Youth Olympic Games

Georgia and Iran Place Two in Greco-Roman Finals

Friday, October 12, 2018 - 15:14 By Tim Foley

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BUENOS AIRES (October 12) – Wrestling powerhouses Georgia and Iran each placed a pair of wrestlers into Friday night’s Greco-Roman finals at the Youth Olympic Games.

Georgia’s Giorgi TOKHADZE impressed at 51kg defeating his two opponents by fall and  technical superiority, while teammate Giorgi CHKHIKVADZE squeaked past Sahak HOVHANNISYAN (ARM) 3-1 to make the finals at 60kg.

It was a stressful morning for Iranian fans at both Amirreza DEHBOZORGI (45kg) and Mohammad Ghorbanali NOSRATI (IRI) needed come-from-behind performances to make their way into tonight’s final. Dehbozorgi was trailing 1-0 against Edmond NAZARYAN (BUL) before fighting his way back to the win, 3-2. Meanwhile, Nosarti trailed Mukhammad EVLOEV (RUS) 3-0 after the first period but scored five unanswered points in the second to earn his ticket to the finals.


Ecuador’s Jeremy PARALTA GONZALEZ  and Japan’s Wataru SASAKI are queued up for finals action at 45kg. The lightweight pair each breezed through their respective groups, filling the auditorium with the cheers of fans, setting up what is certain to be a high flying finale.

Full Results from Session I at the Youth Olympic Games can be found, HERE.

Action resumes at 5pm local/4pm ET.

Greco-Roman, 45kg
GOLD: Amirreza DEHBOZORGI (IRI) v. Jeremy Renzo PERALTA GONZALEZ (ECU)
BRONZE: Edmond Armen NAZARYAN (BUL) v. Arslanbek ZAKIRBAYEV (TKM)
FIFTH: Abdalla M. SHAABAN (EGY) v. Densel Jaffet DE JESUS VALERIO (HON)

Greco-Roman, 51kg
GOLD: Wataru SASAKI (JPN) v. Giorgi TOKHADZE (GEO)
BRONZE:  Axel Andre SALAS ESQUIVEL (MEX)  v. Eduardo LOVERA (ARG)
FIFTH: Mehdi JOUINI (TUN) v. Alexander ADINIWIN (MHL)

Greco-Roman, 60kg
GOLD: Elmirbek SADYROV (KGZ) v. Giorgi CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
BRONZE: Miguel Angel UGALDE AGUILAR (MEX) v. Sahak HOVHANNISYAN (ARM)
FIFTH: Arapo Ngatuerua George KELLNER (NZL) v. Ahmed Abdelhakim MERIKHI (ALG)

Greco-Roman, 71kg
GOLD: Alexandrin GUTU (MDA) v. Stepan STARODUBTSEV (RUS)
BRONZE: Lamjed MAAFI (TUN) v. Shu YAMADA (JPN)
FIFTH: Brandon CALLE PEREZ (COL) v. Lynch Xavier Tanglao SANTOS (GUM)

Greco-Roman, 92kg
GOLD: Osman AYAYDIN (TUR) v. Mohammad Ghorbanali NOSRATI (IRI)
BRONZE: Shady Elkhalil Ibrahim A. WEHIB (EGY) v. Mukhammad EVLOEV (RUS)
FIFTH: Ariston Faamalosi BARTLEY (ASA) v. Igor Fernando ALVES DE QUEIROZ (BRA)

 

#WrestleSamokov

Japan defends U20 Worlds women's team title

Friday, August 22, 2025 - 23:31 By Vinay Siwach

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SAMOKOV, Bulgaria (August 22) -- Japan defended its Women's Wrestling team title at the World U20 Championships in Samokov, Bulgaria with two more gold medals on Friday.

The Women's Wrestling competition came to a close in Bulgaria with three weight classes, 50kg, 53kg and 72kg, and Japan won the first two gold medals while India won 72kg. India finished second in the team race with 140 points, 25 less than Japan which had 165 points.

Rinka OGAWA (JPN) won the 50kg gold medal with 9-3 win over three-time age-group world medalist Audrey JIMINEZ (USA) in the final. Ogawa gave up the first takedown but she hit a single-leg and turn to lead 4-2 at the break.

The second period was more scrappy but Ogawa gave up just a reversal while four points to win 8-3. The United States challenged at the end of match but there was no points for Jiminez and one more point to Ogawa's score for the lost challenge.

This was Jiminez's third loss to a Japanese wrestler in finals of World Championships. She lost to Umi ITO (JPN) in the World U20 and U23 finals in 2022 and 2023 respectively. Her one other loss came to Yanrong LI (USA) in 2023 at the World U20 Championships. She will now look to change her fortunes at the senior World Championships in Zagreb next month.

Japan's second gold cane with Natsumi MASUDA (JPN) who defeated European U20 champion Anastasiia POLSKA (UKR) in controlled 6-0 final. She scored three takedowns in six minutes for the win and earn herself the gold medal.

At 72kg, world U17 silver medalist last month, KAJAL (IND) managed to survive a fall attempt and a threating Yuqi LIU (CHN) in the final and win her first world U20 title to go with her world U17 gold from 2024.

Kajal used snapdowns to pressure Liu and score three takedowns and lead 6-0 but as the match progressed Liu hit a leg-attack and scored a takedown, and cradle Kajal who barely managed to get out off the lock and keep the 6-4 lead.

Both traded a takedown each in the remainder of the bout but Kajal held on for an 8-6 lead and win the gold medal.

RESULTS

50kg
GOLD: Rinka OGAWA (JPN) df. Audrey JIMENEZ (USA), 9-3

BRONZE: SHRUTI (IND) df. Josephine WRENSCH (GER), 6-0
BRONZE: Na HU (CHN) df. Diana RYSOVA (UKR), 7-5

53kg
GOLD: Natsumi MASUDA (JPN) df. Anastasiia POLSKA (UKR), 6-0

BRONZE: SAARIKA (IND) df. Ilona VALCHUK (POL), 11-0
BRONZE: Kseniya KOSTSENICH (UWW) df. Abigale COOPER (USA), 11-10

72kg
GOLD: KAJAL (IND) df. Yuqi LIU (CHN), 8-6

BRONZE: Kristina BRATCHIKOVA (UWW) df. Haticenur SARI (TUR), 17-12
BRONZE: Kaiyrkul SHARSHEBAEVA (KGZ) vs. Jasmine ROBINSON (USA), via inj. def.