Turkish Nationals

Demirhan, Tosun, and Yesilirmak Punch Tickets to World and European Championships

Wednesday, January 9, 2019 - 17:05 By Eric Olanowski

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YALOVA, Turkey (January 9) - The Turkish Women’s Wrestling National Championships came to an end in Yalova, Turkey, and U23 world champions Evin DEMIRHAN and Buse TOSUN, and 2018 world runner-up Elif YESILIRMAK were among the winners.

Of the ten tournament champions, nine wrestlers punched their tickets to the 2019 World and European Championships. Yasin ADAR, the 2017 world champion and 2018 world runner-up did not compete at this weekend's National Championships but will be Turkey's 76kg representative at the World and European Championships.

In his opening ceremony speech, Turkish Wrestling Federation President Musa Aydin talked about the importance of September's Astana World Championships, saying, "Our first goal is the 2019 World Championships because there's now an Olympic quota. Athletes entering the top 6 in 2019 will receive a visa. We want to ensure that our athletes receive their visas one year in advance. Our goal is to join the Olympics by creating the best wrestling team in the world in 2020." 

The 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan will be the most important Olympic Games in Turkish women's wrestling history. Turkey has won 63 Olympic medals, 29 of those being gold, at the Olympic Games, but they've all come from freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestlers. 

Six Turkish women have qualified for the Olympic Games, but have all fell short of winning a medal. Their highest finishes came at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games when Buse Tosun, who won the 68kg gold medal this weekend, and Hafize SAHIN finished in seventh-place. 

Elif Yesilirmak, who won the 62kg gold medal this weekend, was the first and lone Turkish women to wrestle at the 2008 London Olympics. She also competed in the 2016 Olympic Games, and has the opportunity to become the first Turkish woman to qualify for three Olympic Games. 

You can watch the Turkish women's wrestling team compete at the first Ranking Series event of the year, the Ivan Yaryin, which begins on January 24 in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.

Click HERE to read the full story from the Turkish Wrestling Federation. 

RESULTS

50kg
GOLD - Evin DEMIRHAN 
SILVER - Aynur ERGE 
BRONZE - Funda TUKENMEZ 
BRONZE - Zehra DEMIRHAN 
 

53kg 
GOLD - Zeynep YETGIL 
SILVER - Emine ÇATALOGLU 
BRONZE - Elif Büşra KOCA 
BRONZE - Fikriye GOK

55kg  
GOLD - Bedia DAY 
SILVER - Elif YILMAZ 
BRONZE - Aysun ERGE 
BRONZE Esra PUL 

57kg  
GOLD - Mehlika OZTURK 
SILVER - Ozge FINDIKCI 
BRONZE - Nurife DUMAN 
BRONZE - Nuray KARADUMAN


59kg  
GOLD - Elif YANIK 
SILVER - Derya BEYHAN 
BRONZE - Dilan KAYA 
BRONZE - Gizem KABAK 
 

65kg 
GOLD - Asli TUGCU 
SILVER - Cansu AKSOY 
BRONZE - Merve KARADENIZ 
BRONZE - Asli DEMIR 

62kg 
GOLD - Elif YESILIRMAK 
SILVER - İlknur BATIR 
BRONZE - Damla ARSLAN 
BRONZE - Cemile UNUDAN 

68kg
GOLD - Buse TOSUN 
SILVER - Kadriye AKSOY 
BRONZE - Sehernur BULUT 
FOURTH - Aysegul SEVER 

72kg  
GOLD - Merve PULA 
SILVER - Tugba SWORD 
BRONZE - Bester ANDERSON 

76kg 
GOLD - Aysegul OZBEGE 
SILVER - Mehtap GULTEKIN 
BRONZE - Fatma KANLIADA 

#wrestlebishkek

Asian Championships 2026 Day 1 Greco-Roman Highlights

Sunday, April 5, 2026 - 19:41 By Ken Marantz & Vinay Siwach

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BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (April 6) -- For the first time, the Asian Championships will be held in two-day format. The edition in Bishkek will begin with Greco-Roman, followed by Women's Wrestling and then Freestyle. Five Greco-Roman weight classes -- 55kg, 63kg, 77kg, 87kg and 130kg -- are in action on Monday.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS PREVIEW

The semifinals will begin at 18:00 local time

55kg
SF 1: Huoying SHI (CHN) vs. LALIT (IND)
SF 2: Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB) vs. Ulan MURATBEK UULU (KGZ)

63kg
SF 1: Azatjan ACHILOV (TKM) vs. Aftandil TAALAIBEK UULU (KGZ)
SF 2: Erfan JARKANI (IRI) vs. Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB)

77kg
SF 1: Ali OSKOU (IRI) vs. AMAN (IND)
SF 2: Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB) vs. Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ)

87kg
SF 1: Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ) vs. Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ)
SF 2: Sunil KUMAR (IND) vs. Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI)

130kg
SF 1: Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) vs. Minseok KIM (KOR)
SF 2: Yuta NARA (JPN) vs. Rafael TSITSUASHVILI (UZB)

13:10: World champion Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) begins his Asian title defense with a 10-0 win over Roman KIM (KGZ) and advance to the semifinals. He will face Minseok KIM (KOR)

13:03: Returning bronze medalist Yuta NARA (JPN) gets the winning score with a slow-motion gut wrench in the second period, prevailing on last-point criteria 3-3 over two-time Asian U23 silver medalist Jokhar UZAROV (KAZ) to advance to the 130kg semifinals.

12:58: Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) gets a gut wrench to the back upgraded to a 4-point move upon his opponent's challenge, giving him a 10-0 victory over two-time bronze medalist Mukhammadkodir RASULOV (UZB) and moving him a step closer to a second straight gold, this time up at 87kg after winning at 82kg last year.

12:57: World bronze medalist Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ) with some big throws and a fall against Dovletmyrat BAYRAMOV (TKM) at 87kg in just 30 seconds. Zhanyshov vs Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) final will be a treat.

12:50: Sunil KUMAR (IND), the last Indian to win a Greco gold when he did on home soil in New Dehli in 2020, reeled off two gut wrenches from par terre in the second period for a 5-1 victory over Shichang ZHENG (CHN) and a place in the 87kg semifinals. Kumar is also going for his fourth career Asian medal.

12:42: Kaisei TANABE (JPN), last year's champion at freestyle 65kg looking to make history with a victory at Greco 63kg, minimized the points scored by Aftandil TAALAIBEK UULU (KGZ), but failed to get enough of his own and came out on the short end of a 4-3 score. Taalaibek Uulu had the first chance in par terre, but even though he lifted Tanabe off his feet, he could only get a 1-point throw out of it. Taalaibek Uulu then got in on a bear hug and lifted Tanabe again, but only got a takedown out of that situation to lead 4-0 at the break. Tanabe got a chance at par terre and hit a gut wrench to cut the gap to 1, but could not pull out the win.

12:32: Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB), aiming to improve on his two bronze medals from 2023 and 2025, rips off four straight rolls from par terre and he's into the 55kg semifinals with a 10-0 win over Hajiali HOSSEINVAND (IRI). The Iranian side pushed the challenge button before the first roll, looking for a leg foul, but the scoring was upheld.

12:25: Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB), a bronze medalist in 2024, makes short work of Amro SADEH (JOR), storming to a quick 9-0 win to earn a semifinal date with Makhmudov.

12:23: There cannot be a better way to find a way to win a Greco-Roman bout that a five-point throw! AMAN (IND) does exactly that in his quarterfinal against Halishan BAHEJIANG (CHN) at 77kg. Aman was down 4-1 but got on a duckunder and locked Bahejiang and completes a perfect throw for five points and wins 6-4

12:20: Ali OSKOU (IRI), Zagreb Open Ranking Series champion at 77kg, defends from par terre twice, against Yeonghun NOH (KOR) and he does that well, once with 25 seconds remaining to win 5-2 and advance to the semifinals.

12:18: Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) with another spectacular throw as he defeats Kaharman KISSYMETOV (KAZ) 9-1 to gain a place in the semifinals. Makhmudov is put on the bottom of par terre, but wiggles his way out and gets behind for a takedown. Then the fun starts, as he hits a high-flying 4-point throw to lead 6-1. In the second period, Makhmudov gets the top position, and he quickly executes a gut wrench that ends the proceedings.

12:10: Roman KIM (KGZ) gets the home crowd going, getting four straight rolls from par terre to knock off Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL) 9-0 at 130kg. Batbayar is one of a few wrestlers who will be doing the Greco-Freestyle double in Bishkek — he's the Asian U23 champion in freestyle!

12:08: Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI), the reigning world champion at 82kg, has moved up to the Olympic weight of 87kg and gets off to a good start, overwhelming Muhammad SULTONZODA (TJK) 9-0 in less than two minutes.

12:05: Hyunwoong CHOI (KOR) survives a battle against Huangsheng WU (CHN) at 63kg. He was leading 11-6 when Wu scored a huge four-pointer with 11 seconds remaining to make it 11-10. But the last desperate attempt ended with Choi getting two points and a 13-10 win

12:02: Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB), an Asian champion in 2019 and world bronze medalist in 2023, is looking to regain the magic up a weight at 63kg. He cruises through his opening match, handily defeating  Rayan HAWSAWI (KSA) 8-0.

11:51: Hajiali HOSSEINVAND (IRI), winner at the Zagreb Ranking Series tournament, advances at 55kg with a 4-0 victory over Nurzat KABDYRAKHIMOV (KAZ). Hosseinvand chalks up three points in the first period, then adds a stepout in the second.

11:41: Local star Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) gets the tournament off to an exciting start with a 4-point bear hug en route to a 7-3 victory over a spunky Isami HORIKITA (JPN) in the opening match at 77kg. Makhmudov, a two-time Olympic medalist and two-time world champion aiming for his fourth career Asian gold, used a bear hug to power Horikita to the mat, then added a 2-point roll for 6-1 lead. In the second period, Makhmudov got the passivity point, but when he tried a gut wrench from par terre, Horikita stepped over for a 2-point exposure. But that was the end of the scoring and Makhmudov was safely through. 

11:15: The Asian Championships will get underway in Bishkek with Greco-Roman. Five weight classes with local hero Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) in action as well.