#WrestleAstana

Asian Championships Greco-Roman brackets

Saturday, April 8, 2023 - 14:34 By Vinay Siwach

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ASTANA, Kazakhstan (April 8) -- The nerves of competing are always preceded by the nerves of knowing the brackets. The Greco-Roman wrestlers at the Asian Championships are now aware of the opponents and expected path to the gold medal as the brackets for the Asian Championships were released Saturday.

Here's how the bouts will play out.

55kg
Top seed Amangali BEKBOLATOV (KAZ) will wait for his first opponent as he sits in the quarterfinals. RUPIN (IND) and Sardarbek KONUSHBAEV (KGZ) will wrestle in qualification to advance against Bekbolatov. 

Second seed Poya DAD MARZ (IRI) also sits in the quarterfinal and wait for the winner of Taiga ONISHI (JPN) and Mostafa ALQADE (JOR) to know his first opponent.

Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB) is seeded third and has Abduvali RAHIMBAYEV (TKM) in the quarterfinals. A win will take him to the semifinals, most likely against Dad Marz.

Bekbolatov, if he wins his quarterfinals, will face the winner of Haifeng ZHANG (CHN) and fourth seed Hyeokjin JEON (KOR).

60kg
World champion and top seed Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) is the favorite to win the weight class. He waits for his first opponent which will be the winner of Umit DURDYYEV (TKM) and U20 world bronze medalist SUMIT (IND). In the other quarterfinal, fourth seed Maito KAWANA (JPN) faces Akmal KHAMROEV (UZB).

On the lower side, second seed Liguo CAO (CHN) will face the winner of Hanjae CHUNG (KOR) and Aslamdzhon AZIZOV (TJK). Third seed and returning silver medalist Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) will also have to wait to see if Yernur FIDAKHMETOV (KAZ) or Jui Chi HUANG (TPE) reach the quarterfinals.

It sets up a potential mouth-watering semifinal between Moshen Nejad and Lao.

63kg
With nine wrestlers, only one qualification bout is scheduled with others sitting in the quarterfinals. That bout is between NEERAJ (IND) and Dastan KADYROV (KGZ). The winner will face top seed U23 world champion and top seed Iman Hossein Khoon MOHAMMADI (IRI) in the quarterfinal.

Second seed Mukhamedali MAMURBEK (KAZ) faces Haodong TAN (CHN) in the quarterfinal and a potential semifinal can be against third seed Shermukhammad SHARIBJANOV (UZB) who faces Chiezo MARUYAMA (JPN) in his quarterfinal.

If Khoon Mohammadi wins, he will get the winner of Jinseub SONG (KOR) and Siyovush ACHILOV (TJK) in the semifinal.

67kg
A weight class with some talented wrestlers will see top seed HUSIYUETU (CHN) face the winner of Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) and Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) in the quarterfinal. His path to the final includes Begmyrat NOBATOV (TKM) and fourth seed Reza Mahdi ABBASI (IRI) as the two face each other in the second quarterfinal of the top half.

The lower side has second seed ASHU (IND) in the quarterfinals waiting for the winner of Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ) and Hong Yu CHEN (TPE). Third seed Hansu RYU (KOR) will have the winner of Firuz MIRZORADZHABOV (TJK) and Abror ATABAEV (UZB). If the seeds hold, Ryu and Ashu will wrestle for a spot in the final.

72kg
Ibragim MAGOMADOV (KAZ) will be the top seed at home in 72kg and will have Adilkhan NURLANBEKOV (KGZ) or Loiqi AMIRKHONZODA (TJK) in the quarterfinal.

On the same side is Zi LIM (SGP) facing Ali AL ABBOODAH (IRQ) and Taishi HORIE (JPN) facing fourth seed Jamol JUMABAEV (UBZ). The winner of those bouts will face each other in the quarterfinal.

The lower side will see second seed Jian TAN (CHN) will wrestle one of Hekim GURBANMYRADOV (TKM) and JASON BAUCAS (PHI). Fourth seed Sajjad IMENTALABFOUMANI (IRI) will see one of VIKAS (IND) and Jiyeon LEE (KOR).

77kg
World champion and top seed Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) has his opening bout against Gadiel Raid MISSO (SGP) or Jeyhun OVEZDURDYYEV (TKM). The much-anticipated semifinal between Makhmudov and fourth seed Hyeonwoo KIM (KOR) can happen if Kim beats the winner of Kodai SAKURABA (JPN) and Lai Hsing YAO (TPE) who wrestle in the qualification round.

The second seed is held by Rui LIU (CHN) who may have a tough test when he faces one of SAJAN (IND) or Amin KAVIYANINEJAD (IR) in the quarterfinal. Aram VARDANYAN (UZB) is seeded third and will face the winner of Amro SADEH (JOR) and Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ).

82kg
Dias KALEN (KAZ) would like to reach the semifinals in front of his home crowd. For that, he needs to beat one of Mukhammadkodir RASULOV (UZB) or Sukhrob ABDULKHAEV (TJK) who will wrestle in qualification. And if Kalen wins, he will face one of the fourth seed Sultan EID (JOR) or Yuya MAETA (JPN) who wrestle in the other quarterfinal.

The lower side of the bracket with Rohit DAHIYA (IND) taking on Aryan BIN AZMAN (SGP) and Halishan BAHEJIANG (CHN) facing Sejin YANG (KOR). The winner of the former bout will face third seed Akylbek TALANTBEKOV (KGZ) in the quarterfinals. The winner of the latter will have second seed Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI).

87kg
Nasir ALIZADEH (IRI) will look to defend his Asian title as he is the top seed for the weight class. He begins in the quarterfinals with the winner of Masato SUMI (JPN) vs. Shyhazberdi OVELEKOV (TKM) set to advance.

The other quarterfinal will be between fourth seed Sunil KUMAR (IND) and Saidislomiddin ASLAMOV (TJK).

The second seed goes to Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ) and he will face the winner of Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB) and Chengwu WANG (CHN). The other quarterfinal on the lower side will be between third seed A. AZISBEKOV (KGZ) and Byeongcheol SHIN (KOR).

97kg
Out of the 10 participants, Olzhas SYRLYBAY (KAZ) gets the top seed. Seyeol LEE (KOR) and U. DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ) will wrestle off to earn a place in the quarterfinal against Syrlybay.

Fourth seed Narinder CHEEMA (IND) faces Azizdzhon ZARIPOV (TJK) in the other quarterfinal.

Yiming LI (CHN) is seeded third and will get the winner of Amanberdi AGAMAMMEDOV (TKM) and Abrorbek NURMUKHAMMEDOV (UZB) as his quarterfinal opponent. If he wins, the semifinal will feature one of Mehdi BALIHAMZEHDEH (IRI) or Yuta NARA (JPN).

130kg
World silver medalist and favorite Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) is top-seeded in 130kg. He can reach the semifinal if he wins against Sota OKUMURA (JPN) or Roman KIM (KGZ). The two will wrestle in the qualification to reach the quarterfinal against Mirzazadeh. One of NAVEEN (IND) and fourth seed Temurbek NASIMOV (UZB) will try to stop Mirzazadeh in the semifinals.

Second seed Lingzhe MENG (CHN) wrestles Minseok KIM (KOR) or Timothy Yu LOH (SGP) in the quarterfinal. If he wins, he is likely to face third seed Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ) as the Kazakhstan wrestler has to beat the winner of Ali AL SHARUEE (IRQ) and Aybegshazada KURRAYEV (TKM).

#WrestleTirana

Friday's U23 World Championships semifinals set

Friday, October 27, 2023 - 08:58 By Eric Olanowski

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TIRANA, Albania (October 27) --- Welcome back to Albania for Day Five of the 2023 U23 World Championships. Today, we’ll pass the baton to the Greco-Roman wrestlers at 60kg, 67kg, 72kg, 82kg and 97kg.

Top Stars in Action:
60kg: Nihad GULUZADE (AZE) – U23 world silver
60kg: Melkamu FETENE (ISR) – U23 world bronze
67kg: Gagik Mishai SNJOYAN (FRA) - U23 world silver
72kg: Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO) – U23 world bronze
82kg - Karlo KODRIC (CRO) – U23 world silver
97kg - Alex Gergo SZOKE (HUN) – U23 world gold
97kg - Nitesh NITESH (UWW) – U23 world bronze

Semifinal matches (As they come in): 

60kg
Sumit SUMIT (UWW) vs. Anvar ALLAKHIAROV (AIN)
Mert ILBARS (TUR) vs. Romeo BERIDZE (GEO)

67kg
Hasan MAMMADLI (AZE) vs. Sultan ASSETULY (KAZ)
HARUTO YABE (JPN) vs. Mustafa Safa YILDIRIM (TUR)

72kg
Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR) vs. Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Shant KHACHATRYAN (ARM) vs. Dmitrii ADAMOV (AIN)

82kg
Aues GONIBOV (AIN) vs. Ruslan ABDIIEV (UKR)
Alperen BERBER (TUR) vs. Emad Ashraf Mohamed ABOUELATTA (EGY)

97kg
Hayk KHLOYAN (ARM) vs. Pavel HLINCHUK (AIN)
Mustafa OLGUN (TUR) vs. Yuri NAKAZATO (JPN)

13:43: I'm still waiting for the system to update to post tonight's semifinal matches. Once everything is updated, I'll put the matches above.

13:23: Yabe upsets U23 world bronze medalist Snjoyan and moves into tonight's 67kg semifinals against Mustafa Safa YILDIRIM (TUR).

13:17: Reigning U23 world bronze medalist Gagik Mishai SNJOYAN (FRA) is in a tight match on Mat C with Japan's HARUTO YABE (JPN). Yabe leads 4-4 on criteria with a minute to go.

13:09: Emad Ashraf Mohamed ABOUELATTA (EGY) just doubled up on four-pointers, punching his ticket to the 82kg semifinals with a 9-0 win over Tyler Adam EISCHENS (USA).

12:55: We're going to start the quarterfinals now on all mats so I'll post the semifinal matches as they come in. 

12:35: There's your upset of the day. Lucas LAZOGIANIS (GER) just took out reigning U23 world champion Alex Gergo SZOKE (HUN). Lazogianis was down 3-0 but ended up scoring four points to win 4-4 on criteria.

13:13: You hate to see it against a hometown athlete, but  Hasan MAMMADLI (AZE) just made Albania's Ardit ZENELI (ALB) back bend in a way that should be illegal. I'll post the video above.

13:06: It looks like they are going to give Muslim IMADAEV (AIN) the fall over returning U23 world bronze medalist Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO). Imadaev was behind 2-1 with :50 left when he went to a four-point head pinch. After a failed challenge that gave the Neutral Athlete the 6-2 advantage, Imadaev stopped a flying squirrel attempt by planting Chkhikvade on his back for the fall.

I'll work on getting up the video of the final slam because it was pretty impressive.

12:54: World medalists Nitesh, Chkhikvadze and Guluzade are all coming up now on Mat A. That's three world medalists coming up in the next four matches.

12:38: We're getting closer on the Szoke watch. He's five matches out on Mat B. 

12:23: Tetsuto KANUKA (JPN) just launched Anil ANIL (UWW) twice in 15 seconds to pick up the 11-2 win. The match was tied 2-2 before Kanuka went four, then five on Anil. I'll work on getting the clip up right now so you can see how beautiful the two throws were.

12:12: The noise you hear from the crowd is coming from Mat C, where Dmitrii ADAMOV (AIN) just took out hometown boy Klodjan SHEHU (ALB), 9-0, in the 72kg 1/8 round.

12:08: That match was crazy! It was a rollercoaster of emotions for Abuladze, but he stayed strapped in and picked up the 9-8 victory. At one point of the match, Abuladze went for a pushout and was so successful that he pushed Olsson off the mat and the stage, planting him on his rear end on the floor of the arena.

12:04: The current match on Mat A between Miru Jerry OLSSON (SWE) and Otar ABULADZE (GEO) has been action-packed thus far. Olsson went down 3-0 but gave up eight unanswered points and is currently leading 8-3 with a minute left.

11:45: It's been a slow morning thus far. We're still waiting for a chunk of these stars to have their first matches. We still have at least seven matches before Gagik Mishai SNJOYAN (FRA), Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO), Nitesh NITESH (UWW) and Nihad GULUZADE (AZE) come up on Mat A.

But once we get to Snjoyan, the stars will be rolling through match after match.

11:22: After bout 492 wraps up on Mat C, we'll welcome Karlo KODRIC (CRO) to Albania. Last year, Kodric fell to Exauce MUKUBU (NOR) in the finals, becoming the fourth Croatian Greco-Roman wrestler to reach the finals but settle for U23 world silver. 

11:15: The biggest storyline we're following today is the return of Alex SZOKE (HUN) after nearly eight months off the mat. Earlier this year, Szoke, the reigning U23 world champion, underwent surgery on his back after the Thor Masters in March.