#Trnava2018

Iran Wins Three Greco-Roman Golds, Leads Russia by Three Points

Tuesday, September 18, 2018 - 21:33 By Eric Olanowski

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TRNAVA, Slovakia (September 18) – Iran went three-for-three in Greco-Roman gold medal bouts on Tuesday capturing a three-point team lead heading into the third and final day of Greco-Roman competition at the 2018 Junior World Championships in Trnava, Slovakia.

The trio of Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI), Pouya NASERPOUR (IRI), and Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) had the opportunity to carry their country’s flag around the mat after winning their first world titles. 

 In the 55kg gold-medal bout Naserpour, the junior Asian champion, gave up an early head pinch and trailed Tigran MINASYAN (ARM), 4-0 before going on a 9-0 run to claim his first junior world gold medal. 

Naserpour improved on his third-place finish from the 2017 Cadet World Championships with the 9-4 victory. 


Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI), 2018 junior world champion at 87kg. (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne) 

Saravi, this year’s junior Asian champion neutralized Ramon Rainer BETSCHART (SUI) in the 87kg finals, stopping Switzerland from winning its first-ever junior-level world gold. Saravi, who also won his first Junior world gold medal scored his five points from a passivity call and two gut wrenches. 

The third and final Iranian Asian champion to claim a world title on the second day of competition was Amin Mirzazadeh who shutout Armenia’s David OVASAPYAN, 5-0 in the 130kg gold medal match.  

Islam OPIEV (RUS) knocked off three world medalists on his way to the 77kg gold medal. (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne)

At 77kg, Russia’s Islam OPIEV capped off his improbable run to a junior world gold medal with three straight wins over a returning Tampere junior world medalists.  

Opiev had knocked off last year’s junior world silver medalist, Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ), 1-1 to make the semifinals where he stunned returning world champion Kamal BEY (USA), 7-1 to set up a finals date with India’s returning bronze medalist, Sajan SAJAN (IND). 

In his first world finals appearance, Opiev scored the first-period technical superiority victory, thumping Sajan, 8-0. 

In the opening 90 seconds, Sajan was hit with passivity and was thrown from the par terre position. With Sajan down, Opiev went to work, scoring six additional points from a pair of back-arches, followed by a feet over back exposure to take the 7-0 lead. 

The action was blown dead, and both wrestlers were brought up to their feet. In the standing position, Opeiv charged Sajan near the edge of the mat and picked up the match-ending eighth point, and the 77kg gold medal. 

Erbol BAKIROV (KGZ) does a backflip after winning the 63kg gold medal. (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne)

The final gold medal of the night went to Erbol BAKIROV (KGZ). After trailing 1-0, Bakirov put a sudden stop to the 63kg gold-medal bout, throwing Egypt’s Hassan Hassan MOHAMED to his back with a massive head-lock to win the gold medal. 

The final day of Greco-Roman action, along with the start of women’s wrestling, begins tomorrow morning at 10:30 AM local time. 

RESULTS

Team Scores
GOLD – Iran (75 points)
SILVER – Russia (72 points)
BRONZE – Kyrgyzstan (50 points)
Fourth – Armenia (50 points)
Fifth – India (47 points)

GR 55kg 
GOLD – Pouya Mohammad NASERPOUR (IRI) df. Tigran MINASYAN (ARM), 9-4

BRONZE - Emin SEFERSHAEV (RUS) df. Nurtazin KERIMBERDI UULU (KGZ), 6-1
BRONZE - Vijay VIJAY (IND) df. Cihat LIMAN (TUR), via fall

GR 63kg  
GOLD - Erbol BAKIROV (KGZ) df. Hassan Hassan Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY), via fall. 

BRONZE - Azamat KAIROV (RUS) df. Hrachya POGHOSYAN (ARM), 3-1 
BRONZE Krisztian VANCZA (HUN) vs. Sagar SAGAR (IND), 9-0 

GR 77kg 
GOLD - Islam OPIEV (RUS) df. Sajan SAJAN (IND), 8-0 

BRONZE - Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) df. Kamal Ameer BEY (USA), 8-1
BRONZE - Per KURE (NOR) df. Dmytro GARDUBEI (UKR), 4-1

GR 87kg
GOLD - Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) df. Ramon BETSCHART (SUI)

BRONZE - Ilia ERMOLENKO (RUS) df. Temuri TCHKUASELIDZE (GEO), 4-2 
BRONZE - Nazarshah FATULLAYEV (AZE) df. Maimaiti KAISAIER (CHN), 5-1 

130kg 
GOLD - Amin Mohammadzaman MIRZAZADEH (IRI) df. David OVASAPYAN (ARM), 5-0  

BRONZE - Franz RICHTER (GER) df. Beka MAKARIDZE (GEO), 10-0 
BRONZE - Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA) df. Ante MILKOVIC (CRO), 7-1 

#WrestleParis

Which nations have qualified in Greco-Roman for Paris Olympics

Friday, May 3, 2024 - 12:24 By Eric Olanowski

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PARIS, France (May 3) -- 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 290 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 Greco-Roman nations that have qualified for the Paris Olympics before the start of the World Olympic Qualifier (May 9-12).

60kg
From World Championships
Kyrgyzstan (Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV)
Japan (Kenichiro FUMITA)
China (Liguo CAO)
Uzbekistan (Islomjon BAKHRAMOV)
Iran (Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD)

From Pan-Am OG Qualifier
Venezuela (Raiber RODRIGUEZ)
Cuba (Kevin DE ARMAS)

From African & Oceania OG Qualifier
Algeria (Abdelkarim FERGAT)
Egypt (Moamen MOHAMED)

From European OG Qualifier
Moldova (Victor CIOBANU)
Turkiye (Enes BASAR)

From Asian OG Qualifier
Kazakhstan (Aidos SULTANGALI)
DPR Korea (Se Ung RI)

From World Olympic Qualifier
Sadyk LALAEV as Individual Neutral Athlete
Azerbaijan (Murad MAMMADOV)
Serbia (Georgij TIBILOV)

67kg
From World Championships
Cuba (Luis ORTA)
Azerbaijan (Hasrat JAFAROV)
Iran (Mohammadreza GERAEI)
Serbia (Mate NEMES)
Armenia (Slavik GALSTYAN)

From Pan-Am OG Qualifier
Chile (Nestor ALMANZA)
Ecuador (Andres MONTANO)

From African & Oceania OG Qualifier
Tunisia (Souleymen NASR)
Algeria (Ishak GHAIOU)

From European OG Qualifier
Ukraine (Parviz NASIBOV)
France (Mamadassa SYLLA)

From Asian OG Qualifier
Japan (Kyotaro SOGABE)
Kyrgyzstan (Amantur ISMAILOV)

From World Olympic Qualifier
Moldova (Valentin PETIC)
Georgia (Ramaz ZOIDZE)
Egypt (Mohamed ELSAYED)

77kg
From World Championships
Kyrgyzstan (Akzhol MAKHMUDOV)
Azerbaijan (Sanan SULEYMANOV)
Armenia (Malkhas AMOYAN)
Japan (Nao KUSAKA)
Uzbekistan (Aram VARDANYAN)

From Pan-Am OG Qualifier
Cuba (Yosvanys PENA)
Colombia (Jair CUERO)

From African & Oceania OG Qualifier
Algeria (Abd Elkrim OUAKALI)
Egypt (Mahmoud ABDELRAHMAN)

From European OG Qualifier
Turkiye (Burhan AKBUDAK)
Finland (Jonni SARKKINEN)

From Asian OG Qualifier
Kazakhstan (Demeu ZHADRAYEV)
Iran (Amin KAVIYANI)

From World Olympic Qualifier
Sergei KUTUZOV as Individual Neutral Athlete
Bulgaria (Aik MNATSAKANIAN)
Hungary (Zoltan LEVAI)

87kg
From World Championships
Turkiye (Ali CENGIZ)
Hungary (David LOSONCZI)
Ukraine (Zhan BELENIUK)
Bulgaria (Semen NOVIKOV)
Kazakhstan (Nursultan TURSYNOV)

From Pan-Am OG Qualifier
United States (Spencer WOODS)
Colombia (Carlos MUNOZ)

From African & Oceania OG Qualifier
Algeria (Bachir SID AZARA)
Egypt (Mohamed METWALLY)

From European OG Qualifier
Serbia (Aleksandr KOMAROV)
Milad ALIRZAEV as Individual Neutral Athlete

From Asian OG Qualifier
Iran (Alireza MOHAMDIPIANI)
China (Haitao QIAN)

From World Olympic Qualifier
Azerbaijan (Rafig HUSEYNOV)
Kiryl MASKEVICH as Individual Neutral Athlete
Poland (Arkadiusz KULYNYCZ)

97kg
From World Championships
Cuba (Gabriel ROSILLO)
Armenia (Artur ALEKSANYAN)
Iran (Mohammadhadi SARAVI)
Czech Republic (Artur OMAROV)
Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU as Individual Neutral Athlete

From Pan-Am OG Qualifier
Honduras (Kevin MEJIA)
United States (Alan VERA GARCIA)

From African & Oceania OG Qualifier
Algeria (Fadi ROUABAH)
Egypt (Mohamed GABR)

From European OG Qualifier
Georgia (Roberti KOBLIASHVILI)
Lithuania (Mindaugas VENCKAITIS)

From Asian OG Qualifier
Uzbekistan (Rustam ASSAKALOV)
Korea (Seungjun KIM)

From World Olympic Qualifier
Finaland (Arvi SAVOLAINEN)
Artur SARGSIAN as Individual Neutral Athlete
Kyrgyzstan (Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV)

130kg
From World Championships
Iran (Amin MIRZAZADEH)
Turkiye (Riza KAYAALP)
Cuba (Oscar PINO)
Egypt (Adellatif MOHAMED)
China (Lingzhe MENG)

From Pan-Am OG Qualifier
United States (Cohlton SCHULTZ)
Chile (Yasmani ACOSTA)

From African & Oceania OG Qualifier
Tunisia (Amine GUENNICHI)
Morocco (Oussama ASSAD)

From European OG Qualifier
Germany (Jello KRAHMER)
Sergei SEMENOV as Individual Neutral Athlete

From Asian OG Qualifier
Kazakhstan (Alimkhan SYZDYKOV)
Korea (Seungchan LEE)

From World Olympic Qualifier
Romania (Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU)
Azerbaijan (Sabah SHARIATI)
Pavel HLINCHUK as Individual Neutral Athlete