#WrestleXian

Iran Hauls in 4 More Golds to Cap Domination of Asian Freestyle

Wednesday, April 24, 2019 - 15:59 By Ken Marantz

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XI’AN, China (April 24) – Iran capped its domination of the freestyle competition at the Asian Championships by hauling in four of the five gold medals at stake on the second day—twice denying host China a title in the process.

And a gritty performance by a teenager making his senior debut assured that every member of the Iranian team will be heading home with a medal.  

China’s bid to stop the Iranian juggernaut fizzled out when world silver medalist DENG Zhiwei (CHN) fell 2-1 in the 125kg final to Yadollah MOHEBI (IRI) in the last bout of the night at Xi’an’s Xidian University Gymnasium. 

Behnam EHSANPOOR (IRI) won his second Asian title with a 2-1 win over China's LIU Minghu in the 61kg finals. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

That was the same score by which Behnam EHSANPOOR (IRI) had edged LIU Minghu (CHN) at 61kg in the first final to regain the Asian title he won two years ago in New Delhi.

Iran’s other gold medals were seized by world U23 champion Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) at 86kg and world bronze medalist Alireza KARIMIMACHIANI (IRI) at 92kg, both of whom were hardly challenged during the competition and finished up with technical fall victories in the finals. 

With seven golds and three bronzes, Iran easily won the team competition with 220 points. India, with one gold, three silvers and four bronzes, was second at 155, followed by Kazakhstan, which had 129 after finishing with two golds, a silver and two bronzes.

Daniyar KAISANOV (KAZ), the 74kg gold medalist, was the non-Iranian Day 2 champion. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

The lone gold medal that didn’t end around the neck of an Iranian went to Daniyar KAISANOV (KAZ), who captured the first major medal of his career when he forged a 5-0 victory over Amit DHANKHAR (IND) in the 74kg final.

“I’m feeling good, I brought some happiness to my family and fans,” said Kaisonov, a bronze medalist in Bishkek last year and the silver medalist at the Asian Games in Jakarta.

Kaisonov’s path to the final got a little smoother when two potential rivals, world silver medalist Adam BATIROV (BRN) and Yuhi FUJINAMI (JPN), a 2017 world bronze medalist at 70kg, both exited the tournament by defaults after suffering injuries during victories.

“We still have time to meet each other,” Kaisanov said. “But anyway, I was ready and really confident in myself.”

Mohammad NOKHODILARIMI (IRI) scored a bronze medal at 74kg with a 9-8 comeback win over Ilgiz DZHAKYPBEKOV (KGZ). (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

Meanwhile, Mohammad NOKHODILARIMI (IRI) avoided the prospect of being the only Iranian to head home without a medal when he put on a furious comeback to defeat Ilgiz DZHAKYPBEKOV (KGZ), 9-8, in a bronze-medal match at 74kg.

Dzhakypbekov built up a 6-1 lead, and was still ahead on criteria when the 18-year-old Nokhodilarimi, a 2o17 world cadet bronze medalist, stormed back to make it 8-8 in the final minute. The Iranian stayed on the attack and drove out a fatigued Dzhakypbekov for the decisive point with :33 left. 

“If I lost, I would have been depressed,” said Nokhodilarimi, who seemed to be sparked by a dressing down from his coach between periods.

In the 61kg final, China’s Liu, a world U23 bronze medalist, received an activity clock point for the lone score of the first period. But in the second period, Ehsanpoor scored with a single-leg takedown, and that held up for the gold.

At 86kg, Ghasempour totally dominated Aligarizhi GAMIDGADZHIEV (KGZ), building up a 7-0 lead with three takedowns in the first period, then finishing up a 10-0 technical fall at the 4:10 mark.

Alireza KARIMIMACHIANI (IRI) grabbed the 92kg gold medal with an 11-0 victory over India's Viky VIKY (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

Karimimachiani didn’t need that long to put away Viky VIKY (IND) at 92kg, scoring four takedowns before ending the match at 2:28 with a roll that made it 11-0.

In the night’s finale, Deng started out just like compatriot Liu, gaining an activity point to lead 1-0 going into the second period. But Mohebi forced the Chinese out for a point that put him ahead on criteria, then received an activity point himself for the 2-1 victory.

India came away with three bronze medals, while Japan and Kazakhstan had two each.

One of Japan’s was won by world bronze medalist Atsushi MATSUMOTO (JPN), who denied Azizbek SOLIEV (UZB)a second straight bronze by posting a 9-3 victory. The continental medal was the third of Matsumoto’s career, having previously won silvers in both styles-- freestyle in 2015 and Greco-Roman in 2017.

The six-day tournament in the historic central Chinese city continues Thursday with the start of the women’s competition. 

Day 2 results

Freestyle

61kg (14 entries)
Gold – Behnam EHSANPOOR (IRI) df. LIU Minghu (CHN), 2-1 
Bronze – Rahul AWARE (IND) df. KIM Jincheol (KOR), 9-2
Bronze – Yudai FUJITA (JPN) df. Dzhamshed SHARIFOV (TJK), 3-1 

74kg (13 entries)
Gold – Daniyar KAISANOV (KAZ) df. Amit DHANKHAR (IND), 5-0
Bronze – Mohammad NOKHODILARIMI (IRI) df. Ilgiz DZHAKYPBEKOV (KGZ), 9-8
Bronze – Olgenbayar BATSUURI (MGL) df. Adam BATIROV (BRN) by Default

86kg (15 entries)
Gold – Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) df. Aligarizhi GAMIDGADZHIEV (KGZ) by TF, 10-0, 4:10
Bronze – Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL) df. Abdurasul VAKHOBOV (UZB), 4-0
Bronze – Deepak PUNIA (IND) df. Bakhodur KODIROV (TJK), 8-2 

92kg (11 entries)
Gold – Alireza KARIMIMACHIANI (IRI) df. Viky VIKY (IND) by TF, 11-0, 2:29 
Bronze – Atsushi MATSUMOTO (JPN) df. Azizbek SOLIEV (UZB), 9-2
Bronze – SUN Xiao (CHN) df. Muhammad INAM (PAK) by Default

125kg (11 entries)
Gold – Yadollah MOHEBI (IRI) df. DENG Zhiwei (CHN), 2-1
Bronze – KIM Donghwan (KOR) df. Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB) by Fall, 4:41 (4-1) 
Bronze – Sumit SUMIT (IND) df. Farkhod ANAKULOV (TJK), 8-2

Freestyle Team Standings

Gold – Iran, 220 points (7 gold-0 silver-3 bronze)
Silver – India, 155 (1-3-4)
Bronze – Kazakhstan, 129 (2-1-2) 

#WrestleAlexandria

Olympians gear up for African & Oceania qualifiers for Paris 2024

Tuesday, March 19, 2024 - 09:58 By Vinay Siwach

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ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (March 19) -- Wrestlers from two continents will battle on the mat for 18 Paris Olympic spots at the African & Oceania OG Qualifiers in Alexandria on March 22-24.

All eyes will be on Tokyo Olympic medalists Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) at 68kg in Women's Wrestling and Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY) at 67kg in Greco-Roman. The two failed to earn a Paris quota at the World Championships in September but will be the favorite to claim the spot in Alexandria.

The tournament will follow a bracket system and two winners of the semifinals will earn the Paris spot. There will be no gold medal bouts and repechage.

Oborududu won the African Championships on Monday in dominating fashion and has the best chance to qualify. Samah ABDELLATIF (EGY), Tayla FORD (NZL) and African medalist Khadija JLASSI (TUN) will try to stop her and earn a quota for themselves.

For Elsayed, Ishak GHAIOU (ALG) will be the biggest test as he will be randomly drawn in the 67kg bracket. Japan-born Gaku AKAZAWA (SAM) will be seeded number two and cannot face Elsayed.

In other Women's Wrestling weight classes, African champion Mercy GENESIS (NGR) will be primed to win the semifinal at 50kg. Traditional powerhouses in Africa Egypt and Tunisia will be represented by Nada MOHAMED (EGY) and Nourhene HEDHLI (TUN) respectively.

At 53kgm Nigeria will see Christianah OGUNSANYA (NGR) going for the Paris spot. She won the African Championships gold medal on Monday but the addition of Oceania wrestlers can make things interesting. 

Jessica LAVERS MCBAIN (AUS) will be at 53kg for Australia while Guam has Mia AQUINO (GUM). Shaimaa MOHAMED (EGY) and Lobna ICHAOUI (TUN) will also look to win as well.

Nigeria already has won the quota at 57kg through world bronze medalist Odunayo ADEKOUROYE (NGR), leaving others to earn a Paris spot. Irene SYMEONIDIS (AUS), Natacha NABAINA (CMR), Louji YASSIN (EGY), Rckaela AQUINO (GUM) and Faten HAMMAMI (TUN) will have to fight it out for the two spots.

Marwa AMRI (TUN) usually locked the 62kg for Tunisia but the now-retired wrestler will be coaching Siwar BOUSETA (TUN) as she tries to fill the shoes. Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR) will be a big test for everyone in this weight class as she won the African Championships.

Two-time world medalist Samar HAMZA (EGY) will be looking for a second trip to the Olympics if she can win the 76kg spot in front of the home crowd. It could go three-way as African silver medalist Hannah RUEBEN (NGR) and now African champion Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN) are also entered.

Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY)Tokyo bronze medalist Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY) is the favorite at 67kg. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan) 

Greco-Roman

Tokyo Olympian Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG) will be tested by Moamen MOHAMED (EGY) and Mohamed HKIRI (TUN) as the three look to win the two spots available at 60kg in Greco-Roman.

Egypt and Algeria usually dominate Greco-Roman in Africa which will add pressure on Abd OUAKALI (ALG) and Mahmoud ABDELRAHMAN (EGY) who will be the favorite to win the Paris spot at 77kg. Sheng ZHANG (AUS) will be representing Australia.

Two Tokyo Olympians will have a chance to earn another trip to the Olympics as Bachir SID AZARA (ALG) and Mohamed METWALLY (EGY) gear up for a battle in 87kg. Both skipped the African Championships to prepare for the qualifiers.

At 97kg, Fadi ROUABAH (ALG), Mohamed GABR (EGY) and Mohamed MISSAOUI (TUN) have the best chance to win a spot while top seed Maulalo ALOFIPO (SAM) will look to get one through as only six wrestlers are entered in the weight category.

As Egypt already has a quota at 130kg, four wrestlers will battle for the two quotas in this weight class. Hemza HALOUI (ALG), Oussama ASSAD (MAR), Marcus CARNEY (NZL) and Tokyo Olympian Amine GUENNICHI (TUN) will face each other in a round-robin format to decide the two spots.

Amr REDA (EGY)Amr REDA (EGY) will look to repeat as an Olympian. (Photo: UWW / Bayrem Ben Mrad)

Freestyle

Egypt will hope to get all six Freestyle spots for Paris as it fields a strong team. Tokyo Olympian Amr REDA (EGY), backed by the home crowd in Alexandria, has his eyes set on the Paris spot in the 74kg weight class. Reda has proved on several occasions that he is a notch up the field in Africa. However, Bacar NDUM (GBS), a former African Championships silver medalist, will hope to get a spot even if he falls in the same bracket as Reda.

At 57kg, African champion Diamantino IUNA FAFE (GBS) will be the favorite to win the spot along with Tokyo Olympian Abdelhak KHERBACHE (ALG). Gamal MOHAMED (EGY), Thomas SANTIAGO (GUM) and Suraj SINGH (NZL) will also fancy their chance to win a Paris spot.

Oceania Championships silver medalist Ethan AGUIGUI (GUM) pulled out of the qualifiers at 65kg. But Oceania champion Georgii OKOROKOV (AUS) will be a huge favorite to earn a quota. Omar MOURAD (EGY), Gaku AKAZAWA (SAM), who is also competing in Greco-Roman, and Sylvio DIATTA (SEN) can prove to be dark horses.

Australia can have a second Olympian from Alexandria if Jayden LAWRENCE (AUS) can bring out his best performance and earn a spot at 86kg. He also needs Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (ALG) to fall on the other side of the bracket.

Tokyo Olympian and African champion Benferdjallah has dominated the weight class in Africa and will look to earn a Paris quota for himself. Other names include Ahmed MAHMOUD (EGY) and Imed KADDIDI (TUN).

Mohamed SAADAOUI (TUN) was in Tokyo and has a chance to be in Paris if he can earn a quota at 97kg in Alexandria. It will be a similar case for South Africa as former African silver medalist Nicolaas DE LANGE (RSA) hopes to win a quota.

Wali KEBIR (ALG), Mostafa ELDERS (EGY) and Anas SAMIR (MAR) will also hope to finish in the top two to earn a ticket.

The two wrestlers who won the 125kg quotas for Tokyo from continental qualifiers are back at it. Diaaeldin ABDELMOTTALEB (EGY) and Hamza RAHMANI (TUN) will be the favorite to win the two spots again.