#WrestleAlmaty

LIVE BLOG: Senior Asian Championships, Day Two

Wednesday, April 14, 2021 - 04:51 By United World Wrestling Press

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Day two of the Asian Championships in Almaty as Greco-Roman rolls into the second day of action. Five new Asian champions will be crowned on Wednesday in 60kg, 67kg, 72kg, 82kg and 97kg. DAY 1 FULL RECAP

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

2020 hrs: GOLD MEDAL! Mehdi BALIHAMZEHDEH (IRI) claims the final gold medal of the day with a 9-5 win over Seungjun KIM (KOR). He is the Asian champion at 130kg

1950 hrs: GOLD MEDAL! Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB) has done it! He gets the fall over Kalidin ASYKEEV (KGZ) and will be an Asian champion!

1930 hrs: GOLD MEDAL! Hansyu RYU (KOR) will win the gold medal at 72kg. The Tokyo Olympian shows why experience matters most. He beats Ruslan TSAREV (KGZ) 6-5

1930 hrs: Final bout of the 77kg as Hansyu RYU developing a big 5-0 lead but Tsarev comes back after to level it 5-5. Tsarev wants two for that lift. Challenges. The challenged is lost and Ryu leads 6-5.

1900 hrs: GOLD MEDAL! Big win for Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (JPN). He comes back from 0-4 to beat four-time world medalist Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ) via fall. Huge win for the Japan wrestler

1830 hrs: GOLD MEDAL! Aidos SULTANGALI (KAZ) avenges his lost from last year's Asian Championships and beats Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) 8-4

1800 hrs: Welcome back to the final session of day two at the Asian Championships. We will have five new champions 

1250 hrs: We are close to the semifinal bouts on day two. Mat A and Mat B will see all the action

1240 hrs: Amin KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI) scripts an epic comeback after being thrown for a five-pointer. He beats  Azat SADYKOV (KAZ) 8-6 to advance to the semifinal

1235 hrs: Hansyu RYU (KOR) has a good outing in his first bout of the day. He storms to a technical superiority win over HORIE (JPN)

1210 hrs: Aidos SULTANGALI (KAZ) goes back-to-back headlocks and drops Seunghak KIM (KOR) at the 60kg quarter-final. Technical superiority for the Kazak wrestler

1200 hrs: Iraq has a winner! Karrar Abbas Mukasr ALBEEDHAN (IRQ) with a fall over GYANENDER (IND) at 60kg to advance to the semifinal

1144 hrs: Stunning show from Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) on Mat B. He takes only 42 seconds to win 8-0 against Kuttubek ABDYKERIM UULU (KGZ)

1141 hrs: World Championships bronze medalist Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB) does it in style. He beat the defending Asian champion Mahdi EBRAHIMI (IRI) at 82kg Round 1

1140 hrs: Interesting start to the day as Hyeonwoo KIM (KOR) pulls out injured in his first bout at 82kg against Yevgeniy POLIVADOV (KAZ)

1130 hrs: All set for day two of the Asian Championships as five more Greco-Roman weight categories will see the champions 

#UWWAwards

UWW History Makers of 2025: Kougioumtsidis, Reasco, Sultangali

Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:29 By Eric Olanowski

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 22) -- United World Wrestling has announced the History Makers of the Year 2025. The performance of these three wrestlers transcended competition and produced a once-in-a-generation accomplishment.

Freestyle’s History Maker 2025: Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)

If there’s one nation that’s draped in sports tradition, it’s Greece, but surprisingly enough, the nation had never produced a male wrestling world champion.

Prior to 2025, wrestlers from Greece were 0-3 in gold-medal matches and had not reached a world finals since 1991. Then came 23-year-old Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS who stunned the world by defeating Levi HAINES (USA) 3-2 in the 79kg final to become his nation’s first-ever world champion.

Up until Kougioumtsidis' victory, Georgios ATHANASSIADIS (GRE) lost both of his world finals matches and Iraklis DESKOULIDIS (GRE) lost the final in 1991. The lone Greek woman to ever step to the top of the medal podium at the World Championships was Sofia POUMPOURIDOU (GRE), who won the women's 51kg gold on home soil in 2002.

"I'm very lucky that I am Greek," Kougioumtsidis said. "So I feel like I made all Greeks proud. I am Greek and I love my country." He continued, saying, “I'm the first male [from Greece] who won a gold medal at the World Championships. It's my dream come true. I think this year is a good achievement. I achieved my goal."

Women’s Wrestling History Maker: Genesis REASCO (ECU)

Reasco made history by becoming Ecuador's first-ever world champion, which came two years following Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) silver-medal finish at the 2023 World Championships where she still become the Ecuador's first-ever world medalist.

Reasco reached the pinnacle of the sport with a 4-2 victory in the 76kg final over two-time world medalist Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ), which came one match removed from knocking off Paris bronze medalist Milaimy MARIN (CUB) in the semifinals.

"I went in, gave my all, and it worked," Reasco said. "That’s how the gold medal was achieved, because honestly, I have a lot of respect for all my opponents. They gave everything out there on the mat, and they were really good matches -- both yesterday’s and today’s. Everything was very tough, very close."

Greco-Roman’s History Maker: Aidos SULTANGALI (KAZ)

Sultangali ended a 26-year Greco-Roman drought, giving Kazakhstan their first Greco world champion since 1999 with a very quick victory over Uzbek youngster Alisher GANIEV (UZB) in the 60kg finals at the World Championships.

Sultangali, who won two world bronze medals between 2018 and 2022, only needed 1:07 to cap off masterful first-period 9-0 win over Asian runner-up GANIEV (UZB).

"I didn’t plan to win the final match so easily and quickly," Sultangali said. "But it happened. Today is a historic day for our country because the last gold medal for Kazakhstan came in 1999, 26 years ago," said Sultangali, "I am happy that my country is happy."