WORLD CLUBS CUP

Greco-Roman World Clubs Cup Line-ups Announced

By Ali Feizasa

The 2017 Greco-Roman World Clubs Cup is set to take place in Isfahan, Iran, Thursday and Friday.

Of the 13 competing teams, the four who are potential favorites to wrestle for the World Clubs Cup title will be Bimeh Razi (IRI), Buyuksehir (TUR), Moscow (RUS), and Sina Sanat Izeh (IRI).

In the line-up for Sina Sanat Izeh (IRI), the defending champions, is world champion, Maksim MANUKYAN (ARM) and Olympic silver medal winner, Zhan BELENYUK (UKR).

Leading a loaded Moscow squad will be six-time Olympic and world medal winner, Aleksei MISHIN (RUS). Others stars in action for Moscow include world finalist, Musa EVLOEV (RUS), 2017 U-23 world silver medalist, Sergey EMELIN (RUS), and Russian Championships runner-up, Ilias MAGAMADOV (RUS). 

Directing Bimeh Razi, the host team, will be Olympic gold medalist, Roman VLASOV (RUS) and Olympic bronze medalist, Saeid ABDEVALI (IRI). Other big names wrestling for Bimeh Razi are three-time junior world champion Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO), 2017 world bronze medalist, Mohammad Ali GERAEI (IRI), and Artem SURKOV (RUS).

Led by world champion, Metehan BASAR (TUR) and U-23 world champion Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR), World Clubs Cup runner-up in 2017, Buyuksehir (TUR) will be another event favorite.

The competition will be held with new rules in 10 weight categories.

Program of 2017 GR World Clubs Cup:

Thursday
7:30 to 8:00 – Weigh in
10:00 to 14:00- First & second round
15:00 to 16:30- Second and Third round
16:30 to 17:00- Opening ceremony
17:00 to 18:30- Third round
18:30 to 21:30- Competition between second to fourth teams of the groups

Friday
7:00 to 7:30- Weigh-in
9:00 to 10:30- Semifinals between group winners
10:30 to 12:00- Competitions for fifth place to tenth place winners
13:30 to 15:00- Third place match
15:00 to 16:30- Final match

Predictable line-ups of 2017 GR Wrestling World Clubs Cup:

Moscow Team (RUS)
55kg- Aleksei KINZHIGALIEV (RUS)
60kg- Sergey EMELIN (RUS)                  
63kg- Sanal SEMENOV (RUS)
67kg- Pavel SALEEV (RUS)
72kg- Denis MURTAZIN (RUS)
77kg- Ilias MAGAMADOV (RUS)
82kg- Roman YUSIPOV (RUS)
87kg- Aleksei MISHIN (RUS)
97kg- Musa EVLOEV (RUS)
130kg- Zurabi GEDEKHAURI (RUS)

Bimeh Razi Isfahan (IRI)
55kg-– Saman ABDEVALI (IRI)
60kg- Mehrdad MARDANI (IRI)
63kg- Moslem NADERI- Hossein ASADI (IRI)
67kg- Artem SURKOV (RUS)
72kg- Mohammad Ali GERAEI (IRI) - Farshad BELFEKE
77kg- Saeid ABDEVALI
82kg-Roman VLASOV (RUS) -  Mehdi FALLAH (IRI)
87kg- Ali Akbar HEYDARI
97kg- Seyed Mostafa SALEHIZADEH (IRI)
130kg- Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO) - Shahab GHOURE JILI (IRI)

Buyuksehir (TUR)
55kg- Hammet RUSTEM (TUR)
60kg- Muslum ALINLI
63kg- Fatih UCUNCU (TUR)
67kg- Atakan YUKSEL (TUR)
72kg- Yunus OZEL (TUR)
77kg- Serkan AKKOYUN (TUR)
82kg- Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
87kg- Metehan BASAR (TUR)
97kg- Fatih BASKOY (TUR)
130kg- Irfan METE (TUR)

Sina Sanat Izeh (IRI)
55kg- Shirzad BEHESHTI TALA (IRI) – Shahin BODAGHI
60kg- Meysam DELKHANI (IRI) – Reza KHEDRI (IRI)
 63kg- Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI)
67kg- Karen ASLANYAN (ARM) – Behnam MORADI (IRI)
72kg- Ali ARSALAN (IRI)
77kg- Payam BOYERI (IRI)
82kg- Maksim MANUKYAN (ARM) – Keyvan REZAEI (IRI)
87kg- Zhan BELENYUK (UKR)
97kg- Hassan ARYANEJAD
130kg- Mehdi NOURI (IRI)

Dinamo Armenia (ARM)
55kg- Rudik MKRTCHYAN (ARM)
60kg- Murad HARUTYUNYAN
63kg- Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM)
67kg- Aleksan MIKAYELYAN
72kg- Armen HAKOBYAN (ARM)
77kg- Ruben GHARIBYAN (ARM)
82kg- Argishti ABGARYAN (ARM)
87kg- Gegam TORGOMYAN (ARM)
97kg- Vagharsak MINASYAN (ARM)
130kg- Edgar KHACHATRYAN (ARM)

Georgian Club (GEO)
55kg- Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO)
60kg- Beka BALANCHIVADZE (GEO)
63kg- Dato CHKHARTISHBILI
67kg- Tornike JANGAVADZE (GEO) – Muradi MIKELADZE (GEO)
72kg- Ramazi ZOIDZE (GEO)  - Sachino DAVITAIA (GEO)
77kg- Bakuri GOGOLI (GEO)
82kg- Varlami KVARATSKHELIA
87kg- Gurami KHETSURIANI (GEO)
97kg- Kukuri KIRTSKHSLIA
130kg- Levani ARABULI (GEO)

Paok Greece (GRE)
55kg- TBD
60kg- Odysseas MOURTIDIS (GRE)
63kg- Christos THEODORAKIS (GRE)
67kg- Konstantinos MAKRIDIS (GRE)
72kg- Petros MANOUILIDIS (GRE)
77kg- Panagiotis SISMANIDIS  (GRE)
82kg- Ioannis TSEKERIDIS  (GRE)
87kg- Dimitrios TSEKERIDIS  (GRE)
97kg- Leon Laokratis BJURBERG KESSIDIS (GRE)
130kg- Georgios BETAS (GRE)

Budapest SC (HUN)
55kg- József ANDRASI (HUN)
60kg- István VANCZA (HUN)
63kg- Bence KOVACS (HUN)
67kg- István KOZAK (HUN)
72kg- Martin TOTH  (HUN)
77kg- Dominik GEGENY
82kg- Dáriusz VITEK
87kg- Bence MARTIN
97kg- Róbert ÉRSEK
130kg- Arnold PAP

Samsun (UKR)
55kg- Sergii STOROZHENKO (UKR)
60kg- Andriy MARTYNYUK
63kg- Anton KUTSENKO (UKR)
67kg- Fevzi MAMUTOV (UKR)
72kg- Artur POLITAIEV
77kg- Pavlo MOLNAR (UKR)
82kg- Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR)
87kg- Iurii SHKRIUBA
97kg- Myloka KRYSOV
130kg-Mykola KUCHMII

SHOHADAYE Modafe Haram QOM (IRI)
55kg- Mehdi GHORBANI- Mohammad Javad REZAEI (IRI)
60kg- Alireza NEJATI (IRI) - Reza MARDI (IRI)
63kg- Ali ASghar PASALARI
67kg- Mehdi MORAD SALEHI (IRI) - Behnam AFSHAR NIK
72kg- Ali SOLEYMANI (IRI) - Afshin ESLAMI (IRI)
77kg- Hadi ALIZADH - Mohammad Reza REZAEI (IRI)
82kg-Mehdi EBRAHIMI (IRI)
87kg- Mohammad Ali HEYDARI (IRI)
97kg- Omid EFTEKHARI ASL
130kg- Parsa NAZARI (IRI)

Sport Club Physical Academy (KGZ)
55kg-Dastan KADYROV (KGZ)
60kg- Iliiaz  SEITOV (KGZ)
63kg- Adil DZHUMABEKOV
67kg- Konokbai SAGYNBEKOV (KGZ)

72kg: TBD
77kg: TBD
87kg-Ilim BILIMOV (KGZ)
97kg-Ilgiz BILIMOV (KGZ)
130kg: TBD


Other members of Kirgizstan team:
uulu Arstanbek
Ulan Derkembaev  
Kubat Mambetov
Roman Muratov
Maksat Omorov
Pakhmatbek Zainitdinov
Erbol Zhaparaliev
Kubatbek Zheenaliev

Tajik Air (TJK)
55kg- Khasan SUFIEV (TJK)
60kg-TBD
63kg- Zainudin QAMAROV (TJK)
67kg- Oiqi AMIRKHONZODA (TJK)
72kg- Azizbeki SHARIFZODA (TJK)
77kg-Sulton Shokhi KHASANOV
82kg- Sukhrob ABDULKHAEV (TJK)
87kg- Amirjon JURAEV
97kg- Mirzoamin SAFAROV
130kg- Azmuddin VAKHOBOV (TJK)

Romania Olympic Hopes (ROU)
55kg- Florin TITA (ROU)
60kg- Razvan ARNAUT (ROU)
63kg- Teodor HORATAU (ROU)
67kg- Irinel BOTEZ MIHAI (ROU)
72kg- Boanta NICOLAE
77kg- Adrian AGACHE
82kg- TBD
87kg- Samuel OJOG NICU (ROU)
97kg- Constantin PIRVAN DORIN (ROU)
130kg- Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU- Istvan BEREI LENARD (ROU)

 

#wrestlebishkek

Asian Championships Freestyle Finals Set

By Ken Marantz & Vinay Siwach

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (April 12) -- The Asian Championships enters day two with five more Freestyle weights. World champion Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) will lead the competition at 125kg as Iran looks to build on its three gold medals won on day one.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | DAY 1 REPORT

14:32: Amir ZARE (IRI) is safely into the 125kg final with a 5-0 victory over Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN). Zare combined three stepouts with two activity clock points and was never in danger himself as the reigning world champion earned a chance for gold in his senior Asian Championships debut.

14:27: Two-time Olympian Aiaal LAZAREV (KGZ) enters the 125kg final after beating Odgerel BATKHISHIG (MGL) 10-0 in the semifinal. This is Lazarev's 10th Asian Championships, first being in 2009, and third final. He won gold in 2015 and was silver medalist in 2021.

14:22: At 74kg, Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) notches perhaps the biggest win of his young career, scoring a takedown in each period to knock off Hossein ABOUZARI (IRI) 4-2 and earn a place in the final in his international senior debut. The 20-year-old Takahashi opens with a textbook double-leg takedown, but gives up a single-leg takedown to trail 2-2 on criteria. In the second period, the Japanese gets the winning takedown, and then fends off all desperate attacks by Abouzari.

14:20: Viktor RASSADIN (TJK) becomes the second wrestler from Tajikistan to enter the finals at the Asian Championships after he defeated Alp BEGENJOV (TKM) 14-4 in the 74kg semifinal. Incidentally, the first finalist -- Yusup ABDULSALAMOV (TJK) -- won at 74kg as well back in 2003.

14:10: Another heartbreak for Kyrgyzstan as Nurtilek KARYPBAEV (KGZ) goes down 5-3 against Sherzod POYONOV (UZB) in the 92kg semifinal. Karypbaev could not keep up with the pace of the bout and broke down.

14:08: Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) gets a chance to add to his 2022 gold after bulling to a 10-0 victory over Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN) in the 92kg semifinals. Sharipov just couldn't stop the charge of Firouzpour, who had six stepouts, two of which got a caution point tacked on. Firouzpour's lone takedown of the match, off a single leg, ended it at 4:14.

13:57: Javrail SHAPIEV (UZB) scored a takedown in the first period and held on that 2-0 lead against Atai IZABEKOV (KGZ). He was cautioned for open fingers on Izabekov's face but that didn't stop Shapiev from winning 2-1 and entering the 86kg final against defending champion Azamat DALUETBEKOV (KAZ). Both wrestled in the 86kg bronze-medal bout at the World Championships which the Kazakh won. But Shapiev won the Asian Games quarterfinal in October.

13:55: Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ) will get a shot at a third straight Asian gold at 86kg after putting on an arm drag clinic in an 11-0 victory over Peilong LI (CHN). Dauletbekov used the arm drag to set up five takedowns, the final one coming 27 seconds into the second period to end the match.

13:47: Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) pulled off a miracle victory over Reza ATRI (IRI) in the 61kg semifinals, scoring a 4-point back trip in the final second for an 11-7 victory. Atri came back from a 5-point deficit to lead 7-6, mainly with a 4-point counter lift. A fleeing point tied the score, but Atri still led on criteria. Zhumashbek Uulu did little to build up his 5-0 lead in the first period, gaining an activity point, a penalty point for a hand to the face, a takedown while countering a throw, and then a point for an unsuccessful challenge after the Iranians thought the takedown should have been called a missed throw.

13:35: Assyl AITAKYN (KAZ) enters the 61kg final after beating Akash DAHIYA (IND) 11-0. A slow start to the semifinal but Aitakyn used a takedown and two turns in the second period to claim the victory.

The semifinals will begin at 13:30 local time

13:20: In the last quarterfinal of the morning session, Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) blanks YASH (IND) 11-0. After a 4-0 lead in the first period, Takahashi scored a stepout in the second period and countered Yash's attack. He scored two exposures to enter the 74kg semifinal. 

13:15: Local star Aiaal LAZAREV (KGZ) breaks BUHEEERDUN (CHN) in the second period and overcomes a three-point deficit and wins the 125kg quarterfinal 10-6.

13:10: Either Turkmenistan or Tajikistan will be assured of taking home a medal after Alp BEGENJOV (TJM) and Viktor RASSIDIN (TJK) advanced to a semifinal clash against each other at 74kg. Begenjov recorded a fall over Fierre AFAN (PHI), and Rassidin followed with a 9-0 victory over Kanat KERIMBEKOV (KGZ) in their respective quarterfinal matches.

13:02: Hossein ABOUZARI (IRI) stays on track to the final by crushing Yong Nam SO (PRK) 12-1 in the 74kg quarterfinals.

12:57: World champion Amir ZARE (IRI) begins his campaign with a 10-0 victory over Anirudh KUMAR (IND) in the 125kg quarterfinals. Zare took a 6-0 lead into the second period and wasted little time finishing up the technical fall.

12:55: The home crowd seems to spur on 2022 Asian U23 silver medalist Nurtilek KARYBAEV (KGZ) in the second period, when he scores three takedowns to forge a 6-1 victory over Issa AL OBAIDI (IRQ) and advances to the 92kg semifinals.

12:55: Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN) manages to keep himself from touching the mat on three points and avoids being taken down. He beats Adilet DAVLUMBAYEV (KAZ) 7-4 to advance to the semifinals at 92kg.

12:45: Javrail SHAPIEV (UZB), an Asian Games bronze medalist and fifth-place finisher at both the Olympics and World Championships, holds on for a 4-1 victory over Tatsuya SHIRAI (JPN) to advance to the 86kg semifinals. Shapiev scored a first-period takedown, and Shirai cut the gap with a stepout a minute into the second period. Shapiev clinches the win with a takedown in the final seconds off a counter from a desperate attack by the Japanese.

12:44: Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) books his place in the 92kg semifinals with an 11-0 rout of Suhe GANG (CHN).

12:34: In one of the featured matches of the midday session, defending champion and two-time world bronze medalist Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ) scores an early single-leg takedown against Hadi VAFAEIPOUR (IRI) in their 86kg quarterfinal, but the Iranian responds with a stepout. That is where the scoring ends, although Vafaeipour ended the match in deep on a single that he just couldn't finish off. The Iranians naturally challenged, but it was denied to give Dauletbekov a 3-1 win and the Iranian side its first loss of the day.

12:25: Reza ATRI (IRI) moves a step closer to his third career Asian medal and possibly second gold with a workmanlike 5-0 victory over Dzhamashed SHARIFOV (TJK) in the 61kg quarterfinals. 

12:00: Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) with a takedown in the final 10 seconds to claim a 9-9 criteria win over Syrbaz TALGAT (KAZ) at 74kg.

11:58: Hossein ABOUZARI (IRI) scores his fourth takedown with 13 seconds left to complete a 10-0 win over Zafarbek OTAKHONOV (UZB) at 74kg to become Iran's fifth wrestler out of five in the quarterfinals. Otakhonov was the silver medalist a year ago at 70kg.

11:52: Returning bronze medalist BUHEEERDUN (CHN) moves on at 125kg with a 5-2 win over Koki YAMAMOTO (JPN). Apart from the one time he got stuck in a fall position, Buheeerdun controlled the bout.

11:48: Anirudh KUMAR (IND), a returning bronze medalist at 125kg, has no trouble in posting a safe 3-0 victory over Zaman ANWAR (PAK). He will next face world champion Amir ZARE (IRI).
 
11:38:
Another Iranian is over the first hurdle as 2022 champion Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) cruises to an 11-0 victory over Satoshi MIURA (JPN) at 92kg.

11:36: Tatsuya SHIRAI (JPN), the world U23 silver medalist after winning the gold in 2022, scores four stepouts in muscling to a 5-0 victory over Sandeep MANN (IND) at 86kg.

11:30: Not to be for Mustafa AL OBAIDI (IRI) as Peilong LI (CHN) storms back after trailing 3-3 on criteria. Li pins Al Obaidi to win the 86kg bout.

11:28: Hadi VAFAEIPOUR (IRI), making his debut in a major tournament for Iran, easily gets past VUTHY HENG (CAM) in his opening match at 86kg, scoring a 10-0 win in 2:39. Among Vafaeipour's accolades is a victory last year on the Beach Wrestling circuit. 

11:20: In a thriller at 61kg, Akash DAHIYA (IND) twice scored exposure points in the second period while Dzhamshed SHARIFOV (UZB) was trying to turn him over, the final time to clinch a 10-8 victory.

11:12: Assyl AITAKYN (KAZ), a two-time world U23 bronze medalist, starts the action on Mat B with a 7-0 victory over Ali ABURAMAILA (PLE) at 61kg.

11:10: Kaisei TANABE (JPN), whose father Chikara was a bronze medalist in 55kg at the 2004 Athens Olympics, squanders a 4-0 lead and drops his bout against Reza ATRI (IRI) 4-4.

11:04: In the opening match on Mat A, Kum Chol Ri (PRK), an Asian cadet champion in 2014, marks his return to the international scene with a quick 10-0 win over Ibrahim GUZAN (YEM) at 61kg

11:00: Another Freestyle day at the Asian Championships in Bishkek. Wrestlers in 61kg, 74kg, 86kg, 92kg and 125kg to wrestle for the five gold medals on offer.