#WrestleBelgrade

Aitmukhan: From a volunteer at World Championships 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."

#WrestleParis

Paris 2024 Wrestling Day 3 Preview: GR 67kg and 87kg; WW 53kg

Wednesday, July 24, 2024 - 09:49 By Eric Olanowski

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PARIS, France (July 24) --- Two-thirds of the returning Greco-Roman Olympic champions -- Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) and Luis ORTA (CUB) -- along with the wrestler holding the world's longest win streak among active wrestlers, will compete on the third day in Paris 2024 when GR 67kg and 87kg and WW 53kg takes center stage at Champ de Mars Arena.

Beleniuk is a two-time Olympic medalist, having won gold in Tokyo and silver in Rio. The 33-year-old is on a mission to make history in Paris and become Ukraine's first-ever two-time Olympic champ. Before Beleniuk's win at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Ukraine was 0-3 in Olympic finals and were still searching for someone to accompany the 1996 Atlanta Games 90kg gold medalist Vyatsheslav OLEYNIK (UKR) in the history books.

PARIS 2024 SCHEDULE | PARIS 2024 NEWS

Orta moved up from his Tokyo Olympic weight of 60kg to 67kg and is on a quest to join Filiberto ASCUY and Mijain LOPEZ as Cuba's only multiple-time Olympic champs.

In women's wrestling, Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) will look to extend her world-best 130-match win streak against the 53kg field.

Zhan BELENIUK (UKR)Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) won the gold medal at 87kg in Tokyo. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Martin Gabor)

GR 87kg: Beleniuk up against packed field

It's not often that the reigning Olympic champion heads into a competition as an underdog, but that's the case when five world champs are in one bracket. Besides Ukraine's reigning Olympic champion Beleniuk, the other world title holders in 87kg include David LOSONCZI (HUN), Ali CENGIZ (TUR), Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) and Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE).

Beleniuk will have to overcome dark horses Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB), Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) and Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN) to become Ukraine's first-ever two-time Olympic gold medalist.

Cengiz won the outright world title in Belgrade, beating Beleniuk and Losonczi. However, he's since taken a step back to reality, going 5-3 in his last two competitions. Out of the three losses he's taken this season, two came against wrestlers he could face in Paris -- Komarov and Losonczi.

Cengiz lost to Komarov in the European finals before falling to Losonczi at the Hungarian Ranking Series event. Losonczi, the other half of the 2023 87kg world champions, followed a similar path as Cengiz during the first few months of the 2024 season.

After ending 2023 on a 14-match win streak, Losonczi lost his first match of the season to Alan OSTAEV (AIN) at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series event. The 23-year-old Hungarian rebounded at the Hungarian Ranking Series event, beating Olympians Cengiz and Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ) before dropping out his of his finals match against Semen NOVIKOV (BUL).

Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE)Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) will be hoping to add a second Olympic medal to his resume. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Huseynov, a world champion in 2021 and '23, saved Azerbaijan's Paris hopes at the last moment, replacing No. 6 Islam ABBASOV (AZE) at 87kg for the final Olympic Qualifier. 

The Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist at 77kg, bumped up to 82kg, where he remained for the last three seasons, winning two world titles and a European gold. But at 36, Huseynov will return to Azerbaijan's lineup for one final run at an Olympic title.

With Huseynov being new to the category, he remains the question mark of the weight. Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI) and Gobadze have wrestled the Azeri before with Huseynov beating Mohamadipiani in last year's World Championships final and he defeated Gobadze to qualify Azerbaijan for Paris 2024.

Lasha GOBADZE (GEO)Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) will be one of the darkhorses at 87kg in Paris. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Gobadze, the 2019 world champion, was a late addition to the entry list. He missed out on punching Georgia's ticket through the qualification competitions but earned an allocation after the Neutral Athletes dropped out. Gobadze has the talent to beat anyone in the world. In the last few years, since leaping 82kg to 87kg, the Georgian has beaten many top-tier guys who will also be at the Games. His previous wins include Cengiz and Bisultanov. On the other hand, he recently lost to Huseynov and Cengiz.

Komarov won the European Championships this year with wins over Beleniuk, Abbasov and Cengiz. He will be the biggest threat to make a run for the gold medal.

GR 67kg: New weight, old habits for Orta

Luis Orta has been a man on a mission since his disappointing seventh-place finish at the 2022 World Championships. He's turned his fortunes around, positioning himself to become Cuba's third-ever two-time Olympic champ. Since that blunder in Belgrade, Orta has gone 29-2, winning gold medals at the World Championships, Pan-Am Championships, Pan-Am Games, Central American and Caribbean Games and Hungarian Ranking Series. More importantly, his last two losses came at the hands of HUSIYUETU (CHN), who missed out on making the Olympic Games.

Of the 16 wrestlers in the field, Orta has at least one win over half of the entries. He's already beaten Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE), Andres MONTANO (ECU), Amantur ISMAILOV (KGZ), Mate NEMES (SRB), Souleymen NASR (TUN), Nestor ALMANZA (CHI), Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) and Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI).

Orta has already bested Nemes and Jafarov, his most credentialed challengers. He defeated Jafarov twice last season and beat 2022 world champion Nemes in the quarterfinal of the 2023 World Championships.

Parviz NASIBOV (UKR)Parviz NASIBOV (UKR) is the returning silver medalist at 67kg.(Photo: United World Wrestling / Dogukan Karadag)

He is yet to face two major threats: Olympic medalists Parviz NASIBOV (UKR) and Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY). After seeing what the Ukrainian has been able to do over the last few years, Orta will be more threatened by Nasibov than Elsayed. 

Nasibov, the Tokyo runner-up, has victories over Olympian Jafarov, Nemes, Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM), and Mamadassa SYLLA (FRA) this season alone. Meanwhile, Elsayed has struggled since his impressive Tokyo bronze-medal run, going 7-4 in non-African competitions.

Iran's Esmaeili is replacing Tokyo Olympic champion Mohammedreza GERAEI (IRI) after winning the playoff. He almost beat Orta in Budapest and has a win over Sogabe. Iran will hope that the youngster can make a surprise run to gold as Geraei did in Tokyo.

 

WW 53kg: Fujinami vs the rest

When it comes to betting favorites in the 53kg Paris field, oddsmakers have singled out Akari Fujinami as the safest wrestler to put money on. 

Fujinami, a 20-year-old phenom, has been unstoppable up to this point in her career. She's won 130 consecutive matches heading into Paris -- including two golds at the World Championships, golds at the Asian Championships and Asian Games, and international and domestic competitions.

Akari FUJINAMI (JPN)Akari FUJINAMI (JPN), blue, pinned Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) at the 2023 World Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

To fully understand Fujinami's dominance, just look at her 2023 season. In her 21 matches last season at the World Championships, Asian Championships, Asian Games, Zagreb Open Ranking Series and Dan Kolov, Fujinami outscored her opponents 206-7 and finished 21/21 matches by technical superiority or via fall. Furthermore, 10 of those technical superiority wins came against wrestlers with at least one world medal to their name.

The only wrestler to score a point on Fujinami last season was Lucia YEPEZ (ECU). Fujinami gave up an early 5-0 lead but scored 14 consecutive points before securing a second-period fall.

Other threats to Fujinami include Qianyu PANG (CHN), Dominique PARRISH (USA), ANTIM (IND), and Jonna MALMGREN (SWE). Pang, Malmgren, and Antim have already faced Fujinami, while a matchup between Parrish and Fujinami would be a first.

Qianyu PANG (CHN)Qianyu PANG (CHN) is the returning silver medalist at 53kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Pang, an Olympic finalist in Tokyo, last faced Fujinami at the Asian Games, where the Japanese star won 10-0. Antim lost to Fujinami at the Asian Championships (10-0) and was pinned at the Asian Games. Malmgren and Fujinami met at the 2018 U17 World Championships, where Fujinami won 14-4.

Parrish was the 53kg world champion the year Fujinami withdrew from the World Championships. Fans and critics have long debated Parrish's world title without Fujinami's presence, leaving the American eager to face the young Japanese star.

The third day of wrestling at Paris 2024 starts on August 7. Follow @unitedworldwrestling on all social channels to stay updated on what's happening in Paris.