#wrestlebishkek

Asian Championships 2024 Entry List

By United World Wrestling Press

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (April 3) -- The Asian Championships will return to Bishkek after six years with 366 wrestlers scheduled to compete at the April 11-16 event in the Kyrgyzstan capital.

Across the 30 weight classes, 13 returning champions are entered with only one -- Ibragim MAGOMADOV (KAZ) -- moving from 72kg to 77kg in Greco-Roman. Freestyle has four returning championships, Women's Wrestling has two and Greco-Roman has seven.

Japan will send a strong team to the Asian Championships led by Yui SUSAKI (JPN). Four of the six wrestlers for Japan's Paris Olympics team are set to compete in women's wrestling.

For the hosts, world champions Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) and Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) will look to win gold medals in front of the home crowd. Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ) is also entered at 76kg.

World champion and defending Asian champion Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) will be wrestling at 97kg and will look to earn his second gold medal at the Asian Championships.

This tournament will also mark the first competition with Indian wrestlers competing under the country's name and flag after United World Wrestling lifted the suspension of the Wrestling Federation of India last month.

Freestyle

57kg
Weiyu LI (CHN)
UDIT (IND)
Ebrahim KHARI (IRI)
Khattab AL ANI (IRQ)
Kento YUMIYA (JPN)
Meirambek KARTBAY (KAZ)
Almaz SMANBEKOV (KGZ)
Changjun PARK (KOR)
Zanabazar ZANDANBUD (MGL)
Muhammad BILAL (PAK)
Kum Hyok KIM (PRK)
Gayan KATHURANGANA (SRI)
Aiaal BELOLYUBSKII (TJK)
Kabe MATJANOV (TKM)
Nodirbek JUMANAZAROV (UZB)

61kg
Zhipeng JIANG (CHN)
Akash DAHIYA (IND)
Reza ATRI (IRI)
Kaisei TANABE (JPN)
Assyl AITAKYN (KAZ)
Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ)
Sanghyeon SON (KOR)
Enkhbold ENKHBAT (MGL)
Alvin LOBREGUITO (PHI)
Ali ABURUMAILA (PLE)
Kum Chol RI (PRK)
Tharindu CHANDRASEKARA (SRI)
Dzhamshed SHARIFOV (TJK)
Amir HAMAYUN (TKM)
Sardor RUZIMOV (UZB)
Ibrahim GUZAN (YEM)

65kg
Baowen WEI (CHN)
ROHIT (IND)
Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI)
Mohammed KAREEM (IRQ)
Masanosuke ONO (JPN)
Sanzhar MUKHTAR (KAZ)
Ulukbek ZHOLDOSHBEKOV (KGZ)
Seonho YOO (KOR)
Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL)
Muhammad ABDULLAH (PAK)
Abdullah ASSAF (PLE)
Hyon Song HAN (PRK)
Divoshan CHARLES FERNANDO (SRI)
Kamol BEGAKOV (TJK)
Jelaletdin SEYIDOV (TKM)
Abbos RAKHMONOV (UZB)

70kg
Shijian ZHOU (CHN)
ABHIMANYOU (IND)
Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI)
Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN)
Meirzhan ASHIROV (KAZ)
Alibek OSMONOV (KGZ)
Seungchul LEE (KOR)
Chinzorig TSERMAA (MGL)
Fierre AFAN (PHI)
Yan LEE (SGP)
Mustafo AKHMEDOV (TJK)
Perman HOMMADOV (TKM)
Begijon KULDASHEV (UZB)

74kg
Yi LI (CHN)
YASH (IND)
Hossein ABOUZARIPASHKOLAEI (IRI)
Ali AL OBAIDI (IRQ)
Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Syrbaz TALGAT (KAZ)
Kanat KERIMBEKOV (KGZ)
Sangho HAN (KOR)
Batbayar BATSUKH (MGL)
Muhammad ULLAH (PAK)
Yong Nam SO (PRK)
Mark PETER (SGP)
Madushanka LAKMAL (SRI)
Viktor RASSADIN (TJK)
Alp BEGENJOV (TKM)
Zafarbek OTAKHONOV (UZB)

79kg
Khidir SAIPUDINOV (BRN)
Nan CAO (CHN)
Parvinder SINGH (IND)
Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI)
Erzo ISAKOV (JOR)
Ryunosuke KAMIYA (JPN)
Azamat OMURZHANOV (KAZ)
Adilet MARATBAEV (KGZ)
Bumgue SEO (KOR)
Byambadorj ENKHBAYAR (MGL)
Muhammad TAHIR (PAK)
Magomet EVLOEV (TJK)
Gurbanmyrat OVEZBERDIYEV (TKM)
Asomiddin HASANOV (UZB)

86kg
Vuthy HENG (CAM)
Peilong LI (CHN)
Sandeep MANN (IND)
Hadi VAFAEIPOUR (IRI)
Mustafa AL OBAIDI (IRQ)
Tatsuya SHIRAI (JPN)
Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ)
Atai IZABEKOV (KGZ)
Gyeongyeon LEE (KOR)
Batbilguun NAADAMBAT (MGL)
Haider BUTT (PAK)
Dovletmyrat ORAZGYLYJOV (TKM)
Javrail SHAPIEV (UZB)

92kg
Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN)
Suhe GANG (CHN)
VINAY (IND)
Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI)
Issa AL OBAIDI (IRQ)
Satoshi MIURA (JPN)
Adilet DAVLUMBAYEV (KAZ)
Nurtilek KARYPBAEV (KGZ)
Jinmyeong KIM (KOR)
Batzul DAMJIN (MGL)
Orazmuhammet HOJALYYEV (TKM)
Sherzod POYONOV (UZB)

97kg
Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN)
Tuerxunbieke MUHEITE (CHN)
VICKY (IND)
Mohammadhossein MOHAMMADIAN (IRI)
Hibiki ITO (JPN)
Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ)
Andrey ARONOV (KGZ)
Jeongwoo PARK (KOR)
Batzul ULZIISAIKHAN (MGL)
Muhammad INAM (PAK)
Badzha KHUTABA (SYR)
Shatlyk HEMELYAYEV (TKM)
Makhsud VEYSALOV (UZB)

125kg
Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN)
BUHEEERDUN (CHN)
Anirudh KUMAR (IND)
Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI)
Koki YAMAMOTO (JPN)
Abylay SOVET (KAZ)
Aiaal LAZAREV (KGZ)
Hyunsu HAN (KOR)
Odgerel BATKHISHIG (MGL)
Zaman ANWAR (PAK)
Omar SAREM (SYR)
Zyyamuhammet SAPAROV (TKM)
Sardorbek KHOLMATOV (UZB)

Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ)Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) and Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) will clash for the third time with the Kyrgyz leading the head-to-head 2-0. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Women’s Wrestling

50kg
Samnang DIT (CAM)
Ziqi FENG (CHN)
Shivani PAWAR (IND)
Yui SUSAKI (JPN)
Irina ZHANIBEKOVA BORISSOVA (KAZ)
Miseon KWON (KOR)
Otgonjargal DOLGORJAV (MGL)
Munkhgerel MUNKHBAT (MGL)
Jiah PINGOT (PHI)
Yong Ok HWANG (PRK)
Nipuni WASANA (SRI)
Ciao Yun LI (TPE)
Jasmina IMMAEVA (UZB)
Thi NGUYEN (VIE)

53kg
Chun LEI (CHN)
ANJU (IND)
Nagisa HARADA (JPN)
Ayazhan MARKASHEVA (KAZ)
Aizhan SABYRBEK KYZY (KGZ)
Yeji MIN (KOR)
Otgontuya CHINBOLD (MGL)
Aliah GAVALEZ (PHI)
Ji Hyang KIM (PRK)
Nethmi AHINSA (SRI)
Vatansulton SHAKARSHOEVA (TJK)
Lachyn ANNAMURADOVA (TKM)
Yi Jing CHEN (TPE)
Dilshoda MATNAZAROVA (UZB)
Thi NGUYEN (VIE)

55kg
Min ZHANG (CHN)
TAMANNA (IND)
Moe KIYOOKA (JPN)
Zulfiya YAKHYAROVA (KAZ)
Aruuke KADYRBEK KYZY (KGZ)
Jungeun LEE (KOR)
Dulguun MUNKHBOLD BOLORMAA (MGL)
Kyong OH (PRK)
Madina ARIPOVA (TKM)
Madina USMONJONOVA (UZB)

57kg
Yongxin FENG (CHN)
SARITA (IND)
Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN)
Laura ALMAGANBETOVA (KAZ)
Kalmira BILIMBEKOVA (KGZ)
Bogyeong KIM (KOR)
Gantuya ENKHBAT (MGL)
Hyon Ju YUN (PRK)
Ulmeken ESENBAEVA (UZB)

59kg
Qi ZHANG (CHN)
Pushpa YADAV (IND)
Risako KINJO (JPN)
Diana KAYUMOVA (KAZ)
Tancholpon KYBALBEKOVA (KGZ)
Eunsu JEONG (KOR)
Anudari BATKHUYAG (MGL)
Dilfuza AIMBETOVA (UZB)

62kg
LILI (CHN)
MANISHA (IND)
Sakura MOTOKI (JPN)
Tynys DUBEK (KAZ)
Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ)
Subeen JO (KOR)
Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL)
Arian CARPIO (PHI)
Su Gyong CHOE (PRK)
Miyasar KUSHMURATOVA (UZB)

65kg
Yaru WU (CHN)
ANTIM (IND)
Mahiro YOSHITAKE (JPN)
Irina KAZYULINA (KAZ)
Dilnaz SAZANOVA (KGZ)
Soobin KIM (KOR)
Enkhjin TUVSHINJARGAL (MGL)
Naziya JORAYEVA (TKM)
Dinora RUSTAMOVA (UZB)

68kg
Zelu LI (CHN)
RADHIKA (IND)
Nonoka OZAKI (JPN)
Albina KAIRGELDINOVA (KAZ)
Gulnura TASHTANBEKOVA (KGZ)
Hyeonyeong PARK (KOR)
Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (MGL)
Po Gyong RI (PRK)
Ariukhan JUMABAEVA (UZB)

72kg
Qian JIANG (CHN)
HARSHITA (IND)
Sumire NIIKURA (JPN)
Anastassiya PANASSOVICH (KAZ)
Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ)
Jiseon LEE (KOR)
Bolortungalag ZORIGT (MGL)
Oguljan EGEMBERDIYEVA (TKM)
Ozoda ZARIPBOEVA (UZB)

76kg
Yuanyuan HUANG (CHN)
PRIYA (IND)
Yasuha MATSUYUKI (JPN)
Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ)
Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
Seoyeon JEONG (KOR)
Zagardulam NAIGALSUREN (MGL)
Hui Tsz CHANG (TPE)
Valentina TORENIYAZOVA (UZB)

Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI)World champion Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) will look to defend his 130kg Greco-Roman title. (Photo: UWW / Sachiko Hotaka)

Greco-Roman

55kg
HUSIYUETU (CHN)
Arjun HALAKURKI (IND)
Poya DAD MARZ (IRI)
Sajjad ALBIDHAN (IRQ)
Kagetora OKAMOTO (JPN)
Nurzat KABDYRAKHIMOV (KAZ)
Ulan MURATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Taemin KIM (KOR)
Yu Chol RO (PRK)
Alexander CUEVAS (SGP)
Abduvali RAHIMBAYEV (TKM)
Jasurbek ORTIKBOEV (UZB)

60kg
Liguo CAO (CHN)
SUPARMANTO (INA)
PRAVESH (IND)
Amirreza DEHBOZORGI (IRI)
Ali ALBIDHAN (IRQ)
Kaito INABA (JPN)
Galym KABDUNASSAROV (KAZ)
Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ)
Seunghak KIM (KOR)
Hassan ALHARTHI (KSA)
Baljinnyam TSEVEENRAVDAN (MGL)
Mark OLIVEROS (PHI)
Hyok SONG (PRK)
Aslamdzhon AZIZOV (TJK)
Umit DURDYYEV (TKM)
Jui Chi HUANG (TPE)
Ilkhom BAKHROMOV (UZB)

63kg
Haodong TAN (CHN)
UMESH (IND)
Iman MOHAMMADI (IRI)
Karrar ALBIDHAN (IRQ)
Ayata SUZUKI (JPN)
Yerzhet ZHARLYKASSYN (KAZ)
Dastan KADYROV (KGZ)
Dokyung JUNG (KOR)
Rayan B HAWSAWI (KSA)
Chan KIM (PRK)
Walid HINDI (QAT)
Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB)

67kg
Lei LI (CHN)
Muhammad ALIANSYAH (INA)
Vinayak PATIL (IND)
Saeid ESMAEILI LEIVESI (IRI)
HARUTO YABE (JPN)
Almatbek AMANBEK (KAZ)
Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ)
Hanjae CHUNG (KOR)
Saud ALSUBAIE (KSA)
Ganbayar NAMSRAI (MGL)
Jason BAUCAS (PHI)
Man Gwang SON (PRK)
Firuz MIRZORAJABOV (TJK)
Rovshen ATDAYEV (TKM)
Shermukhammad SHARIBJANOV (UZB)

72kg
Ji LENG (CHN)
Ankit GULIA (IND)
Mohammadreza ROSTAMI (IRI)
Shingo HARADA (JPN)
Nikolay KHAPKO (KAZ)
Adilkhan NURLANBEKOV (KGZ)
Jiyeon LEE (KOR)
Ahmed BARAHMAH (KSA)
Mohamad ALOBEID (SYR)
Begmyrat NOBATOV (TKM)
Abdullo ALIEV (UZB)

77kg
Tongyu CHEN (CHN)
SAJAN (IND)
Amir Ali ABDI (IRI)
Ali ALABODA (IRQ)
Nao KUSAKA (JPN)
Ibragim MAGOMADOV (KAZ)
Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ)
Yeonghun NOH (KOR)
Temuulen ENKHTUYA (MGL)
Gadiel MISSO (SGP)
Bazargeldi EZIMOV (TKM)
Lai Hsing YAO (TPE)
Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB)

82kg
Rohit DAHIYA (IND)
Rasoul GARMSIRI (IRI)
Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN)
Yevgeniy POLIVADOV (KAZ)
Bekzat ORUNKUL UULU (KGZ)
Sejin YANG (KOR)
Mukhammadkodir RASULOV (UZB)

87kg
Chengwu WANG (CHN)
AJAY (IND)
Naser ALIZADEH (IRI)
Sultan EID (JOR)
Masato SUMI (JPN)
Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ)
Atabek AZISBEKOV (KGZ)
Seunghwan LEE (KOR)
Turbold GANBOLD (MGL)
Aryan BIN AZMAN (SGP)
Sukhrob ABDULKHAEV (TJK)
Yhlas ABDURAZAKOV (TKM)
Rahimjon UZOKOV (UZB)

97kg
Houzhi HAO (CHN)
Narinder CHEEMA (IND)
Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI)
Masayuki AMANO (JPN)
Iussuf MATSIYEV (KAZ)
Beksultan MAKHMUDOV (KGZ)
Jeongyul KWON (KOR)
Badamdorj BALTMUNKH (MGL)
Mirzoamin SAFAROV (TJK)
Amanberdi AGAMAMMEDOV (TKM)
Abdikodir JALILOV (UZB)

130kg
Lingzhe MENG (CHN)
Mehar SINGH (IND
Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI)
Ali AL SHARUEE (IRQ)
Keita KOBAYASHI (JPN)
Mansur SHADUKAYEV (KAZ)
Erlan MANATBEKOV (KGZ)
Minseok KIM (KOR)
Ganzolboo BUYANTOGTOKH (MGL)
Eduard BABENOSHEV (TJK)
Aybegshazada KURRAYEV (TKM)
Islomjon RAKHMATOV (UZB)

#JapanWrestling

Paris Olympic Champ Sakurai Retires at Age 24

By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (April 4) -- Having never really regained the motivation that led her to achieve her ultimate goal of an Olympic gold, Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN) has decided to retire at the tender age of 24.

Sakurai, the women’s 57kg champion at the Paris Olympics, has announced that she will hang up her singlet and begin a second career nurturing a new generation of wrestlers and serving as a goodwill ambassador of sports for her native Kochi Prefecture in western Japan.

“After 21 continuous years, I feel I have reached the cutoff point of my wrestling career, so I have decided to retire,” Sakurai said at a press conference Friday at the Kochi Prefecture government office.

“I gave everything I had for the Olympics, and I was able to experience the feeling of achievement and the ultimate joy. It's difficult to win the Olympics without determination. I couldn't get back to the mindset I had before Paris. That is the biggest reason [for retiring].”

Known for her steely aggressiveness belying a quiet demeanor, and a wicked use of a 2-on-1 arm bar, Sakurai prefaced her triumph in Paris by winning three consecutive world titles, at 55kg in 2021 and back-to-back golds at 57kg in 2022 and 2023.

A U17 world champion in 2016, she won golds at the Asian Championships and Asian Games in 2022 and 2023, respectively, but suffered the second of just two career international losses at the 2024 Asian Championships, where she fell to Yongxian FENG (CHN) in the final.

She bounced back five months later for her crowning achievement in Paris, where she defeated 2016 Rio Olympic champion Helen MAROULIS (USA) 10-4 in the semifinals, then took the gold with a 6-0 victory over Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) in a rematch of the 2023 world final.

Making the win in Paris even more special was the fact that not only did Sakurai strike gold, but so did another Japanese wrestler who started the sport together with her at the kids wrestling club in Kochi run by her father.

Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN), the freestyle 65kg champion in his Olympic debut, and Sakurai became the toast of Kochi, a rural prefecture fronting the Pacific on the island of Shikoku. They were paraded through the streets of the prefectural capital of Kochi City and hailed as heroes.

Like almost all of Japan’s medalists in Paris, the two took time off from the sport to run the gauntlet of TV interviews and variety shows, and just chill out in general. Sakurai, who returned to Kochi and started graduate studies in sport sciences at Kochi University, was particularly slow in returning to the mat.

In what would prove to be her first – and last – competition after Paris, she won the 57kg title at the second-tier Japan Women’s Open in October 2025, ostensibly to qualify for the Emperor’s Cup All-Japan Championships the following December. That would be the starting point for domestic qualifying for major global tournaments.

But Sakurai never made it to the Emperor’s Cup, and has now fully turned the corner on a new career.

“Over the past year, this decision was made after talking to many people, fretting about it, and thinking things through,” she said.

Sakurai said that as an extension of her father’s Kochi Wrestling Club, she wants to run a series of clinics outside of the city, mainly in her hometown of Konan just to the east of Kochi, to expose more children to wrestling and help it grow.

“Aside from wrestling, I'm learning so many things in graduate school right now, so I want to acquire a wide range of knowledge so that I can give back to Kochi Prefecture properly,” Sakurai said. “I think there will be various problems when I put things into practice, so I want to acquire solid knowledge so that I can solve those problems.”

Fans at this week’s Asian Championships in Bishkek will see another product of the Kochi Wrestling Club in action in Moe KIYOOKA (JPN), Kotaro’s younger sister and a former world champion who will be looking to add the 53kg gold to the one she won at 55kg in 2024. She and Sakurai were also teammates at Ikuei University.

And the name Sakurai might soon be appearing on the world stage again. Her younger sister, Tsukino SAKURAI (JPN), won the Asian U15 title last year.