Junior Asian Championships

Iran Adds 4 Golds at Junior Asian C'ships to Cap Off Dominant Greco Performance

By United World Wrestling Press

CHON BURI, Thailand (July 10) - Iran capped off a dominant performance in Greco-Roman at the Junior Asian Championships on Wednesday by claiming four more gold medals, bringing their total gold-medal haul in Greco-Roman to seven over two days. 

Iran finished the Greco-Roman competition with 218 points, which was enough to win the team title by 72 points over runner-up Kazakhstan. India finished third in the team standings, one point behind Kazakhstan. 

Bahram MAROUFKHANI IMCHEH (67kg), Mohammadreza ROSTAMI (72kg), Hosein FOROUZANDEH GHOJEHBEIGLOU (82kg) and Hamed ABDOVALI (97kg) won gold medals for Iran on the final day of the Greco-Roman competition in Chon Buri, Thailand.

Maroufkhani Imcheh, a Takhti Cup silver medalist, earned his second straight gold at the Junior Asian Championships by shutting out Nurzhigit KENESHBEK UULU (KGZ) 6-0 in the finals at 67kg. The Iranian went up 4-0 in the first 35 seconds of the match after a takedown and throw. He would add another takedown 10 seconds into the final period. 

Rostami, a multiple-time medalist at the Cadet Asian Championships, lit up the scoreboard in his finals match against Alijon KHUSEYNOV (UZB), scoring 12 first-period points on his way to a 13-5 technical superiority to earn gold at 72kg. After going up 6-0 on the strength of a takedown and two gut wrenches, Rostami nearly ended the match early with another gut wrench, but Khuseynov defended, reversed the action and then scored with a gut wrench of his own, which made the score 8-5 in favor of the Iranian. Rostami controlled the action the rest of the way, scoring five straight step-out points to earn the technical superiority in the second period. 

Forouzandeh Ghojehbeiglou, like Maroufkhani Imcheh, won his second consecutive gold medal at the Junior Asian Championships. He was dominant in the 82kg finals, picking up a 10-0 technical superiority over Tesshin HIGUCHI (JPN). Forouzandeh Ghojehbeiglou scored first with a step out before using a four-point throw to build his lead to 6-0. He closed out the victory with a four-point, feet-to-back takedown late in the first period. 

Abdovali topped Jeongyul KWON (KOR) 4-2 to win the gold medal at 97kg. The Iranian scored with a gut wrench in the first period and added a takedown early in the second period. Kwon scored two points late in the match, but Abdovali held on for the win. 

At 60kg, Mukhammadkodir YUSUPOV (UZB) captured the gold medal with a 3-2 victory over Sachin RANA (IND). Yusupov scored all three of his points in the opening period. After going down 1-0, he picked up a reversal and then scored with a gut wrench. Rana scored a late step out, but it was too little, too late. 

The women's wrestling competition at the Junior Asian Championships begins on Thursday. Action is set to begin at 10 a.m. local time.

RESULTS

Final Greco-Roman Team Scores 
GOLD - Iran (218 points)
SILVER - Kazakhstan (146 points)
BRONZE - India (145 points)
Fourth - Uzbekistan (137 points)
Fifth - Japan (101 points)

60kg
GOLD - Mukhammadkodir YUSUPOV (UZB) df. Sachin RANA (IND), 3-2
BRONZE - Olzhas SULTAN (KAZ) df. Alamusi ALAMUSI (CHN), 11-0
BRONZE - Milad Ali REZANEZHAD (IRI) df. Yun Bin SHIN (KOR), 11-2

67kg
GOLD - Bahram MAROUFKHANI IMCHEH (IRI) df. Nurzhigit KENESHBEK UULU (KGZ), 6-0
BRONZE - Saurabh SAURABH (IND) df. Guotao ZHANG (CHN), 2-1
BRONZE - Umidjon AKHROROV (UZB) df. Minseong PARK (KOR), 8-0

72kg
GOLD - Mohammadreza ROSTAMI (IRI) df. Alijon KHUSEYNOV (UZB), 13-5
BRONZE - Rahul RAHUL (IND) df. Xin HUANG (CHN), 7-7
BRONZE - Daler REZA ZADE (TJK) df. Almazbek BEGALIEV (KGZ), 5-0

82kg
GOLD - Hosein FOROUZANDEH GHOJEHBEIGLOU (IRI) df. Tesshin HIGUCHI (JPN), 10-0
BRONZE - Eli MAGOMADOV (KAZ) df. Sanjeet SANJEET (IND), 8-0
BRONZE - Toyly ORAZOV (TKM) df. Danuson ARRICHUAI (THA), 8-0

97kg
GOLD - Hamed ABDOVALI (IRI) df. Jeongyul KWON (KOR), 4-2
BRONZE - Deepanshu DEEPANSHU (IND) df. Houzhi HAO (CHN), 5-4
BRONZE - Aday KURMANSEITOV (KAZ) df. Daniiar SHERIMBEKOV (KGZ), 3-0
 

#WrestleParis

Which nations have qualified in women's wrestling for Paris Olympics

By Eric Olanowski

PARIS, France (May 9) -- The ultra-competitive and uber-emotional final stage of the Paris Olympic Qualifiers is set to take place in Istanbul, Turkiye, May 9-12.

After next week’s Battle on the Bosporus -- which is the sixth and final event on the Olympic qualification calendar -- all 288 tickets to Paris 2024 will be booked and the nations wrestling in Paris will be set.

Breakdown of quotas allocations for Paris 2024:
- World Championships = 30 freestyle, 30 women’s wrestling and 30 Greco-Roman = 90 quotas
- Continental Olympic Qualifiers (x4 continents) = 12 freestyle, 12 women’s wrestling and 12 Greco-Roman = 36
- World Olympic Qualifier = 18 freestyle, 18 women’s wrestling and 18 Greco-Roman = 54
- Total = 96 freestyle, 96 women’s wrestling and 96 Greco-Roman = 288 wrestlers in Paris

It’s worth noting, and as you’ll see below, the induvial wrestler who earns the ticket to the Olympic Games does not own the right to compete in Pairs. Ultimately, it’s the National Olympic Committee / country who selects their entry for the Games.

For example: David TAYLOR (USA), through his world-title winning performance in Belgrade, punched the United States’ ticket at 86kg. But after going through their Olympic Trails, and with Taylor falling in the finals, the Stars and Stripes will send Aaron BROOKS (USA) to Paris at 86kg.

Over the last 288 days, wrestles have gone through two of three stages vying for their opportunity to earn their nation’s berth to Pairs.

The beginning stages of the qualification process took place last September at the 2023 World Championships, in Belgrade, Serbia, where there was a total of 90 quotas up for the taking. Wrestlers who won a medal--gold, silver or bronze (x2)-- earned a ticket for their country.

Additionally, the two losers of the bronze-medal matches faced off in an Olympic playoff match, determining the fifth allocation in Belgrade.

Then came the Continental Olympic Qualifiers, where 36 quotas per continent were handed out.

Those athletes who reached the finals of their respective weight classes at the Pan-American, African & Oceania, European and Asian Olympic Qualifiers booked their nation’s ticket to Paris.

Now, after traveling through Belgrade, Acapulco, Alexandria, Baku and Bishkek, we’ve reached Istanbul for the “Last Chance Qualifier.”

There will be a slight adjustment to the number of allocations given in Istanbul, where in addition to the finalists earning berths to Paris, there will be an Olympic playoff between the winners of the bronze-medal matches to determine the final entries for the Olympic Games.

The draws for the World Olympic Qualifier will take place on May 8, with wrestling beginning the following day. Greco-Roman will compete live on UWW+ on May 9-10, women’s wrestling on May 10-11 and freestyle on May 11-12.

 

Here are the women’s wrestling nations that have qualified for the Paris Olympics before the start of the World Olympic Qualifier (May 9-12).

50kg
From World Championships
Japan (Yui SUSAKI)
Mongolia (Otgonjargal DOLGORJAV)
China (Ziqi FENG)
United States (Sarah HILDEBRANDT)
Turkiye (Evin DEMIRHAN)

From Pan-Am OG Qualifier
Colombia (Alisson CARDOZO REY)
Cuba (Yusneylis GUZMAN LOPEZ)

From African & Oceania OG Qualifier
Egypt (Nada MOHAMED)
Algeria (Ibtissem DOUDOU)

From European OG Qualifier
Ukraine (Oksana LIVACH)
Nadezhda SOKOLOVA as Individual Neutral Athlete

From Asian OG Qualifier
Uzbekistan (Aktenge KEUNIMJAEVA)
India (Vinesh VINESH)

From World Olympic Qualifier
Germany (Anastasia BLAYVAS)
DPR Korea (Son hyang KIM)
Azerbaijan (Mariya STADNIK) 

53kg
From World Championships
Japan (Akari FUJINAMI)
Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA as Individual Neutral Athlete
ANTIM for Indian Olympic Association
Ecuador (Lucia YEPEZ)
Sweden (Jonna MALMGREN)

From Pan-Am OG Qualifier
United States (Dominique PARRISH)
Venezuela (Betzabeth AGUELLO)

From African & Oceania OG Qualifier
Nigeria (Christianah OGUNSANYA)
Guam (Mia AQUINO)

From European OG Qualifier
Romania (Andreea ANA)
Natalia MALYSHEVA as Individual Neutral Athlete

From Asian OG Qualifier
China (PANG Qianyu)
DPR Korea (Hyogyong CHOE)

From World Olympic Qualifier
Mongolia (Khulan BATKHUYAG)
Moldova (Mariana DRAGUTAN)
Turkiye (Zeynep YETGIL)

57kg
From World Championships
Japan (Tsugumi SAKURAI)
Moldova (Anastasia NICHITA)
United States (Helen MAROULIS)
Nigeria (Odunayo ADEKUOROYE)
Poland (Anhelina LYSAK)

From Pan-Am OG Qualifier
Canada (Hannah TAYLOR)
Ecuador (Luisa VALVERDE)

From African & Oceania OG Qualifier
Algeria (Chaimaa AOUISSI)
Guam (Rckaela AQUINO)

From European OG Qualifier
Germany (Sandra PARUSZEWSKI)
Iryna KURACHKINA as Individual Neutral Athlete

From Asian OG Qualifier
China (Kexin HONG)
India (Anshu ANSHU)

From World Olympic Qualifier
Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA as Individual Neutral Athlete
Brazil (Giullia OLIVEIRA)
Italy (Aurora RUSSO)

62kg
From World Championships
Kyrgyzstan (Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA)
Japan (Sakura MOTOKI)
Norway (Grace BULLEN)
Ukraine (Iryna KOLIADENKO)
Germany (Luisa NIEMESCH)

From Pan-Am OG Qualifier
United States (Kayla MIRACLE)
Canada (Ana GODINEZ)

From African & Oceania OG Qualifier
Nigeria (Esther KOLAWOLE)
Tunisia (Siwar BOUSETA)

From European OG Qualifier
Bulgaria (Bilyana DUDOVA)
Alina KASABIEVA as Individual Neutral Athlete

From Asian OG Qualifier
DPR Korea (Hyon Gyong MUN)
Mongolia (Orkhon PUREVDORJ)

From World Olympic Qualifier
Turkiye (Nesrin BAS)
Romania (Kriszta INCZE) 
Veranika IVANOVA as Individual Neutral Athlete

68kg
From World Championships
Turkiye (Buse TOSUN)
Mongolia (Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN)
Moldova (Irina RINGACI)
France (Koumba LARROQUE)
Japan (Ami ISHII)

From Pan-Am OG Qualifier
Venezuela (Soleymi CARABALLO)
United States (Amit ELOR)

From African & Oceania OG Qualifier
Nigeria (Blessing OBORUDUDU)
New Zealand (Tayla FORD)

From European OG Qualifier
Poland (Wiktoria CHOLUJ)
Khanum VELIEVA as Individual Neutral Athlete

From Asian OG Qualifier
DPR Korea (Sol Gum PAK)
Kyrgyzstan (Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA)

From World Olympic Qualifier
China (Feng ZHOU)
India (Nisha NISHA) 
Canada (Linda MORAIS)

76kg
From World Championships
Japan (Yuka KAGAMI)
Kyrgyzstan (Aiperi MEDEY KYZY)
United States (Adeline GRAY)
Colombia (Tatiana RENTERIA)
Cuba (Milaimys MARIN)

From Pan-Am OG Qualifier
Canada (Justina DI STASIO)
Ecuador (Genesis REASCO)

From African & Oceania OG Qualifier
Nigeria (Hannah RUEBEN)
Tunisia (Zaineb SGHAIER)

From European OG Qualifier
Hungary (Bernadett NAGY)
Turkiye (Yasemin ADAR)

From Asian OG Qualifier
India (Reetika REETIK)
China (Juan WANG)

From World Olympic Qualifier
Romania (Catalina AXENTE)
Bulgaria (Yuliana YANEVA)
Mongolia (Davaanasan ENKH AMAR)