#WrestleAlmaty

LIVE BLOG: Asian Olympic Qualifier, Day One

Friday, April 9, 2021 - 04:56 By United World Wrestling Press

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Kyrgyzstan led the way with three wrestlers qualifying for the Tokyo Olympic Games at tge Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Almaty on Friday. China, Iran, and South Korea qualified two each while Japan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan managed to get one spot each.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

2000 hrs: GOLD MEDAL! Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) claims the 130kg gold medal after Minseok KIM (KOR) after the Korean pulls out due to injury

1940 hrs: Mohammadhadi Abdollah SARAVI (IRI) caps off his day with a stunning 10-0 win over Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ) to win the gold medal at 97kg. Second gold of the day for Iran

1920 hrs: GOLD MEDAL! TURSYNOV (KAZ) will capture the gold medal at 87kg after Fei PENG (CHN) is out injured

1900 hrs: GOLD MEDAL! Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) finishes his day with a 7-3 win over Shohei YABIKU (JPN) and takes home the gold medal at 77kg. What a day for the youngster

1845 hrs: GOLD MEDAL! Mohammadreza Abdolhamid GERAEI (IRI) with a big throw and the win! He beats Hansu RYU (KOR) 9-0 to win the 67kg gold medal

 1833 hrs: Aram VARDANYAN (UZB) captures the bronze medal by defeating Azatjan ACHILOV (TKM) 11-2 while ASHU (IND) is the winner on Mat B as he beats Sheroz OCHILOV (TJK) 8-1 at 67kg

1825 hrs: Azatjan ACHILOV (TKM) and Aram VARDANYAN (UZB) are wrestling on Mat A while Sheroz OCHILOV (TJK) is up against ASHU (IND) on Mat B at 67kg

1823 hrs: GOLD MEDAL! Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) with a solid defence to clinch the 60kg gold medal against Sailike WALIHAN (CHN)

1810 hrs: Hanjae CHUNG (KOR) with a reversal in the final 10 seconds to win the bronze medal over GYANENDER (IND) 4-3. Firuz MIRZORAJBNOV (TJK) fights off a tough battle against F Kh M J ALAJMI (KUW) 4-2 to win the bronze at 60kg

1800 hrs: Mohammad F Kh M J ALAJMI (KUW) and Firuz MIRZORAJABOV (TJK) will wrestle for the bronze medal on Mat A while Hanjae CHUNG (KOR) is wrestling GYANENDER (IND) for the second bronze medal at 60kg

1755 hrs: We are five minutes away from the medal bouts in Almaty. Here's the match order

The #WrestleAlmaty medal matches get underway in ten minutes.

Here's the match order.

EVENT PAGE: https://t.co/sRE0ARGXnj pic.twitter.com/IJAX9TT2DK

— United World Wrestling (@wrestling) April 9, 2021

1430 hrs: Here are the 12 Tokyo Olympics qualified wrestlers in Greco-Roman from Almaty

60kg: Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) vs Sailike WALIHAN (CHN)
67kg: Hansu RYU (KOR) vs Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI)
77kg: Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) vs Shohei YABIKU (JPN)
87kg: Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ) vs Fei PENG (CHN)
97kg: Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ) vs Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI)
130kg: Minseok KIM (KOR) vs Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)

1300 hrs: We are underway with the semi-finals in Almaty. First up is the 60kg weight category

1255 hrs: We are a few moments away from the semi-final bouts in Almaty. The winners of those bouts will qualify their countries for the Tokyo Games

1235 hrs: Gurpreet SINGH (IND) stuns 2012 Olympic gold and 2016 Rio Olympic bronze medalist Hyeonwoo KIM (KOR) with a pin. Three four point throws.

1215 hrs: Massive four! Kazakhstan's Nursultan TURSYNOV was trailing 1-3 but comes up with a big four pointer to defeat Masato SUMI (JPN) 5-3 and advance to the semi-final at 87kg

1203 hrs: Aram VARDANYAN (UZB) with a top finish winning his quarter-final against Marlen ASIKEEV (KGZ) 9-1. Stunning finish from the Uzbek wrestler

 

We need to come up with a good nickname for Mohammadreza GERAEI ??!

His brother,???Mohammadali GERAEI ??, is nicknamed, "The Falcon."

— United World Wrestling (@wrestling) April 9, 2021

 

1200 hrs: Asikeev leading Vardanyan 1-0 at the break in the 67kg quarter-final. Big four-point throw from Vardanyan to lead 4-1

1155 hrs: Big bout on Mat A! 2019 World silver at 72kg Aram VARDANYAN (UZB) is wrestling Marlen ASIKEEV (KGZ) who has already effected an upset

1150 hrs: Five-time Asian champion and two-time world champion Hansu RYU (KOR) has already reached the semi-finals at 67kg 

1130 hrs: Top bout on Mat A. Minseok KIM (KOR) holds off Lingzhe MENG (CHN) for a 3-3 win in their Round 1 at 130 kg

1120 hrs: Upset on Mat B! Marlen ASIKEEV (KGZ) defeats World bronze medalist and Asian silver medalist Meiirzhan SHERMAKHANBET (KAZ) 8-2 and that will be the end of the Olympic dream here for the Kazak wrestler. Some good tactical wrestling from Asikeev giving up little to nothing 

1107 hrs: U23 World and Asia champion Mohammadreza Abdolhamid GERAEI (IRI) begins his day with a 52 second technical superiority win against Sheroz OCHILOV (TJK) 

1100 hrs: And we are off! All three mats begin the action with 130kg weight category 

#WrestleZagreb

LIVE BLOG: European Championships, Day 6

Saturday, April 22, 2023 - 07:09 By Eric Olanowski

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ZAGREB, Croatia (April 22) -- The sixth day of the European Championships in Zagreb, Croatia will see the second day of Greco-Roman action. We will start off with 60kg, 67kg, 72kg, 87kg and 97kg.

Saturday night's semifinals:
60kg
Edmond Armen NAZARYAN (BUL) vs. Gevorg GHARIBYAN (ARM) 
Georgii TIBILOV (SRB) vs. Victor CIOBANU (MDA) 

67kg
Murat FIRAT (TUR) vs. Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) 
Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO) vs. Mihai Radu MIHUT (ROU) 

72kg
Ulvi GANIZADE (AZE) vs. Selcuk CAN (TUR) 
Ali Feizollah ARSALAN (SRB) vs. Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamed Hassan GHANEM (FRA) 

82kg
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) vs. Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) 
Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR) vs. Mihail BRADU (MDA) 

97kg
Artur OMAROV (CZE) vs. Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) 
Kiril Milenov MILOV (BUL) vs. Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA) 

15:17: That was the best Greco match I've ever seen. Ciobanu was up 17-8 before halting a Kamal throw attempt and picking up the fall. 

15:11: Kamal and Ciobanu are in a war over on Mat A. They combined for 17 points in the opening three minutes. This is one you leave your seat and head mat side for.

15:01: We'll start setting our Saturday night semifinals. I'll list them as they come in.

14:41: Since winning his 2021 U23 world champion Tamas LEVAI (HUN), has moved up from 77kg to 97kg. That is not a typo. He's moved up 20kg in under two years.

Levai just beat Laokratis KESIDIS (GRE), 8-0, setting up a match with Olympic champion Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM). 

14:32: Two reigning world champions are up right now. 

At 97kg, Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) is wrestling Roberti KOBLIASHVILI (GEO), and at 72kg, Ali Feizollah ARSALAN (SRB) is wrestling Shant KHACHATRYAN (ARM).

13:47: How about this quarterfinal match at 60kg? Kerem KAMAL (TUR) downed  Bajram SINA (ALB), 8-0, setting up a matchup with 2021 world champion Victor CIOBANU (MDA). 

Kamal and Ciobanu have met three times. Ciobanu owns the 2-1 advantage, picking up an 8-0 win at the Olympic Games.

13:33: World and European runner-up Edmond Armen NAZARYAN (BUL) and fellow youngster Nihat Zahid MAMMADLI (AZE) are making their way to Mat C right now. This one should be fun if Mammadli can stay away from giving up the reverse lift in par terre.

12:28:Filip SACIC (CRO) brings the hometown crowd to their feet with a 9-1 win over Ranet KALJOLA (EST). He moves into the 82kg quarterfinals, where he'll meet Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR) and Kristoffer Zakarias BERG (SWE).

13:15: Defending champion Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) tech'd Marc WEBER (SUI), 8-0, and will meet the winner of Samvel GRIGORYAN (ARM) and Exauce MUKUBU (NOR). 

12:56: Turkish spark plug and fan favorite Kerem KAMAL (TUR) will be up in five matches on Mat A. 

12:52: Last year's European champion  Robert Attila FRITSCH (HUN) is down 7-0 to Selcuk CAN (TUR). They are on Mat B.

12:43: As if one upset wasn't enough for the qualification round, Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED) just knocked off European champion Felix BALDAUF (NOR), 10-3.

12:40: Joergensen knocks off Nad, 4-4. And In my opinion, that ends the debate for who Serbia should put in at 67kg for the World Championships, and that's Mate Nemes. It's a tough decision, but a great problem to have.

12:30: Joergensen and Nad are in a battle over on Mat C. There's a minute left and the Norwegian just took the lead on criteria on the reigning world champion.  

12:00: Reigning 63kg world champion Sebastian NAD (SRB) is back up at 67kg, replacing world champion Mate NEMES (SRB) in the Serbian lineup. He'll wrestle Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR), who is replacing 2020 European champion Morten THORESEN (NOR) in Norway's lineup. 

While talking to someone within the Norwegian Greco-Roman, Joergensen was described as "The most promising wrestler Norway has had in the last decade."

11:35: We'll run through two repechage matches per mat before rolling into Saturday's qualification rounds.