Mirzazadeh ready for Kayaalp test in Alexandria

Monday, February 20, 2023 - 12:22 By Vinay Siwach

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (February 17) -- Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) has watched his World Championships final against Riza KAYAALP (TUR) numerous times in the last five months to understand what he could have done differently to change the result.

The 1-1 victory for Kayaalp gave the Turkish legend his fifth world title, denying Mirzazadeh his first. But there were moments in the final that Mirzazadeh rues, a few that proved to be detrimental.

"I watched that final again," Mirzazadeh said. "There were some problems. I know that."

But not long after that bout, Mirzazadeh will get a chance to reverse the results albeit not in a World Championships. The two wrestlers head to the historic city of Alexandria, Egypt for the second Ranking Series event from February 23 to 26.

The two are among the 463 wrestlers who will compete at the Ibrahim Moustafa tournament and try to win the 1500 Swiss Francs on offer for the gold medal.

Starting this year, every Ranking Series will offer prize money -- 1500 Swiss Francs for gold, 750 Swiss Francs for silver and 500 Swiss Francs each for the bronze medalists. The tournaments will also allow two-kilogram weight tolerance.

Iran is bringing only four wrestlers but all are among the best in their weight classes. Mirzazadeh will be at 130kg while Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) will wrestle at 97kg. Olympic champion Mohammaedreza GERAEI (IRI) is registered at 72kg while Meysam DALKHANI (IRI) is wrestling at 63kg.

Mirzazadeh, a native of Khozestan, is visibly smaller than Kayaalp which has hampered his quest to beat the latter. But over time, the Iranian believes that he has improved his strength and size which can help him beat Kayaalp in near future.

"The Turkish wrestler is experienced," Mirzazadeh said. "But I will use my power as I am younger."

In Belgrade, late in the final, Mirzazadeh managed to put Kayaapl in a tricky position and could have scored a go behind or a stepout. However, it was the strength of Kayaalp that prevented that from happening.

Another huge shortcoming for Mirzazadeh is his failure to score from par terre against Kayaalp. It is one of the reasons that despite getting the advantage for the third passivity, he asked Kayaalp to resume in standing and not par terre in the Belgrade bout.

"In the previous bouts, I was underweight," he said. "But now I have increased my weight and strength to a great extent, and I will definitely look more powerful in my next match."

The two have met twice before in their careers and a positive, if any, for Mirzazadeh is the improvement in his defense. At the Tokyo Olympics, Kayaalp managed to turn Mirzazadeh from par terre while the same did not happen at the Belgrade World Championships.

With the growing years, it may well be true that Mirzazadeh's physical strength increased while Kayaalp's conditioning takes a hit with age.

Despite all this, Kayaalp, who has been busy with relief work after the February 6 earthquakes in Turkiye and Syria, will still be the favorite to win the gold at 130kg.

The participation in relief work in the Hatay province of Turkiye may affect his preparation for his first tournament of the year, but with tons of experience on his side and the European Championships scheduled in two months, Kayaalp will still be a force to reckon with.

On the other hand, this well may be the best chance for Mirzazadeh to get a win over Kayaalp.

"We have the plans," the 25-year-old said. "We have been working in the off-season with my coach Sina TALEBVAND and now at the national camp in Tehran."

Irrespective of the result of this potential bout on February 23, the two wrestlers will get a dress rehearsal for their respective continental championships.

Kayaalp will have Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO), Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO), Jello KRAHMER (GER) and Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU) in the field while Mirzazadeh will likely face Lingzhe MENG (CHN), NAVEEN (IND), Anton SAVENKO (KAZ), Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ) and Roman KIM (KGZ).

Kayaalp will be looking to extend his record title run at European Championships in April in Croatia as last year he won his 11th continental title.

But Mirzazadeh is waiting for a showdown at the World Championships, incidentally, which will be held in Stark Arena, Belgrade like last year.

"I will do my best to improve in terms of physical and technical preparation," he said. "My goal is to reach my best state and to be able to win the gold medal in the 2023 World Championship and after that in the 2024 Olympics."

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open: Azarpira beats Snyder; Zare, Susaki dominate

Friday, January 12, 2024 - 00:01 By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (January 11) -- He was ready to take over the 97kg weight class in Iran after the Tokyo Olympics. He won the U23 World Championships aged 19 years. He repeated as the champion in 2022. But then Mojtaba GOLEIJ (IRI) rose along with Mohammad MOHAMMADIAN (IRI).

After spending a year struggling at 92kg because of the decision of Iran's management, Amirali AZAPIRA (IRI) is back to his best at 97kg. He defeated Goleij and Mohammadian in Iran and shocked the wrestling world on Thursday with a controlled win over Kyle SNYDER (USA) at the Zagreb Open to win the gold medal.

Snyder, who was the favorite to win the gold medal, especially after his easy 4-0 win over Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) in the semifinal, was shut down by Azarpira in the second period, suffering a 6-3 loss after leading 3-0.

Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) scores on Kyle SNYDER (USA) in the 97kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Memories from last year's Zagreb Open final must have flashed for Azarpira as he lost that match 3-0 to return with a silver medal. But this year, despite Snyder's 3-0 lead, Azarpira continued his attacks and scored two takedowns in the second period to win 6-3.

"I had already thought about the final," Azarpira said. "I had practiced with the other guys [on the Iran team] for a long time for this competition. Last year, I lost to Snyder in the same tournament and the same final but this year, I was confident that I could defeat him."

Snyder led 1-0 at the break after Azarpira was on the activity clock and opened the second period with a takedown to lead 3-0. But Azarpira answered with a takedown of his own to make it 3-2 and added a stepout which Snyder challenged but lost.

Azarpira led 4-3 with over a minute remaining in the final and Snyder came close to scoring the winning stepout twice but Azarpira's defended well.

"It was a good takedown in the first period and then he got into my legs and scored," Snyder said. "I still had a minute and 15 seconds to score but could not. He had good defense. It was good to compete and keep learning. I need to get better at opening guys up and score points."

Azarpira used Iran's traditional underhooks and kept his legs away from Snyder's reach to avoid getting taken down or double-leg attacks.

"I was three points behind but I didn’t lose my focus because I had a plan," Azarpira said. "I knew that even if I was six points behind, I could win it. I was relieved because I already knew that I was going to win. My mind was ready for this competition and I had gained self-confidence."

Azarpira lost some of his self-confidence in 2023 when Iran decided to prepare him for the World Championships at 92kg after Ghasempour's injury. He finished fourth at the Ranking Series event in Budapest and eighth at the World Championships after a loss to Zahid VALENCIA (USA).

But come 2023, he won the Iran nationals to earn his spot for Zagreb and with the win over Snyder, he will be headed to the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Bishkek in April.

"I’ve been playing at the weight of 97kg for about three or four years and I fit in this weight," he said. "But according to the opinion of the technical staff of my country, they allowed me to participate in the World Championships at 92kg. But at this weight, considering the weight I lost and the circumstances, I didn’t have the necessary preparation for the competition and I was very annoyed during this time. But I wasn’t real me in the World Championships when I lost."

Azarpira opened the day with a 5-0 win over Radoslaw BARAN (POL) and survived a scare against Isaac TRUMBLE (USA) 8-7 before winning 10-0 against VICKY (UWW).

But Snyder was dominant in the first three matches. He defeated Tuerxunbieke MUHEITE (CHN), Erhan YAYLACI (TUR) and Cristian SARCO (VEN) via technical superiority. He would then beat Ghasempour 4-0 in their second career meeting.

Azarpira's win over Snyder has all but ended Ghasempour's Olympic hopes. Winning the quota in Bishkek would mean that Azapira's ticket to Paris is all but guaranteed.

"It can be said that this weight is the hardest weight in the World, Olympic, Asian," Azarpira said. "With the plans I have, I hope I can get the best results in this weight and I have high hopes in myself.

Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) defeated Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) 5-0 in the 125kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Another Iran wrestler who has confirmed his Paris Olympics ticket is world champion Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) as he defeated Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) in the 125kg final. The bout was a playoff for the Olympic spot as Masoumi had won the national championships. Like their previous encounters, Zare was in control of the bout which he won 5-0.

"Masoumi is a young and powerful wrestler and he wrestles with high physical strength," Zare said. "Because of that, I was under pressure but according to the training I had done before this tournament, I showed my body was ready to defeat all my opponents."

Throughout the day, Zare showed why he remains the top wrestler at 125kg, winning two bouts via technical superiority before the final.

"The competition was high level and in our weight, except for one or two wrestlers, the champions of different countries were all present and this shows that this year is the year of the Olympics," he said.

Having won the World Championships twice now and a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, Zare said that he would do everything in his control to win the Paris Olympics.

"The biggest dream of every athlete is Olympic gold and I practice and work hard every day to achieve the Olympic gold and I wanna do it not just once, but several times."

Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI) won the 79kg gold after a 6-0 win over Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO). (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Iran's third gold medal was won by Mohamad NOKHODI (IRI) who recovered from a grueling semifinal against Evan WICK (USA) to win gold at 79kg with a 6-0 win over Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO). The two-time world silver medalist Iranian struggled with his conditioning in the semifinal but managed to win 6-6. In the final, he scored all the points in the first period and then defended Kentchadze's attacks to win the gold.

Kentchadze finished with a silver medal last year as well after losing to Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI) in the final.

In the other non-Olympic weight class in Freestyle, Nathan JACKSON (USA) won the gold medal at 92kg after a fall over Andro MARGISHVILI (GEO) in the final.

Yui SUSAKI (JPN) defeated Ziqi FENG (CHN) in the 50kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Susaki show

A fully fit and rejuvenated Yui SUSAKI (JPN) remained untouchable in wrestling as she won the 50kg gold medal with ease, finishing each of her five bouts well before time.

Her opponent in the final and world bronze medalist Ziqi FENG (CHN) had similar results, finishing her three bouts before time but suffered a 10-0 loss to Susaki in the final.

At the World Championships, Feng had troubled Susaki and only lost 4-2 but Susaki said it wasn't a big deal.

"I have no injury now," Susaki said. "After the World Championships, I planned a lot [for Feng]."

The 24-year-old has been on a long exposure trip to Europe in which she trained in Germany and France.

"I want to train with foreign athletes and know the style," she said. "I have the Olympics so I want to feel the power of foreign wrestlers, how to fight them, how to plan against them. I had a great experience."

At 55kg, Samantha STEWART (CAN) came home with a gold medal after a 3-1 victory over Roksana ZASINA (POL) in the final.

RESULTS

Freestyle

79kg
GOLD: Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI) df. Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO), 6-0

BRONZE: Evan WICK (USA) df. Abdollah SHEIKHAZAMI (IRI),

92kg
GOLD: Nathan JACKSON (USA) df. Andro MARGISHVILI (GEO), via fall

BRONZE: Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) df. Eric SCHULTZ (USA), 8-7

97kg
GOLD: Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) df. Kyle SNYDER (USA), 6-3

BRONZE: Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) df. Erhan YAYLACI (TUR), 3-1
BRONZE: Isaac TRUMBLE (USA) df. VICKY (UWW), 8-5

125kg
GOLD: Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) df. Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI), 5-0

BRONZE: Zhiwei DENG (CHN) df. Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Mason PARRIS (USA) df. Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE), 6-2

Women's Wrestling

50kg
GOLD: Yui SUSAKI (JPN) df. Ziqi FENG (CHN), 10-0

BRONZE: Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (AIN) df. Kseniya STANKEVICH (AIN), via fall (10-2)
BRONZE: Otgonjargal DOLGORJAV (MGL) df. Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR), 7-6

55kg
GOLD: Samantha STEWART (CAN) df. Roksana ZASINA (POL), 3-1

BRONZE: Mariia VYNNYK (UKR) df. Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN), 2-2
BRONZE: Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA) df. Albina RILLIA (UKR), via fall (4-0)

Mirzazadeh ready for Kayaalp test in Alexandria

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Zagreb Open: Azarpira beats Snyder; Zare, Susaki dominate