot [for Feng]."

The 24-year-old has been on a long exposure trip to Europe in which she trained in Germany and France.

"I want to train with foreign athletes and know the style," she said. "I have the Olympics so I want to feel the power of foreign wrestlers, how to fight them, how to plan against them. I had a great experience."

At 55kg, Samantha STEWART (CAN) came home with a gold medal after a 3-1 victory over Roksana ZASINA (POL) in the final.

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RESULTS

Freestyle

79kg
GOLD: Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI) df. Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO), 6-0

BRONZE: Evan WICK (USA) df. Abdollah SHEIKHAZAMI (IRI), 

92kg
GOLD: Nathan JACKSON (USA) df. Andro MARGISHVILI (GEO), via fall

BRONZE: Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) df. Eric SCHULTZ (USA), 8-7

97kg
GOLD: Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) df. Kyle SNYDER (USA), 6-3

BRONZE: Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) df. Erhan YAYLACI (TUR), 3-1
BRONZE: Isaac TRUMBLE (USA) df. VICKY (UWW), 8-5

125kg
GOLD: Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) df. Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI), 5-0

BRONZE: Zhiwei DENG (CHN) df. Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Mason PARRIS (USA) df. Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE), 6-2

Women's Wrestling

50kg
GOLD: Yui SUSAKI (JPN) df. Ziqi FENG (CHN), 10-0

BRONZE: Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (AIN) df. Kseniya STANKEVICH (AIN), via fall (10-2) 
BRONZE: Otgonjargal DOLGORJAV (MGL) df. Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR), 7-6

55kg
GOLD: Samantha STEWART (CAN) df. Roksana ZASINA (POL), 3-1

BRONZE: Mariia VYNNYK (UKR) df. Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN), 2-2
BRONZE: Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA) df. Albina RILLIA (UKR), via fall (4-0)  

#WrestleZagreb

Motoki leads Japanese trio to Worlds finals

By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (September 17) -- After a slightly subdued start to its Women's Wrestling, Japan managed to show up at the World Championships.

Japan put three wrestlers in the final out of the four weight classes that were in action on Wednesday in Zagreb. Olympic champion Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) remained on course for her first world title at 62kg while Haruna MURAYAMA (JPN) and Ami ISHII (JPN) will look to add to their world titles at 53kg and 68kg.

Motoki was up against former world champion Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL) in the semifinals and she began with a four-pointer. Purevdorj got a reversal but that was all she managed in the match as Motoki kept coming up with different ways to score the takedowns. At 10-1, she scored another four-pointer to win 14-1 and enter her second world final.

For the elusive gold, she will face Ok Ju KIM (PRK) who pinned Amina TANDELOVA (UWW) in the other semifinal after building a 14-3 lead.

Murayama, a three-time world champion, will wrestle for her fourth world title after she won a close semifinal against Hyogyong CHOE (PRK). Both traded activity points but Murayama had a stepout which proved to the be difference as she won 2-1.

On Thursday, she will face Olympic silver medalist Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) in the final after the Ecuadorian defeated world bronze medalist ANTIM (IND), 5-3, majorly with four-pointer in the first period and protecting her lead.

Yepez hit a duck under to throw Antim for four and gave up a reversal to lead 4-1 in the break. The Indian tried to find the opening but she only got one in the final 10 seconds after giving up a takedown. Yepez was happy to give up that final takedown as it did not affect her win and only changed the score to 5-3.

Ecuador, a country which did not have a world finalist till Tuesday, now has two. Yepez is the second on consecutive day after Genesis REASCO (ECU) entered the 76kg final to create history.

World 72kg champion Ishii, who dropped down to 68kg this year, took a step closer to her second world title after she bullied through two Olympic medalist in quarterfinals and semifinals.

Ishii dominated silver medalist from Paris Kennedy BLADES (USA), 12-2, and had a similar match against bronze medalist against Buse TOSUN (TUR) in the semifinals.

Ishii was straight to work in the semifinal with a four-pointer as Tosun landed on her back despite controlling Ishii's legs. Turkiye challenged that scoring but lost it, giving one more point to Ishii.

She scored three different takedowns to finish the match 11-0 inside the first period and enter her second world final.

Yuliana YANEVA (BUL) will look to stop Ishii from winning the gold medal after she upset world 65kg champion Jia LONG (CHN) in the semifinal. Yaneva fell behind 1-1 on criteria but scored a takedown with around one minute and 30 seconds on the clock to lead 3-1.

From there on, Long was on the backfoot and a win seemed further away as she was cautioned for a point for locking fingers. As she tried to trip Yaneva, the Bulgarian blocked her and got the winning takedown for a 6-1 win.

At 72kg, multiple age-group world medalist Nesrin BAS (TUR) managed to reach her first-ever senior world final after she won a thrilling semifinal against Zelu LI (CHN), 9-6.

Bas scored a four-pointer using a whizzer to lead 4-1 at the break. Li scored a takedown to begin the second period but Bas elevated her leg from the front to score two points and lead 6-3. Turkiye challenged the call and the scored for reversed to 8-4. Li tried to mount a comeback from there but she managed only two points while Bas scored a reversal to win 9-6.

For her first world title, she will face Alla BELINSKA (UKR) who used a whizzer to pin Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ) in the other semifinal.

RESULTS

53kg
GOLD: Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) vs. Haruna MURAYAMA (JPN)

SF 1: Haruna MURAYAMA (JPN) df. Hyogyong CHOE (PRK), 2-1
SF 2: Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) df. ANTIM (IND), 5-3

62kg
GOLD: Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) vs. Ok Ju KIM (PRK)

SF 1: Ok Ju KIM (PRK) df. Amina TANDELOVA (UWW), via fall
SF 2: Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) df. Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL), 14-1

68kg
GOLD: Ami ISHII (JPN) vs. Yuliana YANEVA (BUL)

SF 1: Yuliana YANEVA (BUL) df. Jia LONG (CHN), 6-1
SF 2: Ami ISHII (JPN) df. Buse TOSUN (TUR), 11-0

72kg
GOLD: Nesrin BAS (TUR) vs. Alla BELINSKA (UKR)

SF 1: Nesrin BAS (TUR) df. Zelu LI (CHN), 9-6
SF 2: Alla BELINSKA (UKR) df. Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ), via fall