Asian Games

Japanese Women Jolted in Jakarta, Fail to Strike Gold as World Champs Falter

Monday, August 20, 2018 - 19:26 By United World Wrestling Press

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For most countries, four medals in four weight classes would be cause for celebration. But not if you're the Japan women's team and none of those medals are gold, particularly with two world champions in the competition--neither of whom made it to the finals.

Instead it was Mongolia, North Korea (twice) and, for the first time ever, India who had cause to smile as the women's wrestling competition at the Asian Games  got underway Monday on the second day in Jakarta. 

Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL) pulled off the feat of the day when she won a clash of world champions, scoring a victory by fall in the 62kg semifinals over Risako KAWAI (JPN), who is also a reigning Olympic champion and had not lost in nearly three years.

Purevdorj followed that up by crushing Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) with an 11-0 technical fall in the final to add the Asian Games gold to the 2017 world championship she won at 62kg in Paris. 

Tynybekova is no slouch herself, having won the Asian gold and a world bronze medal at 58kg in 2017. But she was no match for Purevdorj, who has now won 10 consecutive international tournaments, including the gold at the Asian Championships in Bishkek earlier this year.

Purevdorj also holds the distinction of being one of the few wrestlers on the planet to have beaten four-time Olympic champion Kaori ICHO (JPN), having scored a technical fall victory over the legend in the final at the Yarygin Grand Prix in 2016.

In the semifinal against Kawai, Purevdorj was trailing 2-0 in the second period when she sent the Japanese to her back and finished her off with a fall at 3:47. The devastated Kawai spent a long while after the match sitting against a wall sobbing. 

"I was caught off guard in an instant," Kawai told the Japanese press. "That is the fear of wrestling."

Kawai managed to compose herself and return for the bronze medal match, where she easily disposed of Thi My Hanh NGUYEN (VIE) by 10-0 technical fall in 2:58. RIM Jong Sim (PRK) snared the other bronze.


 Kawai, who won the Paris 2017 title at 60kg and Rio 2016 Olympic gold at 63kg, will drop to 59kg in an attempt to defend her world title in Budapest in Hungary. So for now, there will be no rematch for Purevdorj. 

For Yuki IRIE (JPN), a rematch with Vinesh VINESH (IND) produced the same disappointing result, but this time at a higher cost. 

Meeting in the 50kg final, Vinesh took a 4-0 lead in the first period, then held off the Japanese national champion for a 6-2 victory. That was similar to the outcome of their semifinal encounter at Bishkek 2018, where Vinesh won 4-4 on big point en route to the silver medal. Irie won a bronze. 

The victory made Vinesh, who knocked off Rio 2016 bronze medalist SUN Yanan (CHN) in the first round, the first Indian woman in history to win an Asian Games wrestling gold medal. It was against Sun in Rio that Vinesh suffered a serious leg injury that scuttled her Olympic hopes. 

KIM Son Hyung (PRK), a bronze medalist at Paris 2017, and KIM Hyungjoo (KOR) won the playoffs for the bronzes. 

For Irie, falling short of the gold was a particularly hard blow as she missed out on making Japan's team to the world championships. She defeated world champion Yui SUSAKI (JPN) at the national championships in December to earn a berth to Jakarta, but subsequently lost out to Susaki in a playoff for Budapest. 

Japan's other current world champion in action in Jakarta, Haruna OKUNO, was also tripped up on the path to the final, suffering a heartbreaking 7-7 loss in the 53kg semifinal to Bishkek 2018 champion PAK Yong Mi (PRK). 

Okuno, the Paris 2017 gold medalist at 55kg, trailed 4-1 after the first period, but fought back to go ahead 7-6 with 30 seconds left---only to give up a point for stepping out in the last five seconds to concede the victory on last point to Pak. 


Pak went on to win the gold with a one-sided 11-0 technical fall in 5:29 over Zhuldyz ESHIMOVA (KAZ), a Bishkek 2018 bronze medalist and New Delhi 2017 silver medalist. 

Okuno and Sumiya ERDENECHIMEG (MGL), the runner-up to Pak in Bishkek, took the bronze medals with first-period falls in the third-place playoffs. 

The semifinal losses by Kawai and Okuno came on the heels of a loss at the same stage in freestyle 57kg by fellow world champion and compatriot Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN) the previous day. 

JONG Myong Suk (PRK) gave North Korea its second gold of the night when the two-time world bronze medalist scored a 5-4 victory in the 57kg final over Bishkek 2018 champion PEI Xingru (CHN). 

Jong chalked up four points with a double-leg takedown in the first period, then held on as Pei battled back with her own 4-point move in the second. 

The bronze medals went to Battsetseg ALTANTSETSEG (MGL) and Katsuki SAKAGAMI (JPN). 


Meanwhile in the lone remaining weight class in freestyle, Parviz HADIBASMANJ (IRI) successfully defended his 125kg title to give Iran golds in the top half of the six divisions on the program. 

Hadibasmanj had little trouble in forging a 7-0 decision in the final over DENG Zhiwei (CHN) to add to the golds won the previous day by Iranian compatriots Hassan YAZDANI at 86kg and Alireza KARIMI at 97kg. 

Hadibasmanj's biggest challenge came in the semifinals, where he managed to scrape together an 11-8 win over man-mountain and Bishkek 2018 champion Davit MODZMANASHVILI (UZB).

Modzmanshvili and NAM Koungjin (KOR) came away with the bronze medals. 

On Day 3 of the four-day competition on Tuesday, the women will finish up with the two upper weights, 68kg and 72kg, while the Greco-Roman gets started with the two lightest divisions, 60kg and 67kg. 

Freestyle

125kg (19 entries)

Gold - Parviz HADIBASMANJ (IRI) df. DENG Zhiwei (CHN), 7-0 
Bronze - NAM Koungjin (KOR) df. Tayab REZA (PAK), 9-0
Bronze - Davit MODZMANASHVILI (UZB) df. Sumit SUMIT (IND), 2-0 

SF - Hadibasmanj df. Modzmanashvili, 11-8
SF - Deng df. Nam by Fall, 1:08 (6-0)

Women's Wrestling

50kg (11 entries)

Gold - Vinesh VINESH (IND) df. Yuki IRIE (JPN), 6-2
Bronze - KIM Son Hyang (PRK) def. Eka SETIAWATI (INA) by TF, 10-0, 2:11
Bronze - KIM Hyungjoo (KOR) def. Dauletbike YAKHSHIMURATOVA (UZB), 6-0

SF - Vinesh df. Yakhshimuratova by TF, 10-0, 1:15 
SF - Irie df. Kim, 13-4

53kg (13 entries)

Gold - PAK Yong Mi (PRK) df. Zhuldyz ESHIMOVA (KAZ) by TF, 11-0, 5:29
Bronze - Haruna OKUNO (JPN) df. CHIU Hsinju (TPE) by Fall, 2:19 (6-0)
Bronze - Sumiya ERDENECHIMEG (MGL) df. LEE Shinhye (KOR) by Fall, 1:49 (3-2)

SF - Eshimova df. Erdenechimeg, 12-11
SF - Pak df. Okuno, 7-7

57kg (12 entries)

Gold - JONG Myong Suk (PRK) df. PEI Xingru (CHN), 5-4 
Bronze - Battsetseg ALTANTSETSEG (MGL) df. UM Jieun (KOR), 5-2 
Bronze - Katsuki SAKAGAMI (JPN) df. Pooja DHANDA (IND), 6-1

SF - Jong df. Dhanda by TF, 10-0, 5:09
SF - Pei df. Altantsetseg, 4-1

62kg (11 entries)

Gold - Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL) df. Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) by TF, 11-0, 4:14
Bronze - Risako KAWAI (JPN) df. Thi My Hanh NGUYEN (VIE) by TF, 10-0, 2:58
Bronze - RIM Jong Sim (PRK) df. Sakshi MALIK (IND), 6-1

SF - Tynybekova df. Malik, 9-7
SF - Purevdorj df. Kawai by Fall, 3:47 (2-2)
 

#WrestleSamokov

U20 World Championships 2025 Day 2 Live Blog

Monday, August 18, 2025 - 07:13 By Vinay Siwach

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SAMOKOV, Bulgaria (August 18) -- The U20 World Championships enter the second day with four more Freestyle weight classes -- 57kg, 65kg, 79kg and 92kg. The competition began Sunday, read the recap here.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | DAY 1 RESULTS

The semifinals will begin at 17:00 hours

14:18: Anar JAFARLI (AZE) with a huge four-pointer to trip SACHIN (IND) and then uses a high gut to finish the 92kg quarterfinal 10-0.

14:15: Sumit MALIK (IND) denies Vasif BAGHIROV (AZE) a semifinal place at 57kg. Malik with a four-pointer in his 9-2 win as Baghirov could not match the pace. 

14:06: Another Yamanashi Gaikun University wrestler Reiji UCHIDA (JPN) on the rise! Uchida locks Sanjarbek RUSTAMBEKOV (UZB) in a leg lace and finishes the match 11-0 to reach the 65kg semifinals.

14:02: Luke STANICH (USA) is into the semifinals at 65kg! He hangs on for a 3-3 criteria win over Alessandro NINI (ITA) after scoring a takedown which was latest action in the match. Incidentally, both Stanich and Nini were born in New Jersey and train 100 kilometres from each other -- Stanich at Lehigh and Nini at Rutgers

13:55: European U20 champion Davit TCHETCHELASHVILI (GEO) built a 3-0 lead but William HENCKEL (USA) bounces back with two takedowns to lead 4-3 at the break in their 79kg quarterfinal. Henckel gets a stepout in the second period to extend his lead to 5-3 while defending those attempted duckunders. Tchetchelashvili hits a takedown to lead 5-5 on criteria with 1:50 left in the match. Henckel hits a takedown to reclaim the lead 7-5 with a minute left in the match. A double-leg from Henckel as he gets two and a turn for a fall gives two more points to make his lead 11-5. Henchkel downs Tchetchelashvili 11-5.

13:40: Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) downs defending 79kg champion Alp Arsalan BEGENJOV (TKM) 6-4, avenging his 10-0 loss to the Turkmenistan wrestler from last year. Begenjov had a 1-1 criteria lead after a stepout but Yousefi scored a stepout and Begenjov called for a medical timeout. With a 2-1 lead for Yousefi, the bout restarted in par terre and the Iranian managed to turn Begenjov for two points to lead 4-1 with 1:53 left in the match. Yousefi then stopped a duckunder and scored a takedown but Begenjov managed a takedown to make it 6-3. Yousefi was fleeing during that attack for which he was cautioned and bout restarted in par terre with 6-4 lead for Yousefi. Begenjov failed to turn Yousefi from par terre, ending his title defense.

13:25: World U17 champion Vasif BAGHIROV (AZE) has reached the quarterfinal at 57kg as he looks to add a U20 world title to his name. He will face Sumit MALIK (IND).

13:15: Kamil KURUGLIYEV (KAZ) launched Connor MIRASOLA (USA) for a counter chest wrap four-pointer and then adds couple of stepouts to lead 6-1. Mirasola comes out on top in one of the scrambles to make it 6-3 with a minute left in the bout. Kurugliyev with a stepout and Mirasola with a takedown but the Kazakh returning bronze medalist wins 7-5 and advances to the 92kg quarterfinals.

13:00: Nurdanat AITANOV (KAZ), Asian U20 silver medalist, runs off to a 14-3 technical superiority win over Anthony KNOX (USA) at 57kg to enter the quarterfinals. 

12:55: Sumit MALIK (IND) pulls off a last-second victory over Rin SAKAMOTO (JPN), who will be at 57kg for the senior World Championships as well for Japan. Malik was down 10-1 but somehow mounted a comeback in the second period with a four-pointer and a takedown to make it 10-7. He scored another takedown to score 10-9 with 7 seconds left. Sakamoto wins but India challenge for a singlet-foul which on review is confirmed and a 10-10 win for Malik.

12:40: Aliasghar TATHASHTIKEH (IRI) managed to come within one point distance of Amal DZHANDUBAEV (UWW) in the 65kg bout but goes down 10-9. Dzhandubaev, the European U20 champion, led comfortably before his conditioning struggles became evident. Three takedowns for Tathashtikeh to make it 10-8 with 20 seconds left on the clock but the Iranian managed only a stepout.

12:20: Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) with a fall over Narek NIKOGHOSYAN (ARM) at 79kg after building an 8-0 lead. On Mat C, defending champion at 79kg Alp Arsalan BEGENJOV (TKM) with two big moves to win 11-0 against Gan Erdene BAATARKHUU (MGL)

12:10: Yerkhan ABIL (KAZ) is too much for returning bronze medalist at 79kg Leandro ARAUJO (BRA) as the Kazakh wrestler wins 6-0. Totally shut down Araujo in that bout.

12:05: European U20 champion Davit TCHETCHELASHVILI (GEO) pins Antoni MAJCHRZAK (POL) on the mat after a four-pointer and gets the victory via fall.

12:00: In a thrilling repechage bout, returning silver medalist Ladarion LOCKETT (USA) scores a takedown with 3 seconds left to beat European U20 champion Manuel WAGIN (GER) at 74kg. Wagin hit a front headlock four-point throw to lead 5-4 but Lockett somehow managed to overturn the result of a heated bout.

11:40: Anthony KNOX (USA), wrestling internationally for the first time, doesn't waste much time and beats Mykola BRATOV (UKR) via technical superiority at 57kg.

11:30: Anar JAFARLI (AZE) hangs on for a 3-2 win against Orazmuhammet HOJALYYEV (TKM) at 92kg. Tough match for Jafarli, a returning bronze medalist.

11:25: Magomed OZDAMIROV (UWW) with a beautiful arm-throw against Arshia HADDADI (IRI) for four points. Haddadi could never recover and loses his first bout at 57kg 6-1. 

11:15: Viktor BOROHAN (UKR) with a four-pointer to take the lead 4-4 on criteria against ASHWANI (IND) and win at 65kg. The European U20 silver medalist over Asian U20 silver medalist

11:10: Leg lace is what Amal DZHANDUBAEV (UWW) gets to win his first bout at 65kg against Agha GASIMOV (AZE). Dzhandubaev is the European U20 and U23 champion this year.

11:05: Returning 79kg bronze medalist Mohammad YOUSEFI (IRI) warms up with a 10-0 win over Ion MARCU (MDA). Yousefi is a senior Asian champion this year.

11:00: Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR) comes out blazing with a takedown and then gut-wrenches Luke STANICH (USA) for an 8-0 lead. Toprak has some conditioning trouble and slowly feels the pressure of Stanich, who now has three takedowns to cut the lead to 8-6 with more than 2 minutes left in the bout. Stanich takedonw takedown to make it 8-8 and take the criteria lead. Toprak keeps going for Stanich's legs but the U.S. wrestler is quick to counter and score. He turns using a lace and now leads 16-8. He finishes with another takedown wins 18-8.

10:55: Muradkhan OMAROV (AZE), who won a silver medal at the European U20 Championships, had a slow start against David KODAKOV GIL (ESP) at 79kg but then jumps to a 9-2 lead as Kodakov Gil was seemingly passive. Omarov wins 9-2 and advances at 79kg

10:40: Defending 79kg champion Alp Arsalan BEGENJOV (TKM) starts off with a technical superiority win over Ivan ANDONOV (BUL). Begenjov gets on the scored with an activity point and then scores a takedown and turn to lead 5-0 at the break. He then counters with two chest wrap throws for four points to win 11-0.

10:35: Pan-Am U20 champion William HENCKEL (USA) raced to 5-0 lead against Maksat TABYLDYEV (KGZ) gets a few points back. Henckel, however, manages to hang on for a 8-5 win at 79kg. 

10:30: European U20 champion Davit TCHETCHELASHVILI (GEO) and Keyvan GHAREHDAGHI (JPN) in a back-and-forth bout at 79kg. But Tchetchelashvili manages to score every time Gharehdaghi scores. Eventually, the Georgian manages to win 12-8.

10:00: The day will start with the repechage from Sunday's weight classes and then move to qualifications of today's weights beginning with 79kg.