#WrestleSofia

LIVE BLOG: World Olympic Qualifiers, Day 1

By United World Wrestling Press

Sofia is set for the World Olympic Qualifiers -- the final chance for wrestlers to win a quota for the Tokyo Olympics. 12 tickets will be awarded on Thursday in freestyle wrestling.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

Semifinal matches (stat time = 19:00)

57kg
SEMIFINAL - Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN) vs. Reineri ANDREU ORTEGA (CUB)
SEMIFINAL - Giorgi EDISHERASHVILI (AZE)  vs. Bekhbayar ERDENEBAT (MGL) 

65kg
SEMIFINAL - Georgios PILIDIS (GRE) vs. David HABAT (SLO)
SEMIFINAL -  Jordan Michael OLIVER (USA) vs. Magomedmurad GADZHIEV (POL) 

74kg
SEMIFINAL - Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR) vs. Mitchell Louis FINESILVER (ISR) 
SEMIFINAL - Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) vs.  Magomedkhabib KADIMAGOMEDOV (BLR)

86kg 
SEMIFINAL - Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE) vs. Boris MAKOEV (SVK) 
SEMIFINAL - Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL) vs. Sohsuke TAKATANI (JPN) 

97kg 
SEMIFINAL - Abraham de Jesus CONYEDO RUANO (ITA) vs. Ahmed Sultanovich BATAEV (BUL) 
SEMIFINAL -  Valerii ANDRIITSEV (UKR) vs. Albert SARITOV (ROU) 

125kg
SEMIFINAL - Jose Daniel DIAZ ROBERTTI (VEN) vs. Sumit SUMIT (IND) 
SEMIFINAL - Sergei KOZYREV (RUS) vs. Daniel LIGETI (HUN) 

15:05: There's the comeback of the competition thus far.  Ilman MUKHTAROV (FRA) trailed European silver medalist Selahattin KILICSALLAYAN (TUR) by eight points but scored nine unanswered points and moved into the semifinals with a 9-8 victory.

14:53: What a second period! After trailing 3-0, Demirtas strung together six points in the second period and defeated world champion Cabalov, 6-3. 

14:35: We'll roll right into the quarterfinal matches -- starting with Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN) and Vladimir EGOROV (MKD). 

13:47: Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE) continues to roll. He wins his second match of the day with a 12-5 win over Sandro AMINASHVILI (GEO).

13: 37: Sergei KOZYREV (RUS), the last Russian freestyle looking for an Olympic berth, gave up the first takedown against Georgi IVANOV (BUL) but scored ten consecutive points and won the match, 12-2. He'll wrestle Robert BARAN (POL) in the 125kg quarterfinals.

13:11: Olympic bronze medalist Albert SARITOV (ROU) is on his way to Mat C to take on Radoslaw BARAN (POL). 

13:00: Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN) cruised to the quarterfinals with a 10-0 shutout win over Razvan KOVACS (ROU). The two-time world medalist will square off against Vladimir EGOROV (MKD) for a spot in tonight's semifinals.

12:47: World champion Hetik CABOLOV (SRB) kick-started his day with an 11-0 throttling of Colombia's Nestor TAFUR. He'll take on Olympic bronze medalist Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR)  ?? next!

12:23: Georgios PILIDIS (GRE) trailed George RAMM (GBR), 4-0, but went on a tear and scored 14 unanswered points. He moved into the 65kg 1/8 final against Wber CUERO MUNOZ (COL).

12:18: World champion Beka LOMTADZE (GEO), who is replacing Olympic champion Vlad KHINCHEGASHVILI (GEO) at 65kg, hangs on to beat Dillon WILLIAMS (CAN), 6-4. 

12:11: European champ T. SALKAZANOV (SVK) looked sharp in his opening-round match against Marc DIETSCHE (SWI). He scored eight consecutive points against and moved into the 1/8 finals with a 12-2 win.

Salkazanov will meet Zurab KAPRAEV (ROU) for a spot in the #WrestleSofia 74kg quarterfinals.

12:03: World champion Hetik CABOLOV (SRB) opens up his day with a 11-0 throttling of Nestor TAFUR (COL).

11:55: Upcoming wrestlers-to-match on Mat B:
Bout 62: ??Yuki TAKAHASHI
Bout 63: European ?Giorgi EDISHERASHVILI ??
Bout 64: ???Bekhbayar ERDENEBAT ??

11:50: European champion Magomedkhabib KADIMAGOMEDOV (BLR) is coming up in three matches on Mat C. He'll take on Arsalan BUDAZHAPOV (KGZ).

11:49:  Sandro AMINASHVILI (GEO) survives to move into the 1/8 finals. He led Akhmed Adamovitch MAGAMAEV (BUL), 6-1, but surrendered four unanswered points and hung on to win, 6-5. He'll wrestle Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE) next round.

11:44: Here we go! European champion Salkazanov is making his way to Mat A. 

11:35: We apologize for the technical difficulties, but we're back to action on Mat A. After what felt like an hour break, Ayoub BARRAJ (TUN) comes away with the win over Malik AMIN (SMR). Barraj will take on the winner of Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR) and Byambadorj BAT ERDENE (MGL).

10:43: World bronze medalist Taimuraz FRIEV NASKIDAEVA (ESP) is wrestling Saifedine ALEKMA (FRA) over on Mat C.

10:29: Mat A has a world champion, a world silver medalist and the reigning European champion upcoming in the next ten matches. 

10:22: Reigning European champion Taimuraz SALKAZANOV ?? is coming up in seven matches on Mat A. The last time he took the mat, he scored improbable come-from-behind-wins against a two-time world champion, a world silver medalist and a U23 world champion. His opponent will be Marc DIETSCHE ??.

10:12: Giorgi EDISHERASHVILI (AZE) wins his opening-round matchup against Otari GOGAVA (GEO). The Georgian injury defaulted after trailing 4-0 with what appeared to be a lower body injury.

10:00: Welcome to Sofia! We are ready with freestyle action starting now. 57kg, 65kg, 74kg, 86kg, 97kg and 125kg will get two new Olympians by the end of the day.

#WrestleTirana

Kamal soars high with Tirana Ranking Series gold

By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (March 1) -- The last time Kerem KAMAL (TUR) was in action internationally, he did not have a favorable outcome. A bloody battle with Georgij TIBILOV (SRB) ended in a loss at the European Championships.

But Kamal, who impressed all with his performance at all the age-group World Championships and continentals, started the 2025 season with a scintillating victory at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series, capturing the 63kg gold medal.

The 2022 U23 world champion was in his elements as he defeated Doolotbek CHOIBEKOV (KGZ), 10-0, in the final with two big throws for four points each. His first shoulder throw gave him a 4-0 lead, then he got the par terre position from which he performed a suplex for four points to win in just over a minute. Choibekov challenged for a leg-foul but Kamal's movements were clean.

In his earlier bouts, he defeated Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) 5-1 in the quarterfinals with some incredible defense from par terre in the first period. When Mohsen Nejad tried to turn Kamal, the Turkish wrestler moved forward on the mat to break Mohsen Nejad's grip.

Mohsen Nejad needed to score to break Kamal's 1-1 criteria lead and tried a big throw which Kamal blocked and pinned Mohsen Nejad on the mat for four points.

"At the Turkish Championships six weeks ago, I moved up to the new weight class of 63kg," Kamal said. "This time I competed against very strong opponents like Mohsen Nejad from Iran and [Razvan] Arnaut from Romania. I’m happy that I was able to win all my matches. It was a good start to the new year.

Kamal will now be busy for the preparation of European Championships to be held in second week of April in Bratislava, Slovakia.

"I’m not yet 100 percent fit," he said. "I focused a lot on endurance training during the training camp, and my preparations are fully aligned with the European Championships. I wanted to test my ground defense -- I did a good job [in Tirana] but I will work even harder to make sure I can reach my full potential at the European Championships."

Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ)Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) throws Valentin PETIC (MDA) for four points during the 67kg final in Tirana. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Kyrgyzstan did win a gold medal as U23 world champion Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) brought out his best in the final against Valentin PETIC (MDA), beating the Moldovan 11-0 to capture the 67kg gold medal.

This was the second gold medal for Kyrgyzstan in Tirana after Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ) won the 77kg gold medal on Friday.

Beishekeev, the U23 world champion last year in Tirana, needed only the first par terre position to complete the technical superiority win over Petic. He went for the reverse left and scored four points and as Petic landed on his back, Beishekeev went for the fall. However, Petic blocked Beishekeev with his hands on legs was docked two caution points.

With a 7-0 lead and restart in par terre, Beishkeev once again went for the reverse lift and scored a four-pointer to complete the 11-0 win.

RESULTS

63kg
GOLD: Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Doolotbek CHOIBEKOV (KGZ), 10-0

BRONZE: Baiaman APILOV (KGZ) df. Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) df. Razvan ARNAUT (ROU), 3-1

67kg
GOLD: Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) df. Valentin PETIC (MDA), 11-0

BRONZE: Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO) df. Madiyar MAULITKANOV (KAZ), 7-2
BRONZE: Bagdat SABAZ (KAZ) df. Lei LI (CHN), 9-1