#wrestlebishkek

Asian Championships 2026 Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (March 20) -- The Asian Championships will return to Bishkek, a city that hosted the competition in 2018 and 2024. Close to 350 wrestlers are competing for the 30 gold medals on offer.

The event, which will follow a two-day format for the first time, will begin April 6 with Greco-Roman, followed by Women's Wrestling and then Freestyle.

Click here for the Asian Championships 2026 Wrestling Schedule

Note: The entries are subject to change 72 hours before the draws of the respective styles. For latest entries, refer to Asian Championships 2026.

Freestyle

57kg
Liguo CAO (CHN)
ANKUSH (IND)
Milad VALIZADEH (IRI)
Husein ALBEHADILALBORS (IRQ)
Fuga SASAKI (JPN)
Merey BAZARBAYEV (KAZ)
Abdymalik KARACHOV (KGZ)
Sunggwon KIM (KOR)
Munkh Erdene BATKHUYAG (MGL)
Gayan MUDIYANSELAGE (SRI)
Aiaal BELOLYUBSKII (TJK)
Nodirbek JUMANAZAROV (UZB)
Wessem ALYAMANI (YEM)

61kg
Wanhao ZOU (CHN)
AMAN (IND)
Ahmad JAVAN (IRI)
Toshihiro HASEGAWA (JPN)
Assyl AITAKYN (KAZ)
Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ)
Changsu KIM (KOR)
Batnasan GANKHULEG (MGL)
Kwang Myong KIM (PRK)
Azatberdi ASHYRGULYYEV (TKM)
Gulomjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)

65kg
Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN)
Xuexian OU (CHN)
SUJEET (IND)
Peyman NEMATI (IRI)
Takara SUDA (JPN)
Adi SERIKULY (KAZ)
Rustamzhan KAKHAROV (KGZ)
Junsik YUN (KOR)
Zeneemeder BYAMBASUREN (MGL)
Divoshan FERNANDO (SRI)
Abdulmazhid KUDIEV (TJK)
Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB)

70kg
Shuang CHEN (CHN)
ABHIMANYOU (IND)
Sina KHALILI (IRI)
Taishi NARIKUNI (JPN)
Sanzhar DOSZHANOV (KAZ)
Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ)
Seonho YOO (KOR)
Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL)
Viktor RASSADIN (TJK)
Shakhzodbek YARASHEV (UZB)

74kg
Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN)
BATUQINGGELE (CHN)
JAIDEEP (IND)
Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI)
Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN)
Yernur NURGAZY (KAZ)
Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ)
Daegil HAN (KOR)
Sumiyabazar ZANDANBUD (MGL)
Suresh CHUNARA (NEP)
Anil PELI GEDARAA (SRI)
Mustafo AKHMEDOV (TJK)
Vatan ANNAORAZOV (TKM)
Begijon KULDASHEV (UZB)
Abdulkareem AL RABEDHI (YEM)

79kg
Feng LU (CHN)
Sandeep Singh MANN (IND)
Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI)
Erzo ISAKOV (JOR)
Keyvan GHAREHDAGHI (JPN)
Daulet YERGESH (KAZ)
Adilet MARATBAEV (KGZ)
Sungho LEE (KOR)
Suldkhuu OLONBAYAR (MGL)
Somonjon IKROMOV (TJK)
Soltan BEGENJOV (TKM)
Razambek JAMALOV (UZB)

86kg
Khidir SAIPUDINOV (BRN)
Suhe GANG (CHN)
Mukul DAHIYA (IND)
Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI)
Yudai TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ)
Malik SHAVAEV (KGZ)
Gyeongyeon LEE (KOR)
Byambadorj BAT ERDENE (MGL)
Song Gang JI (PRK)
Weng CHOW (SGP)
Madushanka MUDIYANSELAGE (SRI)
Bakhodur KODIROV (TJK)
Alp Arslan BEGENJOV (TKM)
Bobur ISLOMOV (UZB)

92kg
Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN)
Hade AYIDUSI (CHN)
Punit KUMAR (IND)
Mobin AZIMI (IRI)
Takashi ISHIGURO (JPN)
Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ)
Iakov CHAPLIN (KGZ)
Seohyun CHA (KOR)
Bat Erdene BYAMBASUREN (MGL)
Ismail KARTOEV (TJK)
Dovletgeldi MYRADOV (TKM)
Sadirdin DAMINJONOV (UZB)

97kg
Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN)
Awusayiman HABILA (CHN)
VICKY (IND)
Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI)
Arash YOSHIDA (JPN)
Bekzat URKIMBAY (KAZ)
Kanybek ABDULKHAIROV (KGZ)
Juhwan SEO (KOR)
Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL)
Triloki YADAV (NEP)
Rahmonjon MAHMADBEKOV (TJK)
Shatlyk HEMELYAYEV (TKM)
Sherzod POYONOV (UZB)

125kg
Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN)
BUHEEERDUN (CHN)
DINESH (IND)
Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI)
Taiki YAMAMOTO (JPN)
Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ)
Arslanbek TURDUBEKOV (KGZ)
Gwanuk KIM (KOR)
Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL)
Zyyamuhammet SAPAROV (TKM)
Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB)

Yui SUSAKI (JPN)Yui SUSAKI (JPN) will be wrestling at 50kg for the Asian Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Ziqi FENG (CHN)
NEELAM (IND)
Yui SUSAKI (JPN)
Maral TANGIRBERGENOVA (KAZ)
Miran CHEON (KOR)
Munkhnar BYAMBASUREN (MGL)
Aliah Rose GAVALEZ (PHI)
Son Hyang KIM (PRK)
Nipuni HEWA PEDIGE (SRI)
Yi Hui LIN (TPE)
Aktenge KEUNIMJAEVA (UZB)
Ngoc Linh DO (VIE)

53kg
Jin ZHANG (CHN)
MEENAKSHI (IND)
Moe KIYOOKA (JPN)
Zeinep BAYANOVA (KAZ)
Aziza KELDIBEKOVA (KGZ)
Seoyoung PARK (KOR)
Tsovoo GANKHUYAG (MGL)
Pabasara GAMAGE (SRI)
Vatansulton SHAKARSHOEVA (TJK)
Ya Hsin CHEN (TPE)
Sakibjamal ESBOSYNOVA (UZB)
Thi My Linh NGUYEN (VIE)

55kg
Yuxuan LI (CHN)
Hansika LAMBA (IND)
Sowaka UCHIDA (JPN)
Shugyla OMIRBEK (KAZ)
Aruuke KADYRBEK KYZY (KGZ)
Jeongbin OH (KOR)
Ariunzaya ODONCHIMEG (MGL)
Dilshoda MATNAZAROVA (UZB)

57kg
Kexin HONG (CHN)
MANISHA (IND)
Sara NATAMI (JPN)
Nilufar RAIMOVA (KAZ)
Tancholpon KYBALBEKOVA (KGZ)
Youngjin KWON (KOR)
Khulan BATKHUYAG (MGL)
Danielle LIM (SGP)
Nethmi PORUTHOTAGE (SRI)
Pei Ying LIAO (TPE)
Laylokhon SOBIROVA (UZB)
Thi My Trang NGUYEN (VIE)

59kg
Mengyu XIE (CHN)
NEHA (IND)
Sena NAGAMOTO (JPN)
Viktoriia KHUSAINOVA (KAZ)
Sezim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
Hyebin AHN (KOR)
Bolortuya KHURELKHUU (MGL)
Ulmeken ESENBAEVA (UZB)

62kg
Qi ZHANG (CHN)
MANSI (IND)
Balqis TAAIBIN (JOR)
Nonoka OZAKI (JPN)
Tynys DUBEK (KAZ)
Dilnaz SAZANOVA (KGZ)
Subeen JO (KOR)
Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL)
Hyon Gyong MUN (PRK)
Hsin Ping PAI (TPE)
Nigina SABIROVA (UZB)

65kg
LILI (CHN)
MONIKA (IND)
Tala ABUKHEIT (JOR)
Nana IKEHATA (JPN)
Aizhan SUIDUOVA (KAZ)
Gulnura TASHTANBEKOVA (KGZ)
Hanbit LEE (KOR)
Narkhajid NYAMSUREN (MGL)
Firuza ESENBAEVA (UZB)

68kg
Zelu LI (CHN)
Mansi LATHER (IND)
Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN)
Yelena SHALYGINA (KAZ)
Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
Hyeonyeong PARK (KOR)
Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (MGL)
Sheng Fang CAI (TPE)
Svetlana OKNAZAROVA (UZB)
Thi Linh DANG (VIE)

72kg
Jia LONG (CHN)
HARSHITA (IND)
Mahiro YOSHITAKE (JPN)
Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ)
Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ)
Soobin KIM (KOR)
Bolortungalag ZORIGT (MGL)
Sevinchoy POLVONOVA (UZB)

76kg
Wenji LI (CHN)
KAJAL (IND)
Yasuha MATSUYUKI (JPN)
Gulmaral YERKEBAYEVA (KAZ)
Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
Eunju HWANG (KOR)
Davaanasan ENKH AMAR (MGL)
Hui Tsz CHANG (TPE)
Ozoda ZARIPBOEVA (UZB)

Hadi SARAVI (IRI)World and Olympic champion Hadi SARAVI (IRI). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Huoying SHI (CHN)
LALIT (IND)
Hajiali HOSSEINVAND (IRI)
Sajjad ALBIDHAN (IRQ)
Ahmad AHMAD (JOR)
Mizuki ARAKI (JPN)
Nurzat KABDYRAKHIMOV (KAZ)
Ulan MURATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Jonghyeon KIM (KOR)
Davaabandi MUNKH ERDENE (MGL)
Alexander CUEVAS (SGP)
Rasul JORAYEV (TKM)
Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB)

60kg
Haodong TAN (CHN)
SAHIL (IND)
Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI)
Yu SHIOTANI (JPN)
Yerbol KAMALIYEV (KAZ)
Kurmanbek ZHAPAROV (KGZ)
Minwoo KIM (KOR)
Se Ung RI (PRK)
Yong Xiang SU (TPE)
Alisher GANIEV (UZB)

63kg
Huangsheng WU (CHN)
Sunny KUMAR (IND)
Erfan JARKANI (IRI)
Kaisei TANABE (JPN)
Saifulla KURMAN (KAZ)
Aftandil TAALAIBEK UULU (KGZ)
Hyunwoong CHOI (KOR)
Rayan HAWSAWI (KSA)
Aref MOHAMMADI (QAT)
Azatjan ACHILOV (TKM)
Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB)

67kg
Ji LENG (CHN)
sachin SAHRAWAT (IND)
Ahmadreza MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI)
Kensuke SHIMIZU (JPN)
Bagdat SABAZ (KAZ)
Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ)
Hanjae CHUNG (KOR)
Munthir JANDU (KSA)
Man Gwang SON (PRK)
Sunat ABDULLOEV (TJK)
Abdumalik AMINOV (UZB)

72kg
Dongyu LI (CHN)
ANIL (IND)
Javad REZAEI (IRI)
Taishi NARIKUNI (JPN)
Almatbek AMANBEK (KAZ)
Amantur ISMAILOV (KGZ)
Dohun LIM (KOR)
Rafeeq ELNATSHEH (QAT)
Loiqi AMIRKHONZODA (TJK)
Didar ORAZBERDIYEV (TKM)
Shakhzod KUCHKOROV (UZB)

77kg
Halishan BAHEJIANG (CHN)
AMAN (IND)
Ali OSKOU (IRI)
Amro SADEH (JOR)
Isami HORIKITA (JPN)
Kaharman KISSYMETOV (KAZ)
Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ)
Yeonghun NOH (KOR)
Saoud ALMEFQAEY (QAT)
Alisher RUZIMADOV (TJK)
Lai YAO (TPE)
Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB)

82kg
Rui LIU (CHN)
PRINCE (IND)
Amin HOSSEINI (IRI)
Tatsuya FUJII (JPN)
Ibragim MAGOMADOV (KAZ)
Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Bada LEE (KOR)
Shahin BADAGHIMOFRAD (QAT)
Kakabay KAKABAYEV (TKM)
Aram VARDANYAN (UZB)

87kg
Shichang ZHENG (CHN)
Sunil KUMAR (IND)
Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI)
Yahiro MOTOHASHI (JPN)
Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ)
Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ)
Seunghwan LEE (KOR)
Muhammad SULTONZODA (TJK)
Dovletmyrat BAYRAMOV (TKM)
Mukhammadkodir RASULOV (UZB)

97kg
Zegang WANG (CHN)
NITESH (IND)
Hadi SARAVI (IRI)
Yuri NAKAZATO (JPN)
Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ)
Melis AITBEKOV (KGZ)
Minho LEE (KOR)
Ibrahim FALLATAH (KSA)
Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL)
Amanberdi AGAMAMMEDOV (TKM)
Abdikodir JALILOV (UZB)

130kg
Wenhao JIANG (CHN)
Joginder RATHEE (IND)
Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI)
Yuta NARA (JPN)
Jokhar UZAROV (KAZ)
Roman KIM (KGZ)
Minseok KIM (KOR)
Omer AMIROGLU (KSA)
Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL)
Eduard BABENOSHEV (TJK)
Rafael TSITSUASHVILI (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.