#WrestleAlmaty

Japan Announces Squads for Asian Olympic Qualifier, Asian Championships

Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - 15:48 By Japan Wrestling Federation

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Two-time world champion Yui SUSAKI heads a contingent of 10 Japanese who will aim to earn tickets to the Tokyo Olympics at next month's Asian Qualifying tournament in Kazakhstan, the Japan Wrestling Federation announced.

The federation also announced the squad to be dispatched to the Asian Championships that will follow the Olympic qualifier at the same venue in the Kazakh city of Almaty. Among those entries are seven wrestlers who have already qualified for the Tokyo Games, four of whom are also defending Asian champions.

The Olympic qualifying tournament will be held April 9-11, with competition in the six Olympic weight classes in each style. That will be followed by the Asian Championships, to run April 13-18 in all 10 weight classes.

It will mark the first time Japan has sent a team overseas since last year's Asian Championships in New Delhi in February 2020.

For the Tokyo Olympics, Japan has already qualified at freestyle 65kg and 74kg, Greco-Roman 60kg and women 53kg, 57kg, 62kg, 68kg and 76kg, based on results from the 2019 World Championships. The top two finishers at the continental qualifier will earn Olympic berths for their country.

Susaki will be looking to earn her first Olympic spot at women's 50kg. She and the others earned the right by winning titles at the 2019 national championships. Even when the Tokyo Games were postponed a year, they were allowed to keep their places.

Also hoping to qualify for Tokyo will be 2016 Rio Olympic silver medalist Rei HIGUCHI at freestyle 57kg and Sosuke TAKATANI, who will be aiming to make his third Olympics and first at freestyle 86kg.

The team for the Asian Championships consists mainly of the champions at the most recent national championships held in December 2020. In cases where the champion opted out or was unavailable, the runner-up or a third-place finisher filled the spot.

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Takuto OTOGURO, Japan's '18 world champion, will wrestle at 65kg at the Asian Championships. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

The wrestlers who have already qualified for the Tokyo Olympics and are entered for the Asian Championships are brothers Takuto and Keisuke OTOGURO at freestyle 65kg and 74kg, respectively, and the female quintet of Mayu MUKAIDA (53kg), Risako KAWAI (57kg), Yukako KAWAI (62kg), Sara DOSHO (68kg) and Hiroe MINAGAWA (76g).

Kenichiro FUMITA, Japan's lone current Olympic qualifier in Greco-Roman, has opted to skip the tournament and the chance to defend his 2020 Asian title at 60kg. He earned his Olympic ticket by winning the 2019 world title.

Takuto Otoguro, the Kawai sisters and Minagawa are the reigning Asian champions in their weight classes. Mukaida will be looking to improve on her silver medal from 2020.

At the 2020 tournament in New Delhi, Japan took home seven medals in freestyle, but with the exception of Otoguro, none of the other medalists earned a return trip this year. Also missing out are two women's champions from 2020, Miho IGARASHI and Naomi RUIKE.

Here are the squads:

Asian Olympic Qualifying Tournament  (April 9-11, Almaty)

Greco-Roman
67kg: Shogo TAKAHASHI
77kg: Shohei YABIKU
87kg : Masato SUMI
97kg: Yuta NARA
130kg: Arata SONODA

Women
50kg : Yui SUSAKI

Freestyle
57kg : Rei HIGUCHI
86kg : Sosuke TAKATANI
97kg : Naoya AKAGUMA
125kg : Tetsuya TANAKA

Asian Championships (April 13-18, Almaty)

Greco-Roman
55kg: Yu SHIOTANI
60kg: Ayata SUZUKI
63kg: Kensuke SHIMIZU
67kg: Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA
72kg: Taishi HORIE
77kg: Kodai SAKURABA
82kg: Satoki MUKAI
87kg: So SAKABE
97kg: Masayuki AMANO
130kg: Sota OKUMURA

Women
50kg: Remina YOSHIMOTO
53kg: Mayu MUKAIDA
55kg: Tsugumi SAKURAI
57kg: Risako KAWAI
59kg: Akie HANAI
62kg: Yukako KAWAI
65kg: Miwa MORIKAWA
68kg: Sara DOSHO
72kg: Masako FURUICHI
76kg: Hiroe MINAGAWA

Freestyle
57kg: Yuto TAKESHITA
61kg: Shoya SHIMAE
65kg: Takuto OTOGURO
70kg: Jintaro MOTOYAMA
74kg: Keisuke OTOGURO
79kg: Ryuki YOSHIDA
86kg: Hayato ISHIGURO
92kg: Yuto IZUTSU
97kg: Takashi ISHIGURO
125kg: Taiki YAMAMOTO

#WrestleTirana

Mohmadi shuts Novikov down to avenge Paris Olympic loss

Friday, February 28, 2025 - 19:23 By Vinay Siwach

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TIRANA, Albania (February 28) -- Alireza MOHMADI (IRI) and Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) flexed their achievements in their own ways. Both acknowledged each other but a sense of supremacy also followed.

In a rematch of the 2024 Paris Olympic Greco-Roman 87kg final, Novikov and Mohmadi met in the quarterfinal of the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series to add another chapter to the exciting rivalry. While the stage wasn't as grand as Paris, Mohmadi avenged his loss from the final, blanking Olympic champion Novikov 5-0 and dominating the proceedings in the match.

Mohmadi went on to win the gold medal at 87kg after David LOSONCZI (HUN) pulled out of the final injured but the purpose of getting a match against Novikov and winning was served.

"This match was very important to me," Mohmadi said. "Wrestling against Novikov, who I wrestled in the Olympics, I expected myself to wrestle better than I did in the Olympics. I was able to win and wrestle without mistakes. I hope I can maintain this winning streak against Novikov in the World Championships as well."

Novikov won 7-0 in Paris in a very one-sided final and Mohmadi, perhaps learning from that experience from Paris where he wasn't awarded the forced par terre, began on an aggressive note. He got the par terre but failed to score and led only 1-0 at the break. However, the second period was also saw Mohmadi dominate proceedings as he scored a stepout and takedown to make it 4-0.

The world silver medalist was awarded the par terre in the second period as well which extended his lead to 5-0 but he once again failed to score. He shut Novikov down for the remaining time to win the bout.

He blew a kiss like an archer release the arrow whereas Novikov flexed his biceps, perhaps reminding Mohmadi that he is still the Olympic champion.

"I expected this match to be intense because the wrestler is both an Olympic champion and a world medalist, and a very good wrestler," he said. "But fortunately, I was able to use my opportunities well and get my points in this match."

Alireza MOHMADI (IRI) Alireza MOHMADI (IRI) defeated Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) 5-0 at 87kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Mohmadi seems to have became the mainstay for Iran at 87kg for the foreseeable future but given the international depth at the weight class, Mohmadi knows he cannot let his guard down. 

"The 87 kg weight class has many contenders, even in these competitions," he said. "With the help coaches, I work on each of them individually and plan for each of them. They will do the same because this weight class has many contenders and has always been a busy weight class."

Novikov wasn't the only big win for Mohmadi on Friday. He began with a 8-0 sweep of Tamas LEVAI (HUN) and defeated European champion Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB) 5-1 in the semifinal.

A mouthwatering final against Losonczi was set but the Hungarian injured his elbow in the semifinal against Marcel STERKENBURG (NED) and decided to skip the gold medal match.

"I hurt my right shoulder in the semifinals," Losonczi said. "It is a little swollen. I don’t think it’s too serious and I will be fine for the Europeans, but this is why I made this decision to sit out of the finals, just to make sure it does not get worse."

In the other Greco-Roman weight class that was in action on Friday, Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ) defeated Idris IBAEV (GER), 3-2, to win the gold medal at 77kg.

Ibaev raced to a 5-0 lead after getting the first par terre position but Kyrgyzstan challenged the call for a leg-foul that was confirmed on review and Ibaev's lead was cut to 1-0. Maksatbek Uulu scored a takedown just before the break to claim a 2-1 lead.

Maksatbek Uulu got the par terre in second period but did not score any point. He, however, led 3-1 before Ibaev managed to get a stepout to make it 3-2.  However, that was not enough as Maksetbek Uulu defended his one point lead till the end of time to win the gold medal.

RESULTS

77kg
GOLD: Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ) df. Idris IBAEV (GER), 3-2

BRONZE: Per Albin OLOFSSON (SWE) df. Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO), 3-3
BRONZE: Kodai SAKURABA (JPN) df. Aleksa ILIC (SRB), 7-4

87kg
GOLD: Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI) df. David LOSONCZI (HUN), via inj. def.

BRONZE: Tamas LEVAI (HUN) df. Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB), 3-1
BRONZE: Marcel STERKENBURG (NED) df. Nursultan TURSYNOV (TUR), 3-1