Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! July 23, 2018

Monday, July 23, 2018 - 15:05 By Eric Olanowski

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Taking a look at Japan's seven Asian Junior gold medal performance and India's strong finish. Also looking at the pair of Olympic silver medalists who won the final Greco-Roman Ranking Series event of the year and this weeks freestyle Ranking Series event, the Yasar Dogu. 

1.Japanese Women One-Up Iran, Win Seven Asian Junior Golds 
Japan closed out women’s wrestling at the 2018 Asian Junior Championships with eight finalists, winning seven gold medals and one-upping Iran’s Greco-Roman squad who won six gold medals earlier in the week. 

With their seven gold medals, Japan one-upped the Greco-Roman team champions, Iran. During the Greco-Roam portion of the tournament, nine Iranian wrestlers qualified for the gold-medal bout, but “only” six clutched a gold medal after it was all said and done.

Women's Wrestling Results
Team Scores 
GOLD – Japan (213 points)
SILVER – China (168 points)
BRONZE – India (135 points)
Fourth – Kazakhstan (123 points)
Fifth – Mongolia (113 points) 

The six-time world and Olympic finalist, Riza KAYAALP (TUR). (Photo by Martin Gabor) 

2. Olympic Finalists Show Out at Vehbi Emre & Hamit Kaplan
The fourth and final Ranking Series event of the year, the Vehbi Emre & Hamit Kaplan took place last weekend in Istanbul, Turkey and two Olympic finalists bounced the competition and won gold medals. 

The host nation, Turkey won the team title with four individual champions, which included six-time world and Olympic finalist, Riza KAYAALP (TUR). 

Kayaalp, who coming off winning his eighth European championship outscored his first two opponents 11-0 but was tested in his semifinal and finals match-ups, winning both by a single point. 

In the finals, the three-time world champion outlasted Kiryl HRYSHCHANKA (BLR), 2-1 to win his seventh Vehbi Emre & Hamit Kaplan gold medal. 

Zhan BELENYUK (UKR), the 2015 world champion and Rio Olympic silver medalist, competing in his second tournament of the year also won a gold medal. 

Belenyuk defeated two-time age-level world champion Islam ABBASOV (AZE), 3-1 in the 87kg finals. These two also met in the International Ukrainian Tournament finals, where Belenyuk was also the victor.

Vehbi Emre & Hamit Kaplan Results

Team Scores 
GOLD - Turkey (191 points)
SILVER - Belarus (121 points)
BRONZE - Azerbaijan (121 points)
Fourth - Japan (104 points)
Fifth - Kazahkstan (102 points)

Amin Yavar KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI), 72kg Asian Junior champion. (Photo by Sachiko Hotaka)

3. Iran Finishes Asian Juniors with Eleven Overall Gold Medals 
Iran wrapped up freestyle action at the Asian Junior Championships by winning five gold medals, bringing their overall tournament total to eleven championship performances. 

After the first day of freestyle wrestling, their squad was on par to match their Greco-Roman countryman’s six gold medal performances from earlier this week but only grabbed two golds on the final day to fall one short in the friendly race with their Greco-Roman team. 

Freestyle Results
Freestyle Team Scores 
GOLD - Iran (189 points)
SILVER - India (173 points)
BRONZE - Uzbekistan (128 points)
Fourth - Japan (126 points)
Fifth - Kazahkstan (125 points)

Sachin RATHI (IND) gave India one of their three Asian Junior gold medals. (Photo by Sachiko Hotaka)

4. India Closes Out Asian Junior C'Ships with Pair of Gold Medals After Seven Straight Runner-Up Finishes
India had to wait until the final day of the 2018 Asian Junior Championships to add to Sajan SAJAN's (IND) gold medal, but they finally got the gold medals they were hoping for. In total, ten Indian wrestlers made the championship finals but seven straight wrestlers failed to come out on top. It all came down to Deepak PUNIA (IND) and Sachin RATHI (IND) to carry the country’s flag one more time, and they did so in significant fashion.

RESULTS 

Olympic champion, Taha AKGUL (TUR). (Photo by Martin Gabor) 

5. Yasar Dogu, the Third Freestyle Ranking Series Event Begins This Weekend 
Istanbul, Turkey is set to host the 46th Annual Yasar Dogu International on July 27-29. 

On June 8, United World Wrestling announced that the tournament has been named a Ranking Series event in men’s freestyle wrestling after the South African Open was canceled due to a lack of early sign-ups. 

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media 

1. Big Move Monday!
2. “Taha Akgul will be back to train for 20 days in August. The #1heavyweight in the world. Thankful we can prepare for the World Championships together ????” @snyderman45
3. @frankchamizo92 practising. Отработки Чамизо. ? @nycrtc
4. We’re 92 days away from the #Budapest2018 World Championships which means we get to highlight three-time world and Olympic champion @sadulaev_abdulrashid (RUS). Sadulaev won the 92kg gold medal at the European Championships in Dagestan, Russia earlier this year. #92on92 ‬
5. Olympic?@zhanbeleniuk playing with ?! ?

#WrestleAthens

Iran survives Uzbekistan scare to win Greco title at U17 Worlds

Wednesday, July 30, 2025 - 16:59 By Vinay Siwach

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ATHENS, Greece (July 30) -- Four gold medals were not enough for Uzbekistan as they fell short in what could have been a generational team title in Greco-Roman at the World U17 Championships.

Iran, which won one gold medal out of 10, was crowned team champions as it performed well in placing their wrestlers in the weight classes. It finished with 125 points while Uzbekistan finished seven short at 118 points. Kazakhstan finished third with 113 points.

Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan were not far behind and finished fourth and fifth respectively, tied on 100 points. Both countries had one gold medal each but Kyrgyzstan had two silver medals to Azerbaijan's one to finish ahead of them.

Read More: Uzbekistan closer to Women's Wrestling history in Athens

Iran had eight wrestlers in the medal-bouts and six of them returned with one. Iran finished with one gold, one silver and four bronze medals. Uzbekistan, on the other side, had only those four golds to show. Four of its wrestlers did not contribute points to the team race.

In one head-to-head bout on Wednesday, Abolfazl ZARE (IRI) secured a 7-5 win over Humoyun ERKINOV (UZB) in 60kg bronze-medal bout which proved crucial. A win for Erkinov would have seen Uzbekistan win the title.

Then it was the gold medal of Amirsam MOHAMMADI (IRI) at 92kg which helped Iran jump from fourth place to first. He wrestled Kanstantsin KASYAN (UWW) for the gold medal and began with three stepouts. Kasyan was called passive and put in par terre. Mohammadi turned him twice and won the final 8-0 in 1 minute and 12 seconds.

Uzbekistan's two gold medals came at 51kg and 71kg.

Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB)Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB) won the gold medal at 51kg in Athens. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Asian U17 bronze medalist Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB) added a third Greco gold of the World U17 Championships for Uzbekistan after he defeated Hikmat HAGVERDIYEV (AZE), 4-1, in the 51kg.

Hagverdiyev was about to be called passive and put in par terre but he scored a stepout to avoid that call and lead 1-0. Tursunov answered with a stepout of his own and made 1-1. However, the criteria remained with Hagverdiyev as United World Wrestling is testing a new rule, where in Greco-Roman, if the score is 1-1, the criteria will be with the wrestler who got the first point.

Tursunov, however, got the par terre position in the second period and a 2-1 lead over Hagverdiyev. He defended his lead for the final minute and as the Azerbaijan wrestler tried a throw, he blocked him and landed on top, earning two more points.

Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB)Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) upgraded his bronze from 2024 to gold in 2025. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

At 71kg, Asian U17 champion Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) denied the hosts a gold after he defeated Dimitrios SOULIS (GRE), 3-1, in the final.

Valiev seemed to have taken the burnt from a few tough bouts from Tuesday as he struggled with his attacks against Soulis, who was egged on by vocal home fans.

However, he found enough inside him to turn from par terre and defend from that position in the second period to win the fourth gold medal of the tournament for Uzbekistan.

Ali NAZAROV (AZE)Ali NAZAROV (AZE) scored a 6-1 victory over Amangeldi YSAKBAEV (KGZ) in the 60kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Ali NAZAROV (AZE) showed why gut-wrench is still one of the best techniques to score points in wrestling as he rolled Amangeldi YSAKBAEV (KGZ) two times from par terre using gut wrench and win the world title at 60kg.

He later defended his par terre position, winning the final 6-1 and handing Azerbaijan the first gold medal for the World U17 Championships in Athens.

An action-packed match kicked off the medal bouts with Kuanyshbek ZHANGAZHOL (KAZ) and Nurkerim KUMARBEKOV (KGZ) did not hold back their attacks as soon as the final began.

Zhangazhol did not waste much time to get going in the final against Kumarbekov as he used an arm throw to score the first four points but it was removed after he was warned for using his leg.

But he scored a takedown for a 2-0 and then hit a front headlock throw to make it 6-0. Kumarbekov answered with a four-pointer as well and both wrestlers used arm-rolls in the same sequence to score points. When they broke off at the break, Zhangazhol led 8-6.

After the blazing first half, both wrestlers had a subdued second and no more points were scored despite desperate attempts from Kumarbekov. Zhangazhol celebrated his win a split-second early but there was no harm done.

Kyrgyzstan challenged for fleeing in the final five seconds and on review, Zhangazhol was it with a caution for defensive foul, it only got Kumarbekov a point, making Zhangazhol's winning score 8-7.

RESULTS

45kg
GOLD: Kuanyshbek ZHANGAZHOL (KAZ) df. Nurkerim KUMARBEKOV (KGZ), 9-6

BRONZE: Abdurrahman HUSEYNLI (AZE) df. Tymur MAHARRAMOV (UKR), 9-0
BRONZE: Vadim TARELUNGA (MDA) vs. Benyamin KHEZLI (IRI), 8-3

51kg
GOLD: Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB) df. Hikmat HAGVERDIYEV (AZE), 4-1

BRONZE: Marat ATSHEMYAN (ARM) df. Polat KARADENIZ (TUR), 11-0
BRONZE: Abu Bakar SAGA (NOR) df. Islam KURBANOV (KGZ), 5-3

60kg
GOLD: Ali NAZAROV (AZE) df. Amangeldi YSAKBAEV (KGZ), 6-1

BRONZE: Abolfazl ZARE (IRI) df. Humoyun ERKINOV (UZB), 7-5
BRONZE: Zaven MEZHLUMYAN (ARM) df. Denys SEREDIN (UKR), 5-2

71kg
GOLD: Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) df. Dimitrios SOULIS (GRE), 3-1

BRONZE: Hossein KAZEMI (IRI) df. Yusif AHMADLI (AZE), 4-3
BRONZE: Marlen MEIRBEKULY (KAZ) df. Imre KOLOMPAR (HUN), 7-1

92kg
GOLD: Amirsam MOHAMMADI (IRI) df. Kanstantsin KASYAN (UWW), 8-0

BRONZE: Ahmet UZUN (TUR) df. Said PASHAYEV (AZE), 5-0
BRONZE: David CALKINS (USA) df. Ionut PATRU (ROU), 4-0