#WrestleAlmaty

Bolat Turlykhanov Cup weight-to-watch: 130kg

Monday, May 30, 2022 - 13:28 By Eric Olanowski

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ALMATY, Kazakhstan (May 30) -- The depth of the 10-man 130kg field at the upcoming Bolat Turlykhanov Cup Ranking Series event (June 2-5) will feature the reigning Olympic silver medalist, senior world champion, U23 world gold-medal holder, Asian championship winner and five of the top-20 ranked wrestlers in the world.

The must-watch weight will be headlined by top-ranked Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO), but Iran is bringing two young guns who are battling for a potential place on the Belgrade world championship team.

Kajaia enters the second Ranking Series event in Almaty ranked first in the world with 76, 200 points, commanding a 20,800-point lead over Riza KAYAALP (TUR). The Tokyo Olympic runner-up is on the verge of locking up the No. 1 seed for the Belgrade World Championships with a gold-medal finish. A win in Kazakhstan would give Kajaia 8,000 points, bringing his overall total to 84, 200 points. The magic number he needs to cement that top spot is 84, 000 points.

130kg Ranking Series points up for grab in Almaty:
1st - 8000
2nd - 6400
3rd - 5200
5th - 4000
7th - 3520
8th - 3200
9th - 2800
10th - 2480

With three Ranking Series events left, and without the second through fourth-ranked wrestlers -- No. 2 Kayaalp, No. 3 Yasmani ACOSTA (CHI) and No. 4 Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) -- in Kazakhstan, Aliakbar YOUSOFIA (IRI) is the only other wrestler who can halt the Georgian big man’s quest from locking up that top seed.

Yousofia, the reigning 130kg world champion, is ranked fifth in the world with 45,000 points. He would need to earn 31,300 points over the next three Ranking Series tournaments to sit atop the bracket in Belgrade. Although it’s a long shot and the scenario is very unlikely to happen, the Iranian super heavyweight could steal the top spot if Kajaia missed reaching that 84,000-point mark and elected to sit out of the final two Ranking Series competitions. The Iranian also needs to win gold in Rome and Tunisia with more than 16 wrestlers entered at 130kg.

Yousofia will certainly be hunting down that top seed, but he’ll also be in a battle for Iran’s world team spot with No. 14 Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI). The winner will likely represent Iran at the World Championships later this year.

The last time the two met was at the 2021 Poland Open Ranking Series event, which determined Iran’s 130kg Tokyo Olympic spot. Mirzazadeh defeated Yousofia, 3-1, in the finals and punched his ticket to the Tokyo Games. He ultimately finished fifth in Tokyo, only falling to Lopez and Kayaalp.

Two months later, he was scheduled to compete in Oslo but tested positive for COVID and was forced to sit out of the '21 World Championships.

In Mirzazadeh’s absence, Yousofia received the nod and ran with his chance. He won all four of his Oslo matches, capping off an unthinkable run to the 130kg world title with a 3-1 win over Zurabi GEDEKHAURI (RWF).

After recovering from COVID, Mirzazadeh returned to the mat at the U23 World Championships, dominating his bouts en route to winning his second world title and first since the 2018 U20 world gold.


Osman YILDIRIM (TUR) will look to try to win a second consecutive Ranking Series event. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

Another guy looking to make some noise at 130kg is No. 7 Osman YILDIRIM (TUR). With Kayaalp being sidelined by personal matters, Turkey will rely on Yildirim to replace the four-time world champion for the foreseeable future.

Yildirim proved that he has the caliber to compete with the best at 130kg with a fifth-place finish at last year's World Championships and by winning gold earlier this year at the Yasar Dogu Ranking Series event.

In Oslo, he reached the bronze-medal bout but fell one point shy of winning a world medal. Then in January, he scored wins over Asian champions Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) and No. 16 Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ) before grabbing gold with a 3-1 win over Beka KANDELAKI (AZE) in Istanbul.

Kazakhstan’s reigning Asian champion Syzdykov is also entered at 130kg. He’s fresh off one of the best three-match stretches of his career. At the Asian Championships, the Kazakh won by technical superiority over Roman KIM (KGZ) and Arata SONODA (JPN) before pinning world bronze medalist Minseok KIM (KOR) to win continental gold.

All the action from Kazakhstan starts on Thursday and can be followed live on uww.org.

130kg (10 entries)
No. 1 Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO)
No. 5 Aliakbar YOUSOFIAHMADCHALI (IRI)
No. 7 Osman YILDIRIM (TUR)
No. 14 Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI)
No. 16 Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ)
Sulkhan BUIDZE (GEO)
SATISH (IND)
Mansur SHADUKAYEV (KAZ)
Anton SAVENKO (KAZ)
Murat RAMONOV (KGZ)

#WrestleAmman

U17 Worlds: Iran, Ukraine, Kazakhstan earn two spots in finals

Monday, August 19, 2024 - 20:29 By Vinay Siwach

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AMMAN, Jordan (August 19) -- Three different countries managed to send two wrestlers to the finals on the first day of the U17 World Championships in Amman, Jordan. The four other finalists were from Uzbekistan, the United States, Hungary and an Individual Neutral Athlete.

Iran, Ukraine and Kazakhstan were the only countries with multiple finalists on day one of the tournament, the first World Championships of 2024.

Iran was led by Armin SHAMSIPOUR (IRI) at 48kg as he rolled into finals without conceding a single point in three bouts. With two technical superiorities before the semifinals, Shamsipour added another when he defeated Yedige TOLEUTAYEV (KAZ) 10-0.

U17 Asian champion Khusniddin ABDUKARIMOV (UZB) will look to stop the Iranian in the final as he also has three technical superiority wins. He beat Laszlo SZUROMI (HUN), 8-0, in the semifinal to set up a final between two of the best wrestlers on day one.

The second Iran wrestler to reach the final was Amir Mahdi SAEIDI (IRI) at 65kg. While his semifinal 1-1 win over Narek GRIGORIAN (ARM) was actionless, Saeidi defeated Fayozbek ESHMIRZAEV (UZB) 9-1 in the quarterfinals. He thus avenged his loss from the U17 Asian Championships final at the same venue.

Vladyslav POKOTYLO (UKR)Vladyslav POKOTYLO (UKR) defeated Emil ABDULLAYEV (AZE) in the 65kg semifinal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostandin Andonov)

He will take on U17 European champion Vladyslav POKOTYLO (UKR) for the gold medal. Pokotylo was at his best in the quarterfinals and semifinals, beating Dzhabrail UMKHADZHIEV (AIN) 3-1 and Emil ABDULLAYEV (AZE), 4-1, respectively.

For Ukraine, Ivan YANKOVSKYI (UKR) will also look to win the gold medal after he reached the 110kg final. The U17 European champion posted three technical superiority wins with the third coming against Aliasghar DADBAKHSH (IRI) in the semifinals.

Zoltan CZAKO (HUN), a surprise finalist, will try to stop Yankovskyi from winning the gold medal on Tuesday. In the semifinals, Czako was up against last year's silver medalist RONAK (IND) who tried an arm-spin but Czako blocked it and held Ronak on the mat to secure a fall in 17 seconds.

Alpamys BOLATULY (KAZ)Alpamys BOLATULY (KAZ) reached the 55kg final in Amman. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Kazakhstan managed two finalists in Alpamys BOLATULY (KAZ) at 55kg and Yerkebulan ANAPIYA (KAZ) at 80kg. This is the first time since 2019 U17 World Championships that Kazakhstan has a finalist in Greco-Roman.

Bolatuly, who finished 12th last year, put on a show in the semifinal against Yurik MKHITARYAN (ARM), winning the bout 13-8. His earlier wins included a 10-1 win over Amirali HEYDARI (IRI) in the quarterfinals and an 8-0 win over Yuki HIROHASHI (JPN) in the 1/8 finals.

For the gold, Bolatuly will face Jayden RANEY (USA) who pulled a classic in the semifinal. Down 6-0 against Petro ZHYTOVOZ (HUN), Raney stopped the attack from Zhytovoz and pinned him just before the break. That was Raney's fourth win of the day.

Raney will look to become the fourth Greco-Roman wrestler from the United States to win gold since the tournament restarted in 2011. Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA) won in 2017, Joel ADAMS (USA) won the title in 2022 and Jordyn RANEY (USA) won gold last year. 

U17 Asian silver medalist Anapiya was tested in the semifinal by Orkhan HAJIYEV (AZE) but the Kazakh wrestler came out on top 8-6 to enter the final. He will now face returning silver medalist and U17 European champion Mikhail SHKARIN (AIN).

Shkarin handed Emad Reza MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) a 9-0 thrashing in the semifinal to set up the gold medal bout against Anapiya. Emad is one of the four Mohsen Nejad brothers. Mehdi is a multiple-time Asian medalist and finished fifth at the Paris Olympics while Ahmad won the U20 World Championships gold last year. Yasin is also a Greco-Roman wrestler.

Greco-Roman Semifinal Results

48kg
GOLD: Khusniddin ABDUKARIMOV (UZB) vs. Armin SHAMSIPOUR (IRI)

SF 1: Khusniddin ABDUKARIMOV (UZB) df. Laszlo SZUROMI (HUN), 8-0
SF 2: Armin SHAMSIPOUR (IRI) df. Yedige TOLEUTAYEV (KAZ), 10-0

55kg
GOLD: Jayden RANEY (USA) vs. Alpamys BOLATULY (KAZ)

SF 1: Jayden RANEY (USA) df. Petro ZHYTOVOZ (HUN), via fall (3-6)
SF 2: Alpamys BOLATULY (KAZ) df. Yurik MKHITARYAN (ARM), 13-8

65kg
GOLD: Amir Mahdi SAEIDI (IRI) vs. Vladyslav POKOTYLO (UKR)

SF 1: Amir Mahdi SAEIDI (IRI) df. Narek GRIGORIAN (ARM), 1-1 
SF 2: Vladyslav POKOTYLO (UKR) df. Emil ABDULLAYEV (AZE), 4-1

80kg
GOLD: Yerkebulan ANAPIYA (KAZ) vs. Mikhail SHKARIN (AIN)

SF 1: Yerkebulan ANAPIYA (KAZ) df. Orkhan HAJIYEV (AZE), 8-6
SF 2: Mikhail SHKARIN (AIN) df. Emad Reza MOHSENNEJAD (IRI), 9-0

110kg
GOLD: Zoltan CZAKO (HUN) vs. Ivan YANKOVSKYI (UKR)

SF 1: Zoltan CZAKO (HUN) df. RONAK (IND), via fall
SF 2: Ivan YANKOVSKYI (UKR) df. Aliasghar DADBAKHSH (IRI), 8-0