#wrestlebishkek, #WrestleParis

Asian OG Qualifier 2024 Entry List

By United World Wrestling Press

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (April 4) -- The final continental qualifiers for Paris 2024 will be held in Bishkek from April 19 to 21 with 209 wrestlers fighting for the 36 quotas.

The tournament will be held two days after the Asian Championships at the same venue and live on UWW+ through uww.org and the UWW App.

Like all other continental qualifiers, there will be no gold-medal, repechage and bronze-medal bouts. The winners of the two semifinals in each Olympic weight class will earn a spot for their country for the Paris Games.

Freestyle

57kg
Wanhao ZOU (CHN)
AMAN (IND)
Ahmad JAVAN (IRI)
Khattab AL ANI (IRQ)
Yerassyl MUKHTARULY (KAZ)
Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ)
Sunggwon KIM (KOR)
Munkh Erdene BATKHUYAG (MGL)
Muhammad BILAL (PAK)
Alvin LOBREGUITO (PHI)
Ali ABURUMAILA (PLE)
Chong Song HAN (PRK)
Gayan KATHURANGANA (SRI)
Aiaal BELOLYUBSKII (TJK)
Kabe MATJANOV (TKM)
Gulomjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)

65kg
Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN)
Shaohua YUAN (CHN)
SUJEET (IND)
Mohammed KAREEM (IRQ)
Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN)
Maiis ALIYEV (KAZ)
Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ)
Junsik YUN (KOR)
Tsogbadrakh TSEVEENSUREN (MGL)
Muhammad ABDULLAH (PAK)
Abdullah ASSAF (PLE)
Kwang Jin KIM (PRK)
Divoshan CHARLES FERNANDO (SRI)
Abdulmazhid KUDIEV (TJK)
Jelaletdin SEYIDOV (TKM)
Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB)
Ibrahim GUZAN (YEM)

74kg
Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN)
Feng LU (CHN)
JAIDEEP (IND)
Yones EMAMI (IRI)
Ali AL OBAIDI (IRQ)
Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ)
Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ)
Byungmin GONG (KOR)
Suldkhuu OLONBAYAR (MGL)
Fierre AFAN (PHI)
Madushanka LAKMAL (SRI)
Magomet EVLOEV (TJK)
Alp BEGENJOV (TKM)
Bekzod ABDURAKHMONOV (UZB)

86kg
Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN)
Vuthy HENG (CAM)
Zushen LIN (CHN)
Deepak PUNIA (IND)
Mustafa AL OBAIDI (IRQ)
Erzo ISAKOV (JOR)
Hayato ISHIGURO (JPN)
Nurtilek KARYPBAEV (KGZ)
Gwanuk KIM (KOR)
Bat Erdene BYAMBASUREN (MGL)
Dovletmyrat ORAZGYLYJOV (TKM)

97kg
Awusayiman HABILA (CHN)
DEEPAK (IND)
Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI)
Arash YOSHIDA (JPN)
Alisher YERGALI (KAZ)
Andrey ARONOV (KGZ)
Juhwan SEO (KOR)
Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL)
Muhammad INAM (PAK)
Badzha KHUTABA (SYR)
Shatlyk HEMELYAYEV (TKM)
Magomed IBRAGIMOV (UZB)

125kg
Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN)
Zhiwei DENG (CHN)
SUMIT (IND)
Taiki YAMAMOTO (JPN)
Yusup BATIRMURZAEV (KAZ)
Aiaal LAZAREV (KGZ)
Yeihyun JUNG (KOR)
Lkhagvagerel MUNKHTUR (MGL)
Zaman ANWAR (PAK)
Omar SAREM (SYR)
Zyyamuhammet SAPAROV (TKM)
Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB)

Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ) will look to earn spot for Kyrgyzstan in Women's Wrestling 68kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Women’s Wrestling

50kg
Samnang DIT (CAM)
VINESH (IND)
Laura GANIKYZY (KAZ)
Miran CHEON (KOR)
Jiah PINGOT (PHI)
Son Hyang KIM (PRK)
Nipuni WASANA (SRI)
Vatansulton SHAKARSHOEVA (TJK)
Meng HSIEH (TPE)
Aktenge KEUNIMJAEVA (UZB)
Thi Xuan NGUYEN (VIE)

53kg
Qianyu PANG (CHN)
Zhuldyz ESHIMOVA (KAZ)
Aizhan SABYRBEK KYZY (KGZ)
Seoyoung PARK (KOR)
Khulan BATKHUYAG (MGL)
Aliah GAVALEZ (PHI)
Hyo Gyong CHOE (PRK)
Nethmi AHINSA (SRI)
Shokhida AKHMEDOVA (UZB)
Thi NGUYEN (VIE)

57kg
Kexin HONG (CHN)
ANSHU (IND)
Emma TISSINA (KAZ)
Kalmira BILIMBEKOVA (KGZ)
Youngjin KWON (KOR)
Bolortuya KHURELKHUU (MGL)
In Sun JONG (PRK)
Laylokhon SOBIROVA (UZB)

62kg
Jia LONG (CHN)
MANSI (IND)
Irina KUZNETSOVA (KAZ)
Hanbit LEE (KOR)
Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL)
Arian CARPIO (PHI)
Hyon Gyong MUN (PRK)
Gulmira AITMURATOVA (UZB)

68kg
Feng ZHOU (CHN)
NISHA (IND)
Yelena SHALYGINA (KAZ)
Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
Ohyoung HA (KOR)
Sol Gum PAK (PRK)
Nabira ESENBAEVA (UZB)

76kg
Juan WANG (CHN)
REETIKA (IND)
Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ)
Eunju HWANG (KOR)
Davaanasan ENKH AMAR (MGL)
Hui Tsz CHANG (TPE)
Svetlana OKNAZAROVA (UZB)

Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB) will try to win a Paris 2024 quota for Uzbekistan in Greco-Roman 87kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Greco-Roman

60kg
SUPARMANTO (INA)
Sumit SUMIT (IND)
Ali ALBIDHAN (IRQ)
Aidos SULTANGALI (KAZ)
Dahyun KIM (KOR)
Munthir JANDU (KSA)
Baljinnyam TSEVEENRAVDAN (MGL)
Mark OLIVEROS (PHI)
Se Ung RI (PRK)
Alexander CUEVAS (SGP)
Aslamdzhon AZIZOV (TJK)
Umit DURDYYEV (TKM)
Jui Chi HUANG (TPE)

67kg
HUSIYUETU (CHN)
Muhammad ALIANSYAH (INA)
ASHU (IND)
Karrar ALBIDHAN (IRQ)
Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN)
Meiirzhan SHERMAKHANBET (KAZ)
Amantur ISMAILOV (KGZ)
Hansu RYU (KOR)
Faisal ALDOSSARY (KSA)
Jason BAUCAS (PHI)
Yong Jin RO (PRK)
Mohamad ALOBEID (SYR)
Firuz MIRZORAJABOV (TJK)
Rovshen ATDAYEV (TKM)
Abror ATABAEV (UZB)

77kg
Rui LIU (CHN)
VIKAS (IND)
Amin KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI)
Ali ALABODA (IRQ)
Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ)
Dowon LEE (KOR)
Hassan BARNAWI (KSA)
Gadiel MISSO (SGP)
Bazargeldi EZIMOV (TKM)

87kg
Haitao QIAN (CHN)
Sunil KUMAR (IND)
Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI)
Sultan EID (JOR)
Soh SAKABE (JPN)
Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ)
Sanghyeok PARK (KOR)
Aryan BIN AZMAN (SGP)
Sukhrob ABDULKHAEV (TJK)
Yhlas ABDURAZAKOV (TKM)
Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)

97kg
Yiming LI (CHN)
NITESH (IND)
Yuri NAKAZATO (JPN)
Olzhas SYRLYBAY (KAZ)
Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ)
Seungjun KIM (KOR)
Ibrahim FALLATAH (KSA)
Mirzoamin SAFAROV (TJK)
Amanberdi AGAMAMMEDOV (TKM)
Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB)

130kg
NAVEEN (IND)
Ali AL SHARUEE (IRQ)
Sota OKUMURA (JPN)
Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ)
Roman KIM (KGZ)
Seungchan LEE (KOR)
Eduard BABENOSHEV (TJK)
Aybegshazada KURRAYEV (TKM)
Temurbek NASIMOV (UZB)

'I Wanted to Change My Life': Nouri's Story of Resilience on World Refugee Day

By Vinay Siwach

LONDON (June 20) -- "I wanted to change my life."

Farhad NOURI doesn't mince words when explaining his decision to compete as a refugee since 2026.

Born in Tehran, Nouri is one of the 17 new refugee athletes supported by the Olympic Refuge Foundation (ORF) and United World Wrestling, with hopes of competing at the LA28 Olympic Games.

Nouri began wrestling when he was 13 and competed for Iran in the early stages of his career. He even won a silver medal at the U23 Asian Championships in 2019. But then, he wanted to change his life.

Back in 2022, Nouri competed at the British National Championships, an open tournament that does not require a wrestling licence, and won gold. His skill and success surprised everyone, and British wrestling became interested in helping him.

Nouri decided to stay and pursue his wrestling career but had no country to represent. Earlier this year, he was granted refugee status and, on the occasion of World Refugee Day on June 20, Nouri recalled his journey from Iran to becoming the first wrestler with refugee status to win a continental medal.

"At that first British Championships, I weighed in at 67kg but won gold at 74kg," Nouri told United World Wrestling. "One of the coaches said that if I won gold, they could work on getting me to compete internationally. That's how it began."

Farhad NOURI (UWW)Farhad NOURI (UWW) won a bronze medal at 74kg at the European Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Nouri went unbeaten at the English and British Championships for three years and, when he was allowed to compete internationally in 2026, he did not wait.

The 27-year-old began competing again under United World Wrestling's refugee status at the Zagreb Open in 2026. He did not win a medal in Zagreb or at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series in February.

But Nouri became the first refugee wrestler to win a continental medal in April in Tirana, Albania, when he claimed bronze in the 74kg weight class at the European Championships.

In his first bout, Nouri was leading against Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) but lost 3-2. As Bayramov reached the final, Nouri earned a place in the repechage, where he defeated Nikita DMITRIJEVS MAYEUSKI (BLR), 9-6, to reach the bronze-medal bout.

In what turned out to be a thrilling contest against Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO), Nouri came out on top, 10-8. He trailed Elbakidze 6-2 with 1:41 remaining when the Georgian was put on the activity clock.

Nouri scored a takedown to cut the lead to 6-4 before a stepout and the activity point made it 6-6, with Elbakidze holding the criteria lead and 1:12 left in the bout. A go-behind gave Nouri an 8-6 lead, but Elbakidze turned it around again with a takedown with 20 seconds remaining to take an 8-8 criteria lead.

Elbakidze went for a double-leg to protect his lead in the final seconds, but Nouri managed to get out of the hold and score an easy go-behind for two points to claim a 10-8 victory.

"That medal gave me the energy to compete and win in wrestling," Nouri said. "Now I have the energy to train for the World Championships and prepare for the Olympics as well."

Nouri achieved it without much support, as he only began receiving financial assistance this year. He works part-time as an accountant in London to fund his training and travel, but that does not demotivate him.

"There are fewer facilities and I lack support, but this is my life," he said. "I like wrestling and want to dedicate my life to it. And I want to tell everyone that if I can do it, then you can do it as well."

After the historic bronze medal at the European Championships, Nouri now has his sights set on a World and Olympic medal.

"I will participate in the Ranking Series in Budapest," he said. "I am preparing for the World Championships so I can win a medal. I believe I can."