#WrestleSofia

LIVE BLOG: World Olympic Qualifier, Day Three

Saturday, May 8, 2021 - 06:55 By United World Wrestling Press

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Wrestling enters day three in Sofia with Greco-Roman action and 12 Olympic spots on offer at the World Olympic Qualifier on Saturday.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

14:47: The quarterfinals are getting started. See the below tweet for the upcoming match order.

SEMIFINALS (As they come in):

60kg
Dato CHKHARTISHVILI (GEO) vs. Victor CIOBANU (MDA) 
Winner 423 vs. Hanjae CHUNG (KOR) 

67kg 
Parviz NASIBOV (UKR) vs. Winner 422 
Winner 421 vs. Mamadassa SYLLA (FRA) 

77kg
Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL) vs. Fatih CENGIZ (TUR) 
Viktor NEMES (SRB) vs. Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) 

87kg
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO) vs. Kristoffer BERG (SWE) 
Davit CHAKVETADZE (RUS) vs. Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB) 

97kg
Vilius LAURINAITIS (LTU) vs. Artur OMAROV (CZE) 
Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA) vs. Alex Gergo SZOKE (HUN) 

130kg
Elias KUOSMANEN (FIN) vs. Mykola KUCHMII (UKR) 
Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU) vs. Rafal Andrzej KRAJEWSKI (POL) 

3:37: Two-time world champion Metehan BASAR (TUR) will make his tournament debut in two matches on Mat C. He'll wrestle two-time Pan-American champion Luis AVENDANO (VEN).  

13:19: I was going to say world silver medalist Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) is wrestling on Mat A, but before I could press send, he picked up the 8-0 shutout win over Gurpreet SINGH (IND). He'll take on Abd Elkrim OUAKALI (ALG) in the quarterfinals.

13 10: We'll see Rio Olympic champion Davit CHAKVETADZE (RUS) for the first time in two matches. He'll take on Asian champion Kumar SUNIL (IND) in Bout 360 on Mat B.

12:44: World champion Mélonin NOUMONVI (FRA) is making his way to Mat A. He'll square off against Vladen KOZLIUK (UKR). #WrestleSofia

12:25: Norweigan European champion Felix BALDAUF will wrestle Seungjun KIM (KOR) in four matches on Mat A. 

12:07: Rio Olympic bronze medalist Stig-Andre BERGE (NOR) is wrestling on Mat B.

11:35: World champion and Rio Olympic bronze medalist Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) is wrestling Donior ISLAMOV (MDA) on Mat A.

11:24: Four-time world medalist Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ) picked up a 5-3 opening-round win over Anthony PALENCIA PUENTES (VEN). The Kazakh two-time Olympian led 5-0 but surrendered three unanswered points and hung on to the two-point victory.

11:01: Datunashvili needed a little over two minutes to score the 9-0 win over Kim.

11:00: Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL) picked up a big one-point win over two-time European champion  Daniel CATARAGA (MDA) and moved into the 1/8 finals. He'll wrestle  Georgios PREVOLARAKIS (GRE) next.

10:35: Reigning European champion Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB) is coming up next on Mat A. He's wrestling Korea's KIM Jinhyeok.

10:25: Viktor NEMES (SRB) is making his way to Mat B to take on Matias Olavi Iisakki LIPASTI (FIN)

10:00: Whistles are off in Sofia! 12 Olympic spots are on the line on Saturday.

#WrestleTirana

Mirzazadeh dominates his way to Tirana gold; Shiotani impresses

Monday, March 3, 2025 - 04:03 By Vinay Siwach

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TIRANA, Albania (March 2) -- There is nothing extraordinary in the 130kg Greco-Roman final in Tirana. World champion Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) controls the proceedings for six minutes and wins the gold medal.

In Tirana for the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series, Mirzazadeh returned to the mat for the first time since winning bronze medal at the Paris Olympics at 130kg where he lost only to eventual champion Mijain LOPEZ (CUB).

Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI)Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) defends a par terre position against Hamza BAKIR (TUR). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

On Sunday, all four matches Mirzazadeh wrestled followed a similar pattern. He will get the first passivity and score the turn from par terre before defending the par terre in the second period. His winning score in quarterfinal, semifinal and final read 3-1. Only in his first match against Heiki NABI (EST) did Mirzazadeh get both par terre advantages to win 4-0.

Wrestling Paris Olympian and Turkiye's next big hope at 130kg Hamza BAKIR (TUR), Mirzazadeh turned Bakir from par terre for a 3-0 lead before defending the lead and winning 3-1.

While beating Bakir, who has all three age-group world titles, did not take a toll on Mirzazadeh, the same cannot be said about another age-group world champion that Mirzazadeh is preparing domestically.

Although he will not feature in the Asian Championships, Mirzazadeh will be keen on defending his world title in Zagreb in September.

In his path for that are Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) and Aliakbar YOUSOFI (IRI). Hedayati has been rising in the ranks and seen as the biggest threat to Mirzazadeh's place on the Iran team.

Yousofi, the 2021 world champion, returned after a sabbatical and won the Zagreb Open gold medal three weeks ago to enter the selection process. Now, teh Iran team will be clear by the third Ranking Series in Mongolia in June.

Yu SHIOTANI (JPN)Yu SHIOTANI (JPN) performing his signature reverse lift move. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Yu SHIOTANI (JPN), a world bronze medalist from 2022, returned to international wrestling after three years and secured the gold medal at 60kg.

"It's been a long time since I last competed, but I'm happy that we were able to finish with gold [today]," Shiotani said.

In his elements, Shiotani launched massive reverse lift throws in all his bouts, barring the final. And he only gave up points in his first bout -- against U20 and U23 world champion Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI).

"I wasn't moving much," he said of the match against Ahmadi Vafa. "I think that's why the match turned out like that. I was probably a little nervous. Of course, the opponent was also strong, but I think I was a little nervous and couldn't play the match as well as I wanted."

Shiotani wrestled Amiran SHAVADZE (GEO) in the final and did not wait for any passivity warnings. He scored a takedown and went for his signature reverse left, exposing Shavadze's back on the mat for two more points. Just before the break, he scored a takedown to make it 6-0.

Just over a minute in the second period, Shiotani pressured Shavadze who stepped backwards till he was out of the zone. One point for stepout and another for fleeing resulted in Shiotani winning 8-0. Georgia challenged the fleeing but lost, giving one more point to Shiotani.

Yu SHIOTANI (JPN)Yu SHIOTANI (JPN) defeated Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) in the opening bout at 60kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

In his first match against Ahmadi Vafa, Shiotani was in forced par terre in the first period but he didn't let give up any points. The referees were about to give Ahmadi Vafa the second par terre as well but Shiotani scored a takedown.

A reversal in the same sequence was scored one point for Ahmadi Vafa. But Shiotani with a big lift and throw for two points. Shiotani challenges and gets two more points for a foul from Ahmadi Vafa to lead 6-2. From par terre, Shiotani would score three more points and lead 9-4 with 35 seconds on the clock.

Shavadze was one of the five wrestlers to reach the finals Sunday but only one -- Iuri LOMADZE (GEO) -- managed to win the gold medal.

Lomadze wrestled four bouts and never looked in any trouble. In his first match, he defeated former world champion Ali ARSALAN (SRB) 5-1, before a 13-2 win over Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU).

Lomadze then defeated fellow countryman Otar ABULADZE (GEO) 6-3 in the semifinals, the win more or less confirming his European Championships spot on the Georgian team.

In the final, Lomadze got the better of Mehmet SAHIN (TUR), beating him 6-3 for the gold medal.

Former European champion Kiril MILOV (BUL) denied Georgi MELIA (GEO) and Georgia another chance to win a gold medal after he defetaed the Georgian 4-0 in the 97kg final bout.

Milov scored a beautiful takedown and transitioned into a gut wrench to get a 4-0 lead. There were no par terre positions in the match and Milov's move remained as the only scoring action.

Turkiye won two gold medals as Emre MUTLU (TUR) and Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) finished on the top at 55kg and 82kg.

Mutlu denied Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO), 7-4 in the 55kg final while Akbudak won the gold medal after Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO) injury defaulted in the 82kg final.

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Emre MUTLU (TUR) df. Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO), 7-4

BRONZE: Yerassyl MAMYRBEKOV (KAZ) df. Andi MUCA (ALB), 9-0
BRONZE: Yersin ABYIR (KAZ) df. Ulan MURATBEK UULU (KGZ), via fall (9-1)

60kg
GOLD: Yu SHIOTANI (JPN) df. Amiran SHAVADZE (GEO), 9-0

BRONZE: Haodong TAN (CHN) df. Iskhar KURBAYEV (KAZ), 9-0 
BRONZE: Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) df. Akyl SULAIMANOV (KGZ), 12-3

72kg
GOLD: Iuri LOMADZE (GEO) df. Mehmet SAHIN (TUR), 8-3

BRONZE: Yryskeldi KHAMZAEV (KGZ) df. Ivo ILIEV (BUL), 10-0
BRONZE: Ali ARSALAN (SRB) df. Otar ABULADZE (GEO), 4-3

82kg
GOLD: Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) df. Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO), via inj. def.

BRONZE: Svetoslav NIKOLOV (BUL) df. Beksultan NAZARBAEV (KGZ), 10-1
BRONZE: Erik SZILVASSY (HUN) df. Ramon BETSCHART (SUI), 3-2

97kg
GOLD: Kiril MILOV (BUL) df. Giorgi MELIA (GEO), 4-0

BRONZE: Alex SZOKE (HUN) df. Lucas LAZOGIANIS (GER), 8-2
BRONZE: Markus RAGGINGER (AUT) df. Beytullah KAYISDAG (TUR), 8-0

130kg
GOLD: Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) df. Hamza BAKIR (TUR), 3-1

BRONZE: Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) df. Yuta NARA (JPN), 4-1 
BRONZE: Heiki NABI (EST) df. Wenhao JIANG (CHN), 2-2