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Asian Games Day One: Updated Results and Photos

By United World Wrestling Press

INCHEON, Korea (September 27) – Results at 48kg and 63kg in female wrestling and 57kg and 70kg in men's freestyle at the Asian Games on Saturday, September 27:

57kg - Men's Freestyle
Gold: JONG Hak-Jin (PRK) df. Rasul KALIEV (KAZ), 8-6
Bronze: BATBOLD Nomin (MGL) df. Fumitaka MORISHITA (JPN), 5-3
Bronze: YUN Jun-Sik (KOR) df. Nikolay NOEV (TJK), 5-2

Semifinals: JONG Hak-Jin (PRK) df. Fumitaka MORISHITA (JPN), 4-2
Semifinals: Rasul KALIEV (KAZ) df. YUN Jun-Sik (KOR), 9-3

Repechage: Nikolay NOEV (TJK) df. Fahad Ali GHAZWANI (KSA) by FALL, 0:20 (8-0)

Quarterfinals: JONG Hak-Jin (PRK) df. BATBOLD Nomin (MGL), 11-8
Quarterfinals: Fumitaka MORISHITA (JPN) df. Ramil REJEPOV (TKM), 6-0
Quarterfinals: Rasul KALIEV (KAZ) df. Nikolay NOEV (TJK), 7-2
Quarterfinals: YUN Jun-Sik (KOR) df. Hassan RAHIMI (IRI), 1-0

Preliminaries: BATBOLD Nomin (MGL) df. Firas ALALLI ALRIFAI (SYR) by fall, 1:50 (4-0)
Preliminaries Fumitaka MORISHITA (JPN) df. Amit KUMAR (IND), 2-2
Preliminaries: Ramil REJEPOV (TKM) df. Muhammad BILAL (PAK) by TF, 10-0, 1:49
Preliminaries: Rasul KALIEV (KAZ) df. Fahad Ali GHAZWANI (KSA) by TF, 10-0, 1:07
Preliminaries: Nikolay NOEV (TJK) df. Basheer ALYAMANI (YEM) by TF, 10-0, 1:27
Preliminaries: Hassan RAHIMI (IRI) df. Samat NADYRBEK UULU (KGZ) by TF, 10-0, 5:57
Preliminaries: YUN Jun-Sik (KOR) df. HONG Xiaobin (CHN) by TF, 13-2, 5:41

70kg -- Men's Freestyle

Gold: Bekzod ABDURAKHMANOV (UZB) df. OH Man-Ho (KOR), 7-2
Bronze: Eleman DOGDURBEK UULU (KGZ) df. JANG Myong-Song (PRK), 6-0
Bronze: Takafumi KOJIMA (JPN) df. LING Haiwei (CHN), 8-0

Semifinals: OH Man-Ho (KOR) df. JANG Myong-Song (PRK), 1-1
Semifinals: Bekzod ABDURAKHMANOV (UZB) df. Takafumi KOJIMA (JPN), 6-0

Repechage: LING Haiwei (CHN) df. Somirshoh VOKHIDOV (TJK), 8-7

Quarterfinals : OH Man-Ho (KOR) df. Eleman DOGDURBEK UULU (KGZ), 7-2
Quarterfinals: JANG Myong-Song (PRK) df. Mohamed KHAN SHAIKHOUNI (SYR), 12-4
Quarterfinals: Bekzod ABDURAKHMANOV (UZB) df. LING Haiwei (CHN) by TF, 10-0 (4:48)
Quarterfinals: Takafumi KOJIMA (JPN) df. Mostafa HOSSEINKHANI (IRI), 3-3

Preliminaries: LING Haiwei (CHN) df. WIN Hlaing Htwe (MYA) by fall, 1:21 (6-0)
Preliminaries: Bekzod ABDURAKHMANOV (UZB) df. Somirshoh VOKHIDOV (TJK) by TF, 12-1, 2:31
Preliminaries: Mostafa HOSSEINKHANI (IRI) df. Azamat OMURZHANOV (KAZ), 5-1
Preliminaries: Takafumi KOJIMA (JPN) df. Parveen RANA (IND), 3-2

48kg - Female Wrestling
Gold: Eri TOSAKA (JPN) df. SUN Yanan (CHN), 5-1 
Bronze: Tatyana AMANZHOL (KAZ) df. Maliwan MUANGPOR (THA) by TF, 10-0
Bronze: Vinesh (IND) df. ERDENESUKH Narangerel (MGL) by TF, 10-0

Semifinals: SUN Yanan (CHN) df. Maliwan MUANGPOR (THA) by TF, 10-0 in 2:45
Semifinals: Eri TOSAKA (JPN) df. Vinesh (IND), 6-4 

Repechage: Tatyana AMANZHOL (KAZ) df. Margarita FILIPPOVA (TKM) by TF, 10-0 (1:12)
Repechage: ERDENESUKH Narangerel (MGL) df.  LEE Yu-Mi (KOR), 6-5


Quarterfinals: Maliwan MUANGPOR (THA) df. Sotheara CHOV (CAM), 12-5
Quarterfinals: SUN Yanan (CHN) df. Margarita FILIPPOVA (TKM) by TF, 12-1, 1:01
Quarterfinals: Vinesh (IND) df. Dauletbike YAKHSHIMURATOVA (UZB) by fall, 4:41 (10-0)
Quarterfinals: Eri TOSAKA (JPN) df. ERDENESUKH Narangerel (MGL), by TF,12-2, 3:27

Preliminaries: SUN Yanan (CHN) df. Tatyana AMANZHOL (KAZ), 8-3
Preliminaries: Dauletbike YAKHSHIMURATOVA (UZB) df. Kyu Thein KYU (MYA) by fall, 5:44 (11-0)
Preliminaries: Vinesh (IND) df. PAK Yong-Mi (PRK), 4-3
Preliminaries: ERDENESUKH Narangerel (MGL) df. NGUYEN Thi Lua (VIE), 3-1
Preliminaries: Eri TOSAKA (JPN) df. LEE Yu-Mi (KOR), 6-2

63kg - Female Wrestling
Gold: Rio WATARI (JPN) df. XILUO Zhuoma (CHN) by creiteria, 4-4
Bronze: SUKHEE Tserenchimed (MGL) df. KIM Kyeon-Geun (KOR) by TF, 10-0
Bronze: Geetika JAKHAR (IND) df. LY Thi Hien (VIE) by FALL, 0:55

Semifinals: Rio WATARI (JPN) df. SUKHEE Tserenchimed (MGL), 11-8
Semifinals: XILUO Zhuoma (CHN) df. Geetika JAKHAR (IND) by FALL in 5:46 (11-7)

Repechage: LY Thi Hien (VIE) df. Aziza SULTAMURATOVA (UZB), by FALL, 0:57 (8-0)
Repechage: KIM Kyeon-Geun (KOR) df. CHEN Wen-ling(TPE), 7-2


Quarterfinals: SUKHEE Tserenchimed (MGL) df. KIM Ran-Mi (PRK), by fall, 1:10 (2-2)
Quarterfinals: Rio WATARI (JPN) df. KIM Kyeon-Geun (KOR) by TF, 10-0
Quarterfinals: XILUO Zhuoma (CHN) df. LY Thi Hien (VIE) by fall, 0:48 (4-0)
Quarterfinals: Geetika JAKHAR (IND) df. AUTNUN Jaratrawee (THA), 8-0

Preliminaries: KIM Kyeon-Geun (KOR) df. Oday LATXOMPHOU (LAO) by TF, 10-0, 2:13
Preliminaries: Rio WATARI (JPN) df. CHEN Wen-ling(TPE) by TF, 10-0
Preliminaries: XILUO Zhuoma (CHN) df. Aziza SULTAMURATOVA (UZB) by fall, 2:38 (6-0)
Preliminaries: LY Thi Hien (VIE) df. MAY Thazin Phue (MYA) by TF, 10-0
Preliminaries: Geetika JAKHAR (IND) df. Ekaterina LARIONOVA (KAZ), 5-4
Preliminaries: AUTNUN Jaratrawee (THA) df. Violetta SHUMILOVA (TKM) by TF, 10-0

#JapanWrestling

Fujinami to move up to 57kg in quest for consecutive Olympic golds

By Ken Marantz

TOKYO (November 26) -- Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) won't be defending her Olympic gold at women's 53kg at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. That's bad news for anyone aiming to strike gold at 57kg.

Fujinami has announced that she will move up to the next Olympic weight class starting next year, the Japan federation website and Japan media widely recently reported.

Fujinami, who turned 21 on November 11, cited the difficulty of cutting weight for the decision, as well as the historic aspect that no woman wrestler has ever won a second straight Olympic gold after moving to a higher weight class.

"I have decided to move up to the 57kg weight class," Fujinami said after Sunday's East Japan Collegiate Women's League, a team tournament that marked her first competition since winning the gold at the Paris Olympics in August. "Considering my height and my normal weight, I think I can give my best performance at 57."

Fujinami competed at 59kg in the five-team league tournament (one school was a no-show), which was run in a round-robin, duel-meet format with only three weight classes -- 53kg, 59kg and 76kg.

She won both of her matches by fall, extending her current winning streak to 139 matches dating back to her junior high school days in September 2017.

The 1.64-meter Fujinami was actually wrestling near her natural weight, which she says is "about 61kg." But even against two opponents from higher weight classes -- Ikuei University's Ichika ARAI (JPN) was the 2023 world U20 silver medalist at 57kg -- her skills and speed were still overwhelming.

"It has been really hard to cut down to 53kg," Fujinami said. "I felt I lost muscle during the process. I feel I can give my best performance by going down three kilos from my natural weight."

Asked when she expects to make her full-fledged "debut" at the new weight, she replied in a text message, "It will be sometime next year. I haven't decided exactly when yet."

With a full schedule of post-Olympic TV appearances and local events curtailing her training, she has already ruled out appearing at next month's Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships.

It is likely she will compete at the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships in the spring, as that tournament, along with the Emperor's Cup, will serve as qualifiers for the 2025 World Championships.

The move up to 57kg will likely put her on a collision course with the reigning Olympic champion, Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN). The two met last year at the East Japan Collegiate tournament, with Fujinami coming away with a 5-0 victory.

The challenge of possibly accomplishing a historic first appeals to Fujinami, who last year won her second career world title at 53kg in Belgrade.

"I heard that no [woman] has moved up a weight class and won another Olympic gold," Fujinami said. "It will difficult, but that's what makes it challenging. I hope I can become stronger at the next [Olympics] in Los Angeles."

Two Japanese women -- Saori YOSHIDA (JPN) and Kaori ICHO (JPN) -- have won an additional Olympic gold after going down a weight, but that was mainly because the number of weight classes was expanded from four to six, allowing them to compete more closely to their normal weight.

Among men, the legendary Aleksandr MEDVED (URS) won the freestyle 97kg gold in 1964, then triumphed again at 97+kg in 1968, while Levan TEDASHVILI (URS) won at freestyle 82kg in 1972 and 90kg in 1976. More recently, Abdulrashid SADULAEV claimed the freestyle 86kg gold in 2016, then won again at 97kg in 2021.

Fujinami said she doesn't expect to make any major alterations to her wrestling style at the heavier weight.

"I have no intention of making any big changes in my wrestling style," she said. "I will still try to keep the opponent from getting at my legs, and take the initiative to score points. Still, I can feel the extra weight of four kilos, so how I increase my weight could affect how I perform."

At this year's East Japan league tournament, Fujinami's Nippon Sport Science University was relegated to second by Ikuei University, which won 2-1 in their duel meet. Ikuei got victories from Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) and Ami ISHII (JPN), who both won gold medals at last month's Non-Olympic Weight Category World Championships.