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

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

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)

2026 Muhamet Malo

'Important Gold’: Sadulaev Relishes Successful 97kg Return

Thursday, February 26, 2026 - 21:58 By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (February 26) -- World champion Kyle SNYDER (USA) could have challenged him. Up-and-coming Mukhamed KHANIEV (UWW) could have caused trouble. Or maybe Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) would have caused an upset.

None of that happened. A calm and composed Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW) marked his return to the mat with yet another gold medal, winning the 97kg weight class at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series event on Thursday in Tirana, Albania.

It has become increasingly rare to see Sadulaev wrestle internationally, but when he does, the results tend to be a foregone conclusion. Sadulaev last wrestled at a global event at the same Feti Borova Arena in Tirana in October 2024 when he claimed his sixth world title, stunningly dropping to 92kg.

After 15 months, he was back -- at 97kg and, the top of the podium.

"Thank you to everyone who supported me, those in the arena and those watching on TV and smartphones," Sadulaev said. "Everyone who cheered, worried, and prayed for me. I want to say a huge, heartfelt thank you to all of you."

When Sadulaev stepped on the mat on Thursday, he rolled back the years. Right hand on his opponent's forehand, circling while standing tall. He would throw himself back if someone tried to attack his legs and then get a front headlock to score.

A true throwback in Tirana would have been a Sadulaev and Snyder clash but Khaniev decided to postpone that for now by beating the United States wrestler in the quarterfinals. Sadulaev got Khaniev in the final.

He was the first on board with a double-leg attack which gave him four points. He then made Khaniev toil to find an opening and when he did, Sadulaev defended like a rock. Khaniev was able to score only through stepouts -- managing four points from it while Sadulaev added three more takedowns to finish the final 10-4.

While the gold medal was a satisfactory result for Sadulaev, there was an added incentive that he was chasing.

"For me, this gold means qualifying for the European Championships, which will take place here in this same arena in two months, in April. It was very important for me to qualify there," he said.

Sadulaev, if he competes, will be at the European Championships after six years having last competed at the tournament in 2020. He won gold medal at 97kg in Rome.

Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW) scores on Mukhamed KHANIEV (UWW) in the 97kg final in Tirana. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

The final against Khaniev was a virtual wrestle-off to win the spot for the continental championships, to be held from April 20 to 26. And despite beating Khaniev, Sadulaev was all praise for the youngster.

"Khaniev is young and promising," he said. "I thought we might meet before the final, but [because of the bracket] we faced each other only in the final.

"I know him well, we train in the same region, we’ve been at training camps together and worked side by side. He’s very tough, with a really good stamina. He hasn’t gained that much experience yet, but I believe he has everything ahead of him."

Khaniev, making his debut at 97kg internationally, sprung a surprise when he defeated Snyder 10-4, using some crafty counters in the second period. He also defeated Magomedov in the semifinals.

Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW) completes a fireman's carry move. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

However, Sadulaev isn't reading much into Snyder's loss as the U.S. wrestler had lost to Arash YOSHIDA (JPN) in Tirana but went on to win the world gold in September.

"At tournaments like this, he [Snyder] usually doesn’t come in at peak form the way he does for the World Championships or the Olympic Games, where he’s been in his best shape," Sadulaev said. "So this loss doesn’t really say much. Maybe he will win the next World Championships."

The World Championships in Manama, Bahrain is scheduled in October and there is a good chance that both Sadulaev and Snyder will be there. But Sadulaev is hoping for a more decorated field.

"If everything goes well and I make it for the World Championships, four Olympic champions could compete in this weight class [in Bahrain] -- Hassan YAZDANI (IRI), Kyle [SNYDER] and Ahmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) and myself, and other medalists," he said. "I think it will be the most competitive and exciting weight category."

Sadulaev, in his subtle humor, would go on.

"It’s hot enough there [Bahrain], but I think at the World Championships, it will be even hotter."

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

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'Important Gold’: Sadulaev Relishes Successful 97kg Return