#BuchaWrestU23

Elsayed Wins Egypt’s First World Gold Since 2006

Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - 19:11 By Taylor Miller

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Photo of  Mohamed Ibrahim ELSAYED (EGY) by Martin Gabor. 

BUCHAREST, Romania – For the first time in 12 years, at any age group and in any style, Egypt produced a World champion with Mohamed Ibrahim ELSAYED winning the U23 World title at 67 kg in Greco-Roman on Wednesday night in Bucharest, Romania.

The last Egyptian World champion was Mohamed Ibrahim Abdelfattah, who won a 2006 Senior World gold in Greco-Roman at 84 kg.

For Elsayed, it was a dominant run to the gold. At the break, Elsayed held a 2-0 lead over 2012 Cadet World champion Karim JAFAROV (AZE). From there, the Egyptian kept piling on the points, eventually shutting out his opponent for an 8-0 technical fall.

At 60 kg, Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) won his second World title in as many years, picking up a technical fall in the gold-medal match.

Taking on Murad MAMMADOV (AZE) in the 60 kg final, Fumita trailed, 1-0, at the break. The second period saw big action from Fumita, who landed two big four-point throws and exposure. On his second throw, Fumita held Mammadov to his back for the fall at 4:37. The new U23 World champion led 10-1 at the time of the pin.

Last year, Fumita won gold at the 2017 Senior World Championships in Paris, France.

Russia picked up its first champion of the tournament as Aleksandr GOLOVIN (RUS) won his second-straight U23 World championship, holding off Zsolt TOEROEK (HUN). Golovin secured a 4-2 lead in the first period and added to it in the second period, drawing a passivity point from Toerek. The Russian held on for a 5-2 win.

After falling short in last year’s U23 World finals, Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO) made his way to the top of the podium, winning the 82 kg crown.

Despite a loud Romanian crowd surrounding him, Bolkvadze battled back from a 3-0 deficit against Nicu OJOG (ROU). With less than a minute left, Ojog was put down for passivity, giving 2015 Junior World champion Bolkvadze a chance on top.

The Georgian worked hard before exposing Ojog on a gut wrench to even it up 3-3 and hold onto an eventual win on criteria.

At 72 kg, 2018 U23 European silver medalist Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR) defeated two-time Junior World champion Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO) with a 2-1 decision with no offensive points scored.

In the team race, Georgia ran away with the title, thanks to its three World champions, scoring 126 points. Russia was second as a team, putting up 101 points. Rounding out the top five was Turkey, Japan and Azerbaijan.  

Finals results

60 kg
GOLD – Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) df. Murad MAMMADOV (AZE), 10-1
BRONZE – Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB), 9-1
BRONZE – Mehdi Seifollah MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) df. Armen MELIKYAN (ARM), 10-1

67 kg
GOLD – Mohamed Ibrahim ELSAYED (EGY) df. Karim JAFAROV (AZE), 8-0
BRONZE – Otto LOSONCZI (HUN) df. Ryo NAKAHASHI (JPN), 5-3
BRONZE – Alen MIRZOIAN (RUS) df. Murat FIRAT (TUR), 11-2 

72 kg
GOLD – Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR) df. Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO), 2-1
BRONZE – Kaharman KISSYMETOV (KAZ) df. Narek OGANIAN (RUS), 5-0
BRONZE – Tamas LEVAI (HUN) df. Artur POLITAIEV (UKR), 9-0

82 kg
GOLD – Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO) df. Nicu OJOG (ROU), 3-3
BRONZE – Mikita KLIMOVICH (BLR) df. Takahiro TSURUDA (JPN), 10-0
BRONZE – Mahdi EBRAHIMI (IRI) df. Ahmed Hassan AHMED (EGY), 5-4 

97 kg
GOLD – Aleksandr GOLOVIN (RUS) df. Zsolt TOEROEK (HUN), 5-2  
BRONZE – Ali HEIDARI (IRI) df. Orkhan NURIYEV (AZE), 2-1
BRONZE – Giorgi MELIA (GEO) df. Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA), 3-1

Team results (top five)
1. Georgia – 126
2. Russia – 101
3. Turkey – 87
4. Japan – 80
5. Azerbaijan – 71

 

#WrestleTirana

Breaking down freestyle battles at World Championships for Non-Olympic weights

Wednesday, October 16, 2024 - 09:44 By Vinay Siwach

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TIRANA, Albania (October 15) -- Six months ago, no one had the Sadulaev-Taylor-Ghasempour three-way battle for world title on their bingo card. But it is about to go down in Tirana.

The World Championships in non-Olympic weight classes is returning after eight years. Despite the fact that none of the Paris Olympic participants were allowed in the tournament, it still has a host of stars hoping to become world champions.

Abdulrashid SADULAEV (AIN), a two-time Olympic and five-time world champion, did not participate in the Paris Olympics and is going down a weight class to 92kg in a bid to earn his sixth world title. Three-time world champion David TAYLOR (USA) jumped from 86kg to 92kg in a bid to compete at the World Championships. He now gets a shot at Sadulaev. Two-time world champion at 92kg Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI), who has been moving up and down in weight classes, has somehow been made the challenger.

Ghasempour participated in the 97kg weight class in the Zagreb Open but lost to Kyle SNYDER (USA). He was in line for Iran's 86kg spot for Paris but later opted out of a trial against Hassan YAZDANI (IRI).

Sadulaev lost a bout for the second time in his career and first in six years when he lost to Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) at the 2023 World Championships. Taylor lost to Aaron BROOKS (USA) in the U.S. Olympic trials and Ghasempour barely scraped through in the trials for the world team in Iran.

Yet, the three will be the favorite for the gold medal and it will only be a surprise if any of them miss out on the podium in Tirana.

Jordan BURROUGHS (USA)Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) is eyeing his seventh world title. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Six-time world champion Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) is also chasing history. If he wins, he will win his seventh world title, making him the most successful American wrestler at the World Championships. He missed out on competing at the 2023 World Championships but stormed back in 2024, winning the trial in the United States.

But his path to gold won't be an easy one. Two-time U23 world champion Magomed MAGOMAEV (AIN), former world silver medalist Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO), three-time world medalist Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI) and Asian champion Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) are also in the fray.

Nokhodi and Burroughs have wrestled in two back-to-back World Championships finals with the latter winning both. But Burroughs suffered his first loss to an Iranian in 2022 when Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI) defeated him at the World Cup and Nokhodi will draw confidence from there.

All the big names will be looking to hand Burroughs his first World Championships loss since 2019.

Vitali ARUJAU (USA)Vitali ARUJAU (USA) is the defending world champion at 61kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Another Olympic champion eyeing a world title will be Zavur UGUEV (AIN) as he last won the second of two titles in 2019. Uguev won gold at the Tokyo Olympics at 57kg but finished fifth at the 2023 World Championships. He will be at 61kg in Tirana hoping to deny defending world champion Vitali ARUJAU (USA) a second world title.

Arujau won his first world gold medal in 2023 by beating Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (AIN) in a tense final. He won the team trials in the U.S. to confirm his name for the World Championships in Tirana.

An interesting name entered is Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB). The former European champion will turn out for Serbia at 61kg but it is unlikely that he will be challenging for gold.

Masanosuke ONO (JPN), however, can be a big threat for the gold medal given his style and pace of wrestling. He rocked the competition at the U20 World Championships last month and won gold at 61kg. It will be interesting to see how he fares at his first senior World Championships.

Asian Championships silver medalist UDIT (IND) and Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) have some good wins under their belts over the past two years and they would like to make a mark in Tirana.

Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN)Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN) and Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) wrestled in the U23 World Championships final last year. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

U23 world and European champion Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN) will be making his senior international debut at 70kg in Tirana and will be the favorite to win the gold medal. However, the field has other top contenders like Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI), Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) and James GREEN (USA) among others.

Yazdani lost the final at 70kg last year to Zain RETHERFORD (USA) but will look to make amends this year. He won the Asian Championships over Aoyagi in a high-scoring final. Yazdani's 13-9 win over Aoyagi was not convincing and the Japanese will look to change the result if the two meet in Tirana. Aoyagi was in the final against Sheriev but dropped the final 9-3. He finished eighth at the World Championships in 2023.

Former U20 world champion for Iran, Peiman BIABANI (CAN) will be turning out for Canada. He finished second at the Pan-Am Championships and the World Championships will be a big test for him. 2023 bronze medalist Ramazan RAMAZANOV (BUL) will look to change the color of his medal this year.