#WrestleAlmaty

LIVE BLOG: Senior Asian Championships, Day Five

Saturday, April 17, 2021 - 05:16 By United World Wrestling Press

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The rivalries are back in action as freestyle actions begins in Almaty. Bajrang PUNIA (IND) and Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) are the biggest superstars in action

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

1440 hrs: Alisher YERGALI (KAZ)  and Ali Khalil SHABANIBENGAR (IRI) are the finalist at 97kg. 

1425 hrs: Ali Bakhtiar SAVADKOUHI (IRI) has done it. He will wrestle for gold at 79kg after beating defending champion USSERBAYEV (KAZ) 8-2 in semifinal. Byungmin GONG (KOR) pulls of thriller against Narsingh Pancham YADAV (IND) 5-5

1410 hrs: Sirojiddin KHASANOV (UZB) will wrestle for a gold medal at 70kg against Syrbaz TALGAT (KAZ)

1355 hrs: We have a rematch! Bajrang PUNIA (IND) and Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) will redo the final of 65kg after they did that in New Delhi last year. Otoguro came out on top last year

1340 hrs: Ravi KUMAR (IND) will defend his 57kg title as he makes it to the final with a 11-0 win over Ali M M ABURUMAILA (PLE). In his way, however, is Alireza Nosratolah SARLAK (IRI) who takes out Yuto TAKESHITA (JPN) 5-1

1315 hrs: Narsingh Pancham YADAV (IND) will go up against Byungmin GONG (KOR) in the 79kg semifinal but it's the other one which should be a top match.  Galymzhan USSERBAYEV (KAZ) takes on Ali Bakhtiar SAVADKOUHI (IRI)

In the 97kg weight category, Altangerel CHINBAT (MGL) will be up against Alisher YERGALI (KAZ) while the other semifinal will see Ali Khalil SHABANIBENGAR (IRI) wrestling Satywart KADIAN (IND)

1310 hrs: We are moving closer to the the semifinals! At 57kg, Ravi KUMAR (IND) will wrestle Ali M M ABURUMAILA (PLE) while the second semifinal will see Alireza Nosratolah SARLAK (IRI) take on Yuto TAKESHITA (JPN)

65kg is set as Bajrang PUNIA (IND) goes against Bilguun SARMANDAKH (MGL). Defending champion Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) Morteza Hassanali GHIASI CHEKA (IRI)

1250 hrs: Two minutes and 10 seconds is all Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) needs to win 13-0 against Nodir RAKHIMOV (UZB) and move into the semifinal of his title defence at 65kg

1245 hrs: Bajrang PUNIA (IND) with a tactical 3-0 win at 65kg to reach the semifinal. Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) up next on Mat B

1235 hrs: Ravi KUMAR (IND) begins his title defence at 57kg with a dominant 9-2 win over Nodirjon SAFAROV (UZB) in the quarterfinal

1230 hrs: Down go both silver medalists! Karan MOR (IND) beats Amirhossein Ali HOSSEINI (IRI) 3-1 while young Yuto TAKESHITA (JPN) does it against Hikmatullo VOHIDOV (TJK)

1215 hrs:  Amirhossein Ali HOSSEINI (IRI) and Hikmatullo VOHIDOV (TJK), both silver medalist in their respective weights in Delhi last year are on Mat B and Mat C respectively

1200 hrs: Defending champion at 79kg Galymzhan USSERBAYEV (KAZ) rallies back from 1-4 down to win his qualification round bout 13-4 against Gurbanmyrat OVEZBERDIYEV (TKM)

1145 hrs: 2020 silver medalist Hikmatullo VOHIDOV (TJK), Yuto TAKESHITA (JPN) and Alireza Nosratolah SARLAK (IRI) all begin on a winning note 

1130 hrs: The whistle are off! Almaty is ready for men's freestyle action. Many star wrestlers to claim the five gold medals on offer

Esmaeili survives Jafarov shock to win ISG 2025 gold

Tuesday, November 18, 2025 - 18:51 By Vinay Siwach

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (November 18) -- He needed some strong defense to win the world title and on Tuesday, Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) needed some clutch offense to beat Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) for the second time in two one month.

Esmaeili and Jafarov clashed in the final of the 67kg weight class at the Islamic Solidarity Games 2025 in Riyad, Saudi Arabi and it seemed that the latter was on his way to upset the Olympic champion and avenge his loss from the World Championships final.

Down 3-3 on criteria, all seemed to be over for Esmaeili as the clock ticked down. In the last 10 seconds, Esmaeili worked on a double-arm lock and then managed to throw Jafarov in danger from standing for four points which changed the result and gave him the win.

Azerbaijan challenged the call but there was no change in the result and Esmaeili defeated Jafarov 8-3, to capture yet another gold medal this year after Asian and World Championships.

Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI)Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) throws Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) during their 67kg bout. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

In Zagreb, Esmaeili was put in par terre for third passivity call. Jafarov, down 2-1, needed a point to turn the result but he failed to score any points as Esmaeili defended the par terre position and captured his first world title.

Jafarov blamed a lapse in concentration in the final seconds that costed him the gold medal in Riyadh.

Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI)Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) won his fourth gold medal this year. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Iran's other world champion from Zagreb, Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) made it seem a little easier as he defeated former world U20 champion Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ), 6-0, winning his third gold in one month.

Farokhi, who won gold at 82kg at the World Championships, moved to 87kg for U23 World Championships and won gold without giving up a point in Novi Sad. Just two weeks later, he now gold at 87kg on Tuesday.

Against Yevloyev in the final, Farokhi was awarded both par terre position which gave him a 2-0 lead. From the second par terre, he managed to score a point as he threw Yevloyev for a stepout. The Kazakhstan wrestler was docked two points for defensive foul making it 5-0.

Kazakhstan challenged the foul call but Yevloyev had clearly blocked Farokhi using his elbow on the Iranian's face. The lost challenged made it 6-0 for Farokhi, giving him the win.

Farokhi had a tough match in semifinals against world bronze medalist Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ) and needed a takedown in the final minute to win 7-6, first time he has shown some difficulty winning bouts.

Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ)Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) won the 77kg gold medal at the Islamic Solidarity Games. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Two other gold medals were awarded on Tuesday with former U23 world champion Alisher GANIEV (UZB) winning the 60kg one and two-time Olympic medalist Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) marking his comeback with gold medal at 77kg.

Makhmudov, who has not wrestled in a full tournament since winning bronze in Paris, was in some form as he made no mistake in his run to the gold medal. In the final, he wrestled Amir ABDI (IRI) and performed a reverse lift throw for five points before securing the fall in the second period.

Abdi got the par terre position in the first period but Makhmudov defended the position, giving only a 1-0 lead to the Iranian. When he got the par terre position, he jumped to the front before performing the lift and holding Abdi on the mat for fall.

Ganiev, who defeated European champion Nihad MAMMADLI (AZE) in the quarterfinal, defeated Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) in the semifinal and humbled Ekrem OZTURK (TUR), 8-0, in the final.

RESULTS

60kg
GOLD: Alisher GANIEV (UZB) df. Ekrem OZTURK (TUR), 8-0

BRONZE: Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) df. Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE), 3-2
BRONZE: Sajjad ALBIDHAN (IRQ) df. Fergat ABDELKRIM (ALG), 5-1

67kg
GOLD: Saeid ESMAEILI LEIVESI (IRI) df. Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE), 8-3

BRONZE: Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) df. Aref MOHAMMADI (QAT), 5-2
BRONZE: Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) df. Hassan ABDELREHIM (EGY), via fall (9-0)

77kg
GOLD: Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) df. Amir ABDI (IRI), via fall (6-1)

BRONZE: Abdullo ALIEV (UZB) df. Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE), 2-2
BRONZE: Shahin BADAGHIMOFRAD (QAT) df. Sami SLAMA (TUN), via fall (8-1)

87kg
GOLD: Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) df. Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ), 6-0

BRONZE: Sid BACHIR (ALG) df. Sukhrob ABDULKHAEV (TJK), 9-0
BRONZE: Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ) df. Islam ABBASOV (AZE), 5-1