#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 

#WrestleNoviSad

U23 World Championships 2025 Greco-Roman Day 2 Highlights

Tuesday, October 21, 2025 - 08:11 By Vinay Siwach

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NOVI SAD, Serbia (October 21) -- The U23 World Championships continue on second day in Novi Sad, Serbia. Greco-Roman will continue in 55kg, 67kg, 72kg and 97kg.

WATCH CENTER | LIVE MATCH ORDER | DAY 1 RESULTS

15:10: Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO) with a reversal when Ahmadreza MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI) got a turn which gives the Georgian a 5-4 lead and gives him the win and a place in the 67kg semifinals.

15:00: Alibek AMIROV (UWW), U23 European champion, is into the semifinals at 55kg at the U23 Worlds after a 9-0 victory over Vikramjit MORE (IND). Two defensive fouls from More in that match.

14:45: Armin SHAMSIPOUR (IRI) has no mercy on Nurbolot BERDIKULOV (KGZ) as he rolls to a 13-3 technical superiority win at 55kg. Shamsipour, a 2024 U17 world champ, used his incredible gut-wrench to score his points.

14:30: Darius KIEFER (GEO) cannot survive the Maksim AVERIN (UWW) test! Kiefer, who has looked off color today, did well in the first period to be down only 1-0 but gives up two points in the second period to Averin who wins 3-1 to advance to the semifinals at 97kg

14:25: Iman MOHAMMADI (IRI) with a 5-3 victory over Ruslan NURULLAYEV (AZE) at 72kg. He scores two front headlock turns from par terre while Nurullayev only scored a turn. 

14:00: Big match on Mat B as U20 world champion Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR) takes on returning silver medalist Abubakr KHASLAKHANAU (UWW). The first points are scored by Khaslakhanau with a go-behind takedown for a 2-0 lead. Just before the break, Yakushenko with a cartwheel takedown to lead 2-2 on criteria. Khaslakhanau takes takes the lead back as Yakushenko called passive in the second period but he fails to score any points from par terre. Yakushenko has two minutes to make a comeback. He complains of a shoulder pain. Yakushenko with a stepout as the bout restarts and he takes a 3-3 criteria lead. He keeps his criteria lead and wins the bout 3-3 on criteria to advance to the semifinals.

13:55: Ahmadreza MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI) scores a 7-1 victory at 67kg against Azat SARIYAR (TUR). Mohsen Nezhad is a two-time world U20 champion and making his U23 debut.

13:30: Andrea SETTI (ITA) with a four-pointer late in the match against Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO) but the Georgian remains unfazed by the move and wins his 67kg bout 6-5.

13:20: World U20 champion Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR) with a dominant win over Luka GABISONIA (GEO) at 97kg. He goes for a big four before getting a stepout to lead 5-0. A stepout and takedown to finish the bout 8-0 in the first period.

13:15: Returning silver medalist at 97kg Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (UWW) with a technical superiority win over world U20 silver medalist Mohammad SEYDI (IRI) as he wins 9-1. Three stepouts in that bout for him. He will face world U20 champion Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR) next.

12:55: Darius KIEFER (GER) with a comeback in his 97kg bout against Tomislav BRKAN (CRO). Kiefier was down 3-2 but gets a par terre and turn to lead 5-3 before beating Brkan 7-4 and advance to the quarterfinals at 97kg.

12:30: Ahmadreza MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI), a two-time world U20 champion, gets a good warm-up with an8-0 win over Ardit ZENELI (ALB) in just a minute and 14 seconds at 67kg.

12:05: Mate VEGH (HUN) scored four points on Iman MOHAMMADI (IRI) but the Iranian was just too too good for him. Mohammadi with 10 points in the match to beat Vegh 10-4 and advance at 72kg.

11:50: Hleb MAKARANKA (UWW) brings down world bronze medalist Daniial AGAEV (UWW) at 67kg. He gets four points from par terre while giving none as Makaranka wins 5-1 to advance at 67kg.

11:35: Vikramjit MORE (IND) gives India a win at 55kg as he beats Denis MIHAI (ROU). Mihai was up 1-0 but More pressures him towards the zone when Mihai tries a arm-throw but More blocks it for a takedown. He turns him for another two points to lead 4-1. Romania challenge for a slip throw but it is not and the challenge is lost. Mihai gets a point in the second period for par terre but More sails through 5-3.

11:20: Richard KARELSON (EST), senior European silver medalist, has no trouble in beating Javokhir SHODIYAROV (UZB) at 97kg. He scores the takedown 44 seconds in the second period to win 9-0.

11:05: U20 World silver medalist Hadi SEYDI (IRI) off to a good start as he scores a 10-0 win over Dorian TREJO OLGUIN (MEX) at 97kg. His next bout is against returning silver medalist Abubakr KHASLAKHANAU (UWW).

10:55: Darius KIEFER (GER), a U20 world silver and bronze medalist, off to a slow start as he beats Juan DIAZ BLANCO (VEN) 5-3 at 97kg. He scored a counter after Diaz's takedown and led 5-2. However, Kiefer defended his par terre for the win. 

10:30: Former Asian champion Iman MOHAMMADI (IRI) opens his U23 Worlds campaign with a 6-0 win over Oleh KHALILOV (UKR) at 72kg.