WORLD CLUBS CUP

Bimeh Razi Wins Greco-Roman World Clubs Cup

Saturday, December 16, 2017 - 15:28 By Ali Feizasa

Share this article

The host team, Bimeh Razi Isfahan (IRI) defeated Sina Sanat Izeh (IRI), 8-2 to capture the 2017 Greco-Roman World Clubs Cup title.

Defending champions, Sina Sanat started strong, winning the first two bouts. It was Saman ABDVALI’s (IRI) win at 63kg that gave Bimeh Razi their first win. Artem SURKOV (RUS) tied the match for Bimeh Razi after besting Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) at 67kg. 2017 world bronze medal winner, Mohammad Ali GERAEI’s (IRI) 10-0 victory over 2015 Asian champion Ali ARSALAN gave Bimeh the 3-2 lead.

Despite a tough first period, Russian two-time Olympic champion, Roman VLASOV (RUS) picked up a technical superiority victory over U-23 World bronze medal winner, Payam BOYERI (IRI).

 In one of the most interesting matches of the night, 2017 75kg world bronze medalist Saeid ABDVALI (IRI) beat Sina Sanat’s 2017 80kg world champion, Maksim MANUKYAN (ARM), 6-2.

Bimeh’s Iranian youngster, Mehdi FALLAH (IRI) had a great performance, downing Rio Olympics silver medalist, Zhan BELENYUK (URK), 1-0, which ultimately secured Bimeh Razi’s second Greco-Roman World Clubs Cup title.

Seyed Mostafa SALEHIZADEH (IRI) and Shahab GHOUREH JILI (IRI) finished the match with two victories, giving Bimeh Razi the 8-2 victory over Sina Sanat.

In the third place match, Buyuksehir (TUR) defeated Georgian Club (GEO), 6-4, while Moscow (RUS) beat Shohadaye Modafe Haram Qom (IRI), 8-2 to place fifth.

The results of final day of Greco-Roman World Clubs Cup:

Final Match: Bimeh Razi Isfahan (IRI) df. Sina Sanat IZEH (IRI), 8-2
55kg- Reza KHEDRI (Sina) df. Moslem NADERI KHADEM (Bimeh), 2-1
60kg- Meysam DELKHANI (Sina) df. Mehrdad MARDANI (Bimeh) , 3-2             
63kg- Saman ABDEVALI (IRI) TF. Behnam MORADI  (Sina), 9-1
67kg- Artem SURKOV (Bimeh) df. Mohammadreza GERAEI (Sina), 5-2
72kg- Mohammad Ali GERAEI (Bimeh) TF. Ali ARSALAN (Sina), 10-0
77kg- Roman VLASOV (Bimeh) TF. Payam BOYERI (Sina), 10-1
82kg- Saeid ABDVALI (Bimeh) df. Maksim MANUKYAN (Sina), 6-2
87kg- Mehdi FALLAH (Bimeh) df. Zhan BELENYUK (Sina), 1-097kg- Seyed Mostafa SALEHIZADEH (Bimeh) TF. Hassan ARYANEJAD (Sina), 10-0
130kg- Shahab GHOUREH JILI (Bimeh) df. Mehdi NOURI (Sina) by forfeit

Third place match: Buyuksehir (TUR) df. Georgian Club (GEO), 6-4
55kg- Muslum ALINLI (TUR) TF. Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO), 11-1
60kg- Hammet RUSTEM (TUR) Pinned Beka BALANCHIVADZE (GEO)
63kg- Dato CHKHARTISHVILI (GEO) df. Fatih UCUNCU (TUR), 4-2
67kg- Atakan YUKSEL (TUR) df. Tornike JANGAVADZE (GEO), 4-0
72kg- Yunus OZEL (TUR) df. Ramazi ZOIDZE (GEO) , 8-1
77kg- Serkan AKKOYUN (TUR) Pinned Bakuri GOGOLI (GEO)
82kg- Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) df. Varlami KVARATSKHELIA (GEO), 2-1
87kg- Gurami KHETSURIANI (GEO) df. Metehan BASAR (TUR) by forfeit
97kg- Kukuri KIRTSKHSLIA (GEO)  df. Irfan METE (TUR), 8-4
130kg- Levani ARABULI (GEO) df. Fatih BASKOY (TUR), 4-0

Semifinal results
Sina Sanat Izeh (IRI) df. Georgian Club (GEO), 8-2
55kg- Reza KHEDRI (IRI)df.  Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO), 4-1
60kg- Shirzad BEHESHTI TALA (IRI) TF. Beka BALANCHIVADZE (GEO), 9-0
63kg- Behnam MORADI  (IRI) TF. Dato CHKHARTISHVILI (GEO), 9-0
67kg- Tornike JANGAVADZE (GEO) df. Karen ASLANYAN (ARM/Sina Sanat Team), 3-2
72kg- Ali ARSALAN (IRI) TF. Ramazi ZOIDZE (GEO) , 9-0
77kg- Payam BOYERI (IRI) TF. Bakuri GOGOLI (GEO), 8-0
82kg- Maksim MANUKYAN (ARM/ Sina Sanat Team) TF. Varlami KVARATSKHELIA (GEO), 9-0
87kg- Zhan BELENYUK (UKR/ Sina Sanat Team) df. Gurami KHETSURIANI (GEO), 3-0
97kg- Kukuri KIRTSKHSLIA (GEO) Pinned Hassan ARYANEJAD (IRI)
130kg- Levani ARABULI (GEO) df. Mehdi NOURI (IRI) by forfeit.

Bimeh Razi (IRI) df. Buyuksehir (TUR), 8-2
55kg- Moslem NADERI KHADEM (IRI) df. Muslum ALINLI (TUR), 3-1
60kg- Mehrdad MARDANI (IRI) df. Hammet RUSTEM (TUR), 13-6                 
63kg- Fatih UCUNCU (TUR) Pinned Saman ABDEVALI (IRI)
67kg- Hossein ASADI (IRI) df. Atakan YUKSEL (TUR) by forfeit
72kg- Farshad BELFEKE (IRI) df. Yunus OZEL (TUR), 2-1
77kg- Roman VLASOV (RUS/ Bimeh Team) df. Serkan AKKOYUN (TUR), 4-0
82kg- Saeid ABDVALI (IRI) df. Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR), 3-1
87kg- Mehdi FALLAH (IRI) df. Metehan BASAR (TUR) by forfeit
97kg- Irfan METE (TUR) df. Seyed Mostafa SALEHIZADEH (IRI) by forfeit
130kg- Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO/ Bimeh Team) df. Fatih BASKOY (TUR), 5-0


Fifth Place match: Moscow (RUS) df. Shohadaye Modafe Haram Qom (IRI), 8-2
55kg- Aleksei KINZHIGALIEV (RUS) TF. Mehdi GHORBANI (IRI), 11-0
60kg- Sergey EMELIN (RUS) TF. Reza MORADI (IRI), 10-1       
63kg- Sanal SEMENOV (RUS) Pinned Mehdi MORAD HASELI (IRI)
67kg- Pavel SALEEV (RUS) Pinned Aliakbar PASALARI (IRI)
72kg- Denis MURTAZIN (RUS) TF. Ali SOLEYMANI (IRI), 8-0
77kg- Hadi ALIZADEH (IRI) wins by forfeit
82kg- Roman YUSIPOV (RUS) df. Mohammad Reza REZAEI (IRI), 6-2
87kg- Mehdi EBRAHIMI (IRI) df. Aleksei MISHIN (RUS) by forfeit
97kg- Musa EVLOEV (RUS) df. Omid EFTEKHARI ASL (IRI), 3-0
130kg- Zurabi GEDEKHAURI (RUS) TF. Parsa NAZARI (IRI), 9-0

Seventh place match: Dinamo (ARM) df. Samsun (UKR), 6-4

Sina Sanat Izeh (IRI) df. Dinamo (ARM), 6-4
55kg- Rudik MKRTCHYAN (ARM) TF. Sergii STOROZHENKO (UKR), 8-0
60kg- Murad HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) Pinned Andriy MARTYNYUK (UKR), 3-0
63kg- Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM)df. Anton KUTSENKO (UKR), 9-2
67kg- Aleksan MIKAYELYAN (ARM) df. Fevzi MAMUTOV (UKR), 6-1
72kg- Artur POLITAIEV (UKR) Pinned Armen HAKOBYAN (ARM), 8-4
77kg- Ruben GHARIBYAN (ARM) df. Keyvan REZAEI (IRI), 10-6
82kg- Argishti ABGARYAN (ARM) df. Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR),2-2
87kg- Iurii SHKRIUBA (UKR) df. Gegam TORGOMYAN (ARM), 6-4
97kg- Mykola KRYSOV (UKR) TF. Vagharsak MINASYAN (ARM), 9-0
130kg- Mykola KUCHMII (UKR) df. Edgar KHACHATRYAN (ARM), 4-1

Ninth place match: Olympic Hopes (ROU) df. Busapest SC (HUN), 5-4
(Both team had no wrestler at 82kg)
55kg- Florin TITA (ROU) TF. József ANDRASI (HUN), 11-2
60kg- Razvan ARNAUT (ROU) df. István VANCZA (HUN), 6-1
63kg- Bence KOVACS (HUN) TF. Teodor HORATAU (ROU), 12-1
67kg- István KOZAK (HUN) TF. Irinel BOTEZ MIHAI (ROU), 8-0
72kg- Martin TOTH  (HUN) TF. Boanta NICOLAE (ROU), 10-0
77kg- Adrian AGACHE (ROU) wins by forfeit
82kg- Both team didn’t have wrestler
87kg- Samuel OJOG NICU (ROU) TF. Bence MARTIN(HUN), 9-0
97kg- Róbert ÉRSEK (HUN) df. Constantin PIRVAN DORIN (ROU), 1-1
130kg- Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU) df. Almasi FERENC (HUN), 4-0

 

#JapanWrestling

I Want to Win Second Olympic Gold at LA 2028: Higuchi

Friday, May 22, 2026 - 10:59 By United World Wrestling Press

Share this article

TOKYO (May 22) -- Paris Olympic champion at 57kg Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) returned to competition for the 2026 Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships in Tokyo. After reaching the 61kg final on Saturday, Higuchi defeated Toshihiro HASEGAWA (JPN), 3-0, in the gold medal bout.

Normally, the two should have wrestle off to earn a spot on the Japan team for the 2026 World Championships. However, Higuchi withdrew from the play-off to everyone's surprise. He later talked to the press. Excerpts:

UWW Plus

-- On withdrawing from World Championships wrestle-off against Hasegawa

Higuchi: In December, the qualifying process at 57kg starts for [the 2028] Los Angeles [Olympics]. There is the World Championships, but all I am thinking of is a second straight title in Los Angeles. Strategically speaking, I have six months from now to get my body ready and drop to 57kg, and I want to give that priority. That's how I came to this decision."

-- On his performance at the Meiji Cup

Higuchi: I tried various new takedowns, and I was able to apply pressure in the clinch as well. I think it went pretty well, more or less. There was one throw I felt I could have executed better, and there were a few other areas where I wanted to finish things off more decisively. I guess there’s a mix of things to reflect on and things that went well. It feels like a bit of a mixed bag. 

-- On his return after 21 months since 2024 Paris Olympics

Higuchi: It was definitely fun. It was my first match in a long time, so I was really excited and nervous, but I’m not the type to feel too much pressure. Even as an Olympic champion, how should I put it?, I’m sure there were people hoping for an upset, but whether I win or lose, the fact that I’m an Olympic gold medalist doesn’t change. So in that sense, I was able to let go of the pressure and really enjoy the wrestling.

-- On his physical health

Higuchi: In the first match, I definitely felt like my legs were really heavy. It had been a while since my last match, and it had been a while since I’d reduce weight too. There were moments where I wondered, “Is this really okay?” But by the second match, the semifinal, I was gradually finding my rhythm and moving well. I really feel it was great that I was able to compete once six months ago, rather than starting all of a sudden this December.

-- On any improvements for future

Higuchi: First of all, I need to build a body that’s properly suited for the 57kg weight class. It’s been a while since I’ve competed, so I didn’t perform as well as I’d hoped. I think if I refocus and tighten up my game, I’ll be able to deliver an even better performance. I really want to get back to training soon. It was so much fun. It’s been a while, but I feel like I can pull off all sorts of new moves and do so much more, so I’m eager to get back to training. 

-- On motivation for LA 2028

Higuchi: There’s only one person in the history of Japanese wrestling [Freestyle] who has won back-to-back Olympic gold medals. My goal is to become the strongest wrestler in the history of Japanese wrestling. In terms of records. There are many great predecessors, but I want to break their records. I want to become the kind of figure where people say, “Rei Higuchi was the strongest in Japanese wrestling history.”

I want to wrap things up by winning two consecutive gold medals in Los Angeles.