#WrestleTirana

Olympic medalists in strong field set to light up Tirana

Monday, February 24, 2025 - 12:21 By Vinay Siwach

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TIRANA, Albania (February 24) -- After he won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics, Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) was asked his wrestling journey. He replied that he "had many problems" but will go through it again without second thoughts.

Taking his first step in the new Olympic cycle for 2028 LA Olympic, Novikov won the prestigious Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov tournament in January and is now wrestling his first Ranking Series event of the year -- the Muhamet Malo in Tirana.

Novikov is the only Paris Olympic champion who has returned to a UWW tournament since winning gold in August last year. He will be up against a top 87kg Greco-Roman field at the second Ranking Series of the year.

The tournament will be held in Tirana from February 26 to March 2 with important Ranking Series points up for grabs. The Zagreb Open, held two weeks ago, and Muhamet Malo will be crucial for wrestler hoping to get seeded at the continental championships that begin in March.

Novikov will be expecting rematches with David LOSONCZI (HUN) and Alireza MOHAMADIPIANI (IRI), both of whom he beat in Paris. Losonczi has Istvan TAKACS (HUN) and Tamas LEVAI (HUN) to watch out for as Hungary to second its pick for the European Championships.

Georgia is doing the same with Gurami KHETSURIANI (GEO), Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) and Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO) entered at 87kg while other strong contenders include Marcel STERKENBURG (NED) and Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB).

Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI)Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) is hoping to be Iran's mainstay at 60kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake KIRKMAN)

Despite the dropouts in other weight classes across styles just days before the tournament, it still throws quite a strong field.

At 60kg, Iran is pushing for Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) as it's flagbearer after struggling to find a world-beater. His first senior test will see him go up against a few stars including world champion Victor CIOBANU (MDA), Olympian Enes BASAR (TUR) and Yu SHIOTANI (JPN) among others.

Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) was at 60kg earlier and was about to retire after Paris Olympics. However, he is wrestling at 63kg in Tirana and Turkiye's Kerem KAMAL (TUR) is also returning to action.

At 72kg, Levente LEVAI (HUN), who surprisingly won Zagreb Open gold, will look to continue his run but has hurdles in the name of former world champion Ali ARSALAN (SRB) and European champion Selcuk CAN (TUR).

Paris Olympic bronze medalist Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) is warming up for the Asian Championships and will be the favorite to win the gold medal at 130kg. He has Tokyo silver medalist Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) and age-group world champion Hamza BAKIR (TUR) in the bracket as well.

Chermen VALIEV (ALB)Chermen VALIEV (ALB) is a Paris Olympic medalist at 74kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Freestyle

Albania's star Freestyle trio of Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB), Islam DUDAEV (ALB) and Chermen VALIEV (ALB) are wrestler in front of their home crowd. All three are returning to action since the Paris Games in which Dudaev and Valiev won bronze medals.

Abakarov will be tested by former European champion Nachyn MONGUSH (UWW) and Artem GOBAEV (UWW) at 61kg.

Dudaev will have tougher challenges at 65kg. He is likely to have a Paris rematch with silver medalist Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) who is expected to be Iran's representative at the Asian Championships.

U23 world champion Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (UWW) is also entered and is always the biggest threat for the gold medal. Amouzad and Dudaev will be cautious of the rising star.

For Valiev, Yones EMAMI (IRI) and Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) could be the trouble-makers at 74kg, a weight class he is expected to dominate. Valiev and Salkazanov match for styles but Valiev seems to always find a way to score points while Salkazanov is more of a tactical wrestler who can play the clock well.

Naychn KUULAR (KAZ)Nachyn KUULAR (KAZ), a former U23 world champion, wrestling in Bundesliga. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

At 70kg, former U23 world champion Nachyn KUULAR (KAZ) is turning up for UWW competition after six years, this time for Kazakhstan. Kuular, who represented Russia previously, has kept himself in the news with a win over Olympic champion Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN) in the Bundesliga, albeit at 71kg.

Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) won't have great memories of Tirana as he lost the World Championships semifinal to Abdulrashid SADULAEV in the last second and returned empty-handed. But he is back in Tirana with less expectations and pressure at 92kg as he begins an Olympic cycle in which he may finally get to be at the Olympics.

At 125kg, Olympic silver medalist Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) will be in action and the favorite to win gold medal as well.

Kyle SNYDER (USA) will be wrestling at back-to-back Ranking Series events. He won the gold medal in Zagreb and is expected to be in Tirana as well. A second gold medal this year will push him to the top of the ranking at 97kg.

Moe KIYOOKA (JPN)Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) is the world champion at 55kg but wrestling at 53kg in Tirana. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Wrestling

Japan is sending its six Emperor's Cup winners to Tirana. The six include two world champions from last year as Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) and Ami ISHII (JPN) return to Tirana for another trip.

Others include former age-group world champion Umi ITO (JPN) who finished with a bronze at the U23 World Championships, will also be returning to Tirana. Former world champion Haruna MURAYAMA (JPN) [nee OKUNO], is registered at 55kg, U20 world champion Sakura ONISHI (JPN) is at 59kg, world bronze medalist Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) at 65kg and Nodoka YAMAMOTO (JPN) is at 76kg.

China too is sending a strong but a relatively new team. It will be led by former 59kg world champion Qi ZHANG (CHN) who is moving up to 62kg for this tournament. She will be wrestling for the Asian Championships spot as well against teammate LILI (CHN) who won world bronze medal in 2023.

Grace BULLEN (NOR)Grace BULLEN (NOR) is returning to action at 62kg after Paris. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

However, Paris Olympic bronze medalist Grace BULLEN (NOR) will be the favorite in this weight class which also Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA) and Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL). Bullen will be wrestling at her first competition since winning the first Olympic medal for Norway in Women's Wrestling in Paris.

62kg silver medalist at Paris Olympic Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) is wrestling at 65kg for the Ranking Series. She will be up against former world champions Irina RINGACI (MDA) and Morikawa in her bracket which will be divided into two groups as the weight class has only seven wrestlers. There is a chance that all three wrestler end up in the same group.

Another loaded weight class is the 55kg in which Zagreb Open champion Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) will be looking to add a second gold medal of the Ranking Series. In Zagreb, she wrestled only one match -- final -- but Albania has a bigger bracket which also includes Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (UWW), Okuno, Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA) and Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR).

At 72kg, three-time world silver medalist Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ) will hope to win gold in Tirana as she lost the World Championships final here last year despite leading it at one point. 

Her compatriot and former Asian champion Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ) is registered at 76kg but her path to gold medal may not be as easy. The weight class also has Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ), Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU) and Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) who will look to confirm her spot at 76kg for Ukraine in the new Olympic cycle.

#wrestlebishkek

Susaki 2.0 Ready to Rumble at Asian Championships

Saturday, March 28, 2026 - 07:14 By Vinay Siwach

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Yui SUSAKI (JPN) at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (March 27) -- In what has become a lasting photo of wrestling from the 2024 Paris Olympics, a wide-eyed Yui SUSAKI (JPN) is seen staring blankly into nothing.

The photo was taken after Susaki suffered her first-ever international loss. Vinesh PHOGAT (IND) had just defeated her in the opening round of the Paris Games. It was not a familiar feeling for Susaki. Not in international wrestling at least.

Yui SUSAKI (JPN)Yui SUSAKI (JPN) lost her first bout at the Paris Olympics. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

It was only after she walked off the mat and faced the cameras waiting for her in the field of play mixed zone that Susaki realized what had happened. She burst into tears.

Almost two years after that after that loss, a 'new' Susaki is returning to action at next week's Asian Championships in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in a bid to re-establish herself as the dominant force she was before Paris.

"The defeat at the Paris Olympics and the year-and-a-half that followed were an incredibly difficult and painful time," Susaki says.

Susaki went on to win a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics, a downgrade from the gold medal she won in Tokyo where she outscored her opponents 41-0. The loss shocked the world as Susaki was considered unbeatable. She was a three-time world champion boasting of a 96-0 winning streak, never lost an international bout and was the first wrestler to win the Golden Grand Slam, winning the Olympic gold and all age-group world titles including senior.

A second Olympic title seemed inevitable. There was no stopping.

While the loss was on the mat, Susaki believes that things off the mat may have contributed to her loss as well.

"In recent years, my desire to give back and do things for those around me had grown stronger," she says. "My focus had shifted toward others. When my focus is on others, I feel pressure, my mind gets cluttered with distractions, and doubts arise, leading me to overthink things."

Yui SUSAKI (JPN)Yui SUSAKI (JPN) celebrates after winning the world title in 2023. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

She is relieved that she did not overthink the loss in Paris after she returned to Japan.

"There were moments when I lost faith in myself [after that Paris loss]," she says. "But since then, I’ve focused more than ever on self-reflection and self-dialogue in my personal life, as well as on developing my character as a person. I’ve gained a deeper understanding of myself, and I feel I’ve developed a firm sense of self."

The version that Susaki has been working on over the last year did not begin just after the Olympics. There was one more bump before she made an important career decision.

Susaki was finding it incredibly difficult to reduce weight to continue wrestling at 50kg. So in September 2025, she decided to wrestle at 53kg at the National Sports Festival in Japan. It did not go as planned.

She suffered her first domestic loss in six years when world champion Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) defeated her at the festival. What was more alarming was that Susaki failed to finish a takedown in the final minute despite getting control over Kiyooka.

The 26-year-old returned to the drawing board with a sense of urgency as the Emperor's Cup was looming. The 2025 December tournament was the first step towards making the Japan team for the 2026 Asian Championships, World Championships and the Asian Games.

"The answer I arrived at after overcoming it all was simple: I wrestle because I love it and because I want to become an Olympic champion," she said. "I wrestle not for anyone else, but for myself -- to make my dream come true."

Susaki, along with her team, devised a better plan to reduce weight and remain at 50kg. She ate precise and molded her training in a way in which she managed to contain the weight.

In December, she won the Emperor's Cup at 50kg without much trouble and earn a spot on the Japan team for the Asian Championships which only be her third in her 12-year international career.

Yui SUSAKI (JPN)Yui SUSAKI (JPN) defeated Ziqi FENG (CHN) in the 50kg final at the Asian Championships in 2024. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Incidentally, her last Asian Championships was also in Bishkek in 2024, and she won gold after beating Ziqi FENG (CHN) in the final. She is likely to face Feng again as the Paris Olympic bronze medalist is among a strong field at 50kg this year.

One of the challenges that Susaki will be keen on taking on is a bout against Son Hyang KIM (PRK), a wrestler Susaki has beaten before. The two met in the 48kg final of the 2017 Asian Championships, Susaki's first, and the Japanese wrestler won 10-0.

Then in the same year, the two met at the World Championships and Kim managed to keep it tighter but failed to stop Susaki from winning, 5-2. Susaki went on to win her first senior world title.

While the matches against formidable opponents are something she is looking forward to, Susaki is more excited to return to an international tournament after a break and kick start her new Olympic cycle.

"I’m incredibly excited to be competing in a UWW international tournament for the first time in a year and eight months," she said. "I want to win this tournament to get off to a strong start, so that I can compete in the Los Angeles Olympics and reclaim the gold medal. I also want wrestling fans to see how much stronger Yui Susaki has become.

"I think you’ll get to see a whole new Yui Susaki!"