#WrestleAlmaty

Asian C'ship Rivalry-to-Watch: Otoguro and Punia

Sunday, April 11, 2021 - 00:04 By Eric Olanowski

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ALMATY, Kazakhstan (April 12) --- Since the ’18 World Championships, 65kg has been one of wrestling’s premier weight classes, and that’s thanks in part to offensive juggernauts Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) and Bajrang PUNIA (IND).

The pair of attack-minded superstars are both entered at 65kg at the upcoming Asian Championships (April 13-18) and are looking to add another continental title to their resumes. But to do so, they’ll likely have to go through each other, which could set up a colossal third meeting between the pair who own a combined four world medals.

Otoguro commands a comfortable 2-0 lead over Punia heading into Almaty. He overcame his Indian rival at the ’18 World Championships and the ’20 Asian Championships and claimed gold both at both events.

Otoguro’s first win over Punia came in history-making fashion. In Budapest, the then-19-year-old defeated Punia in a barn-burning 25-point shootout and became Japan’s youngest-ever male world champion. Later that year, the high-octane match was voted as United World Wrestling’s Freestyle Match of the Year.

In their second meeting, Otoguro changed his approach and used low-level attacks to negate Punia’s world-famous pace. He secured four takedowns from below-the-knee attacks, denied Punia a second consecutive Asian title and reach the top of the continental podium for the first time in his young career.

But since that win in New Delhi, and due to the COVID pandemic, Otoguro has been sidelined from international competition and is set to return to the mat for the first time in 14 months.

Meanwhile, Punia stayed active during the pandemic. He trained in the United States for two months and wrestled in multiple exhibition matches on Flo Wrestling cards. Then, he kick-started the Olympic year with a gold-medal run at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event. In Rome, Punia picked up wins over Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL), Joseph MCKENNA (USA) and Selim KOZAN (TUR) en route to his fifth Ranking Series title.

The Asian Championships begin on Tuesday with Greco-Roman wrestling, but freestyle action starts on Saturday (April 16) in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

65kg Asian Championship Entries:
Bajrang BAJRANG (IND)
Morteza Hassanali GHIASI CHEKA (IRI)
Mohammed Al Jawad Zuhair K KAREEM (IRQ)|
Takuto OTOGURO (JPN)
Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ)
Alibek OSMONOV (KGZ)
Yongseok JEONG (KOR)
Junsik YUN (KOR)
Bilguun SARMANDAKH (MGL)
Chamara Milinda Perera WEERASINGHEGE (SRI)
Mustafo AKHMEDOV (TJK)
Kerim HOJAKOV (TKM)
Nodir RAKHIMOV (UZB)

#WrestleZagreb

Tazhudinov in search for answers despite bronze medal

Thursday, September 18, 2025 - 08:45 By Vinay Siwach

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ZAGREB, Croatia (September 16) -- A World Championships medal might be a career milestone for most wrestlers, but for Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN), the bronze he won in Zagreb is a prize he hopes to forget.

Coming into the tournament in Zagreb, Tazhudinov was considered as the best wrestler in the world and the favorite to win the gold medal at the 97kg. He had built a reputation of a wrestler who bulldozes anyone who stands in his path, as he did to win the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

But Tazhudinov was anything but an Olympic and world champion in Zagreb.

He almost dropped his quarterfinal match with Mogomed KURBANOV (UWW), needing a front headlock roll to survive. The thrill of victory was short lived, as Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) showed that Tazhudinov is indeed human, winning their semifinal 5-2 to end Tazhudinov's golden run.

"My initial goal was the gold medal," Tazhudinov said. "I wanted to become a two-time world champion. Unfortunately, it didn't happen -- maybe it was meant to be this way. It's very painful to lose."

As he searched for answers for his performance, Tazhudinov said that recent shoulder surgery may have affected his wrestling at the World Championships.

"I was coming back after surgery, after a serious injury," Tazhudinov said. "Maybe that had an effect, I don't even know. It took me a very long time to get myself together. At the beginning, training sessions were very difficult."

Tazhudinov returned from surgery to win two gold medals in a one-month span -- first at the Spain Grand Prix and then at the Budapest Ranking Series in June.

After the semifinal loss to Azarpira, Tazhudinov returned the next night for the bronze-medal bout with 34-year-old Akhmed MAGAMAEV (BUL), which only further put Tazhudinov under the scanner despite winning the match.

Magamaev was on the activity clock when he bodylocked Tazhudinov and slammed him for four points just before the 30 seconds elapsed. Tazhudinov rebounded with a takedown to make it 4-2 at the break.

He began the second period with another takedown to make it 4-4, but Magamaev continued the scramble and both wrestlers were awarded two exposure points each, putting the Bulgarian ahead 6-6 on criteria.

A counter lift to exposure gave Tazhudinov the lead for the first time, 8-6, and as Magamaev tried doing the counter lift, he gave up two as Tazhudinov blocked him. The final scramble, which gave Tazhudinov an 11-10 win, was challenged by Bulgaria. Eventually, it was scored 13-10.

Despite winning the bout, Tazhudinov shook his head as he left the mat, perhaps surprised himself by his lackluster performance.

"Honestly, I don't even know what went wrong," he said. "It means I wasn't well enough prepared. It means I wasn't in my best shape. It means I need to work even more."

Tazhudinov said he had difficulty preparing mentally for the bronze-medal bout after the loss to Azarpira.

"After the semifinal loss, I couldn't motivate myself at all for the bronze-medal match," he said. "I don't even know how I stepped onto the mat. I wasn't mentally ready to wrestle at all, and that's why the match was so difficult.

"But I will not give up -- I'll go home, work on my mistakes, and train even harder to come back stronger."