#WrestleOslo

Live Blog Senior World Championships Day 3: FS 70kg, 97kg and WW 55kg, 62kg

Monday, October 4, 2021 - 07:40 By Vinay Siwach

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OSLO, Norway (October 4) -- Two months after they met in the Olympic final, Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RWF) and Kyle SNYDER (USA) may set up another final at the World Championships. 97kg alongwith 70kg begins on Monday at the Jordan Amfi arena. Women's wrestling will be underway as Olympic silver medalist Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) tries to capture her second world title at 62kg. If you missed the historic day two here the recap -- Yazdani upends Taylor (MATCH ORDER | WATCH LIVE)

 

1330: Results of the FS 97kg quarterfinals:

Mahamed ZAKARIIEV (UKR) df Suleyman KARADENIZ (TUR), 6-3
Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RWF) df Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (BLR), 9-4
Mojtaba GOLEIJ (IRI) df Alisher YERGALI (KAZ), 6-1
Kyle SNYDER (USA) df Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD), 11-0

1320: Results of the FS 70kg quarterfinals:

Evgenii ZHERBAEV (RWF) df Batmagnai BATCHULUUN (MGL), via fall
Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ) df Erfan ELAHI (IRI), 8-8
Magomedmurad GADZHIEV (POL) df Zurabi IAKOBISHVILI (GEO), 4-1
Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) df James GREEN (USA), 6-5

1305: Results of the WW 62kg quarterfinals:

Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR) df Ana GODINEZ GONZALEZ (CAN), via fall
Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) df Veranika IVANOVA (BLR), via fall
Lais NUNES DE OLIVEIRA (BRA) df Aleksandra WOLCZYNSKA (POL), 3-2
Kayla MIRACLE (USA) df Alina KASABIEVA (RWF), 13-2

1250: Results of the WW 55kg quarterfinals:

Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RWF) df Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR), 12-2
Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN) df Roksana ZASINA (POL), 4-0
PINKI (IND) df Aisha UALISHAN (KAZ), via fall 
Nina HEMMER (GER) df Andreea ANA (ROU), 3-2

1240: We are beginning with the quarterfinals. We will begin with WW 55kg followed by WW 62kg. FS 70kg will be before the 97kg quarterfinals

1230: Erfan ELAHI (IRI) continues his rollercoaster with 4-2 win and move into the quarterfinals. James GREEN (USA) and Magomedmurad GADZHIEV (POL) also leading their respective pre-quarterfinals

1200: Kyle SNYDER (USA) and Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RWF) both beginning their campaigns with wins. They are on the opposite sides of the brackets and can only meet in the finals

1140: Another strong attach from Ozaki but this time Tynybekova manages to defend that. But she still trails 0-4 with two minutes to go. Now Tynybekova on the attack and she cuts the lead to 2-4 with a takedown. Now another takedown to lead 4-4. She gets the gut but judges call it out of bounds. Long shot from Ozaki, she gets the leg but isn't able to finish. Tynybekova manages to get a takedown on the edge 6-4 and the time expires. What a match from the young star but Tynybekova using all her experience there to win

1135: Ozaki with a double leg takedown against Tynybekova and adds another to lead 4-0 early in the bout. Ozaki unfazed by the defending world champion

1130: Sakurai wins 10-4 and next on Mat B is Tokyo silver medalist Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) and in blue is cadet world champion Nonoka OZAKI (JPN). Meanwhile Batirov moves on with an 8-0 win

1125: Adam BATIROV (BRN) against Zaur EFENDIEV (SRB) on Mat A will be looking for his second world title. Junior European champion Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR) gets a big throw for four to cut the lead to 4-8 against former cadet world champion Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN).

1113: 2017 world champion at 65kg Zurabi IAKOBUSHVILI (GEO) is wrestling SUSHIL (IND) on Mat A. Sushil gets a point for passivity of the Georgian but Iakobushvili manages to tie it with a stepout. Another one gives him a 2-1 lead

1110: Erfan ELAHI wins his bout 8-0 to move on to the next round. James GREEN (USA) also advances to the next round with 10-0 win over Seungchul LEE (KOR)

1100: World silver medalist at 70kg Magomedmurad GADZHIEV (POL) begins his campaign with a 9-0 win over Nicolae COJOCARU (GBR) and Elahi leads Motoyama 6-0 in their match

1055: Goleij has done it! He beats Odikadze 4-0 and will move on to the second round. Odikadze looking a shadow of himself from the Olympics. This bout is followed by another Iran wrestler. Junior world champion Erfan ELAHI (IRI) is wrestling Jintaro MOTOYAMA (JPN) at 70kg

1045: Mojtaba GOLEIJ (IRI) and Elizbar ODIKADZE (GEO) are now wrestling on Mat B. Huge first round bout for the two. Odikadze has a world bronze medal and four fifth-place finishes

1030: Welcome to another action packed day here in Oslo. Big matches coming up and don't forget to follow wrestling on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for all the updates

#WrestleBelgrade

Aitmukhan: From volunteer at Worlds to Kazakhstan's first world champ

Tuesday, September 19, 2023 - 15:31 By Vinay Siwach

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BELGRADE, Serbia (September 19) -- Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ) was hoping to become Kazakhstan's first-ever Freestyle world champion when he reached the 65kg final at the World Championships in 2019. He failed after losing to Gazdhimurad RASHIDOV.

In that final, Rashidov took a bleeding timeout. A volunteer, Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ), ran out to clean the blood dropped on the mat. Little did Niyazbekov or Kazakhstan know that the tall volunteer would go on to achieve what Niyazbekov failed to.

Born in Kyzyltu, a village with only 600 people in the northern region of Kazakhstan, Aitmukhan became the central Asian country's first-ever world champion in Freestyle on Monday as he defeated Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE) in the 92kg final in Belgrade, Serbia.

In a thrilling final, Aitmukhan made a comeback after being down 2-0. He scored a stepout and caution with 30 seconds left. His criteria lead was threatened by Nurmagomedov in the final second when he almost scored a pushout. But Aitmukhan pushed the Azerbaijan wrestler out of bounds and won 6-2.

"The final match was very intense and tough," Aitmukhan said. "I noticed that he was getting tired. I used that moment and snatched the victory. We work hard, but all the success comes from God."

This victory was after five other wrestlers from Kazakhstan had tried to win the elusive Freestyle gold in the country's wrestling history to check out another box. With a Freestyle world champion, Kazakhstan is now without a world champion only in Women's Wrestling.

Aitmukhan's gold medal was also the first for Kazakhstan at the World Championships since Mkhitar MANUKYAN's (KAZ) won the last one in 1999 in Greco-Roman.

"This victory is the biggest in my life," Aitmukhan said. "I’ve been working for it for so many years. I would like to dedicate this win to my country and to my grandmother, she would have been 81 years old today [Monday]. But she passed away 3 years ago. This victory means a lot to me."

Back in 2019, Aitmukhan was the fourth-placer at the World School Combat Games and later won bronze at the U15 Asian Championships. He competed at the U23 Asian Championships as a 17-year-old and won gold at 92kg. Four months later, he was at the U23 World Championships but lost to Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) in the first round and to Feyzulla AKTURK (TUR) in the bronze medal bout. Akturk also defeated him in the bronze medal bout at the 2023 Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series.

But as fate would have it, he would return to Astana in April this year, for the Asian Championships and enter the final. The 19-year-old finished with a silver medal against another teenager Arash YOSHIDA (JPN). He stepped on the top of the podium at the U23 Asian Championships before adding bronze at the Budapest Ranking Series. In an agonizing close U20 World Championships final in Amman in August, he finished with a silver medal.

The run in Belgrade saw him beat European champion Akturk 11-0 in the quarterfinals and returning bronze medalist Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) 8-1 in the semifinals.

For a wrestler who began only in 2014, the success meant that he was on the path to achieving something historic. Ironically, he had no liking for the sport as well.

"My dad made me wrestle by force nine years ago," he said. "I didn’t want to train at all, by the he made me do that. And then I liked it. And now, 9 years later I am a world champion, the first one in Kazakh history. I think it’s not a bad result for a 19-year-old."

The losses at the Asian and U20 World Championships fueled Aitmukhan's effort to win the gold in Belgrade.

"In the Asian championships final and in U20 Worlds, there was that moment when I had to push myself. But that wasn’t enough," he said. "This time I felt the same during the match. I realized that if I didn’t do it now, I might not ever get this chance again. So, I tried my hardest and I did it."

Now that one goal is achieved, Rizabek will move to the Olympic weight class of 97kg. 

"We’ve decided that it’s the last world championships in this weight class, next year I’ll move up to the Olympic weight 97kg," he said. "I’ll wrestle for an Olympic spot. I will try to become an Olympic champion."