#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)

#WrestleTirana

U23 Worlds: What to watch in Freestyle

By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (October 19) -- The final World Championships of the season, the U23 edition, is here. Like every year, the U23 World Championships will throw in some memorable matches and records that the wrestling world cannot ignore.

The one in Tirana beginning next week will see close to 600 wrestlers and a few of wrestling's biggest stars will be on the mat. Here's what to follow in Freestyle

74kg

The U23 World Championships will kick off on October 23 and a few age-group world champions, wrestlers who have made their mark at the senior level and some strong youngsters will be on the mat on the first day itself.

As is the case in most World Championships, the 74kg weight class offers stiff competition. Defending champion Mohmmadsadegh FIROUZPOUR (IRI) is going to see former U20 world champs Keegan OTOOLE (USA) and Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE) at 74kg.

Gadzhiev won the gold medal at 74kg in 2022 while Otoole is the U20 world champion at 74kg in 2021, a run that saw him pin three of his opponents.

Returning bronze medalist Vasile DIACON (MDA), U20 World bronze at 70kg Ibrahim YAPRAK (TUR) and senior world fifth placer NAVEEN (UWW) are also in the field.

Iran's heavy stars

Last year, Iran captured four gold medals. Firouzpour at 74kg was joined by his brother Amirhossein at 92kg, Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) won at 97kg and Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) was the champion at 125kg.

Both Azarpira and Masoumi are returning and it would be surprising if they don't defend the gold medals in Tirana. Azarpira stepped in for an injured Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) at 92kg for the World Championships in Belgrade but lost to Zahid VALENCIA (USA). Back at 97kg, he is the wrestler to beat.

Masoumi continues his tremendous record in international wrestling, having not lost a single bout at the age-group level. To maintain that record and defend his title, he will have to go through Abdulla KURBANOV (AIN) who finished fifth in Belgrade and returning silver medalist Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO) who troubled Masoumi last year before running out of steam.

At 92kg, Iran is going with U20 world champion Mohammadmobin AZIMI (IRI). In Amman, he emerged as the champion after beating Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) who has now won a world champion at 92kg at the senior level. Azimi won the U20 Asian Championships as well.

Ziraddin BAYRAMOV (AZE)Ziraddin BAYRAMOV (AZE) will be the favorite at 65kg. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

New crop at 65kg

The U23 world champion in Pontevedra was Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM). He is now a world bronze medalist at the senior level and left the category at U23 level for a new star to rise. In fact, none of the four medalists from 2022 are returning.

That leaves two-time U20 world silver medalist Ziraddin BAYRAMOV (AZE) as the favorite to win his first world title at any level. Bayramov has wrestled internationally only once since the 2022 U20 Worlds, finishing third at the Yasar Dogu.

Adlan ASKAROV (KAZ) will hope to win a U23 World Championships medal since that silver in 2019. He finished fifth last year and is still trying to find his footing at 65kg.

U20 world champion at 61kg Mohit KUMAR (UWW) will be at 65kg in Tirana and look to make his mark in a new weight class. Iran will send Mohammadali AMOUZAD (IRI), the twin brother of 2022 65kg world champion Rahman.

Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) is the defending champion and senior world silver medalist at 79kg. (Photo: UWW / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Other stars

Georgia will look to repeat last year's performance including the two gold medals as both Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO) and Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) are returning at 70kg and 79kg respectively.

At 79kg, Ashraf ASHIROV (AZE), Shoban YARI (IRI) and Sagar JAGLAN (UWW) will be waiting to upset Gamkrelidze who finished with a silver medal at the World Championships in Belgrade.

Aaron BROOKS (USA), deemed as the successor to world and Olympic champion David TAYLOR (USA) domestically, will be returning to the international scene in four years. He has a silver medal from the 2018 U20 Worlds but finished 17th a year later.

Defending champion at 86kg, Tatsuya SHIRAI (JPN) is also returning to become Japan's first two-time freestyle world champion at the U23 level.