Olympic, World Medalists to Compete at Takhti Cup

Wednesday, January 24, 2018 - 00:52 By Ali Feizasa

The southern port of Iran, Mahshahr, hosts the 38th Takhti Cup International Greco-Roman Wrestling Tournament. on Thursday and Friday. Thirteen countries are expected to participate in the event.

The tournament is the first UWW ranking series event in Greco-Roman and best wrestlers will earn points for UWW ranking as follows:

1st place: 8 points
2nd place: 6 points
3rd place: 4 points
5th place: 2 points

Several Olympic and world medalists are expected to compete.

55kg: Former junior world champions in lightweight

The 55kg weight class is back in Greco-Roman. Many of the 59kg wrestlers have decided to move up to 60kg. At the Takhti Cup, two former junior world champions are among the favorites.

2014 junior world and European champion Ibrahim NURULLAEV(AZE) and former junior and cadet world champion Reza KHEDRI (IRI) are main rivals at 55kg.

60kg: Olympic champion Borrero again on mat

Olympic and world champion Ismael Borrero Molina (CUB) competes at 60kg after a one-year break. He didn’t compete in Paris and Takhti Cup will be his first test under the new rules.

But Borrero has a tough rival as 2017 world silver medalist Meirambek AINAGULOV (KAZ) is expected to compete in Mahshahr.

U-23 world bronze medalist Sakit GULIYEV (AZE), former junior world champion Murat BAZAROV (AZE) and Iranian world team member Mehrdad MARDANI (IRI) are other wrestlers who could challenge for medals.

63kg: New weight class

After increasing the weight categories to ten, 63kg will be a new weight category. Former junior world champion Serif KILIC (TUR) will compete against Iranians Mohammad NOURBAKHSH and Mostafa KAEIDKHORDEH for the title.

67kg: Kebispayev, Yueksel headline weight class

Three-time world medalist Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ) and Atakan YUEKSEL (TUR), a 2017 world bronze medalist, are the most credentialed wrestlers at 67kg, but several others could figure into the mix, including three-time European bronze medalist Kamran MAMMADOV (AZE), 2017 European bronze medalist Goga GOGIBERASHVILI (GEO) and Mohammad ELYASI (IRI), who placed fifth in Paris.

72kg: Zhadrayev, Byabangard among favorites

Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ), who captured silver medal in Paris, will be a top contender in this weight class, but keep an eye one Afshin BYABANGARD (IRI), a 2014 world bronze medalist and 2016 Asian champion.

77kg: Both young, experienced wrestlers look to contend

Mohammadali GERAEI, a 2017 world bronze medalist at 71 kg, 2017 U-23 world champion Fatih CENGIZ (TUR) and 2016 Junior world champion Tamerlan SHADUKAEV (KAZ) are three young wrestlers expected to contend. Experienced wrestlers to watch include former world champion Hasan ALIYEV (AZE), 2017 Asian champion Maksat YEREZHEPOV (KAZ) and world bronze medalist Emrah KUS (TUR).

82kg: Akbudak, Ghaderianm Huseynov in action

2015 world bronze medalist and former Asian champion Yousef GHADERIAN (IRI) is the best wrestler of the host country to win a gold medal. Other wrestlers to watch include Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) and former European champion Rafik HUSEYNOV (AZE).

87kg: World champion experiences new rules

2017 world champion Metehan BASAR (TUR) will get a taste of the new rules, while U-23 world bronze medalist Islam ABASOV (AZE) will look to make his mark at the senior level. Two-time world junior medalist Arman ALIZADEH is the best wrestler of the host country at 87kg.

97kg: Olympic medalist vs. U-23 European champion

The most well-known wrestler at 97kg will be Cenk ILDEM (TUR), who took a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games. Former junior world champion and U-23 European champion Orkhan NURIYEV (AZE) is also a strong contender in this weight class.

130kg: Heavyweight surrounded by Iranians

The best heavyweight wrestlers in Iran step on the mat at the Takhti Cup. Two-time Asian champion Behnam MEHDIZADEH and Iran world team member Shahab GHOUREHJILI are top competitors at heavyweight. These two wrestlers battled for a spot in Paris, and Ghourehjili came out on top.

New rules at Takhti Cup

After announcement of new rules by UWW, Takhti Cup will be the first tournament with these rules.

Key points with Greco-Roman rule modifications:

• All cautions are worth 1 point.
• Standing wrestling is principle element in Greco-Roman wrestling.
• Interruption due to passivity is limited.
• Ordered bottom wrestling only if wrestlers are nearly equal in standing.
• Only one ordered bottom wrestling per period.
• New way of ordered bottom wrestling (lying on the stomach).
• Negative wrestling is prevented immediately.
• Passivity is confirmed by the mat chairman, along with falls and cautions.

Schedule

Thursday, Jan. 25
Qualification rounds until semifinals for all weight categories

Friday, Jan. 26:
Repechage and final matches

Roster of the teams in Takhti Cup

Cuba
60kg- Ismael BORRERO MOLINA
77kg- Luis Enrique GUTIERREZ GOMEZ
82kg- Antonio DURAN ROBLES

Azerbaijan
55kg- Ziyad ZEYNALOV – Ibrahim NURULLAEV
60kg- Sakit GULIYEV - Murat BAZAROV
63kg- Taleh MAMMADOV
67kg- Kamran MAMMADOV
72kg- Ulvi GANIZADE - Sanan SULEYMANOV
77kg- Hasan ALIYEV - Nasir HASANOV
82kg- Rafik HUSEYNOV
87kg- Islam ABASOV
97kg- Turman EYYUBOV - Orkhan NURIYEV
130kg- No wrestler

Turkey
55kg- No wrestler
60kg- Abdurrahman ALTAN – Ahmet UYAR
63kg- Serif KILIC
67kg- Atakan YUEKSEL – Enes BASAR – Murat FIRAT
72kg- Cengiz ARSALAN – Murat DAG
77kg- Emrah KUS – Fatih CENGIZ – Serkan AKKOYUN
82kg- Burhan AKBUDAK
87kg-Metehan BASAR
97kg- Cenk ILDEM – Ebrahim TIGCI – Abdul Kadir CEBI - serkan OZDEN
130kg- Osman YILDIRIM

Iran
55kg- Reza KHEDRI – Moslem NADERI KHADEM – Hamidreza KHAMESI
60kg- Mehrdad MARDANI – Shirzad BEHESHTI TALA – Meysam DELKHANI
63kg- Mohammad NOURBAKHSH – Mostafa KAEIDKHORDEH – Reza ABBASI
67kg- Mohammad ELYASI – Hossein ASADI – Mohammadreza GERAEI
72kg- Farshad BELFEKE – Afshin BYABANGARD – Mohammad HOSSEINI
77kg- Pejman PASHTAM – Broumand ASLAN – Mohammadali GERAEI
82kg- Yousef GHADERIAN – Mehdi EBRAHIMI – Keyvan REZAEI
87kg- Saman AZIZI – Behrouz HEDAYAT – Arman ALIZADEH
97kg- Amir Hossein HOSSEINI – Ali Akbar HEYDARI – Mohammad YEGANEH
130kg- Behnam MEHDIZADEH – Shahab GHOUREHJILI – Abolfazl NAJAFI

Kirgizstan
55kg- Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV
60kg- Kanybek JOLCHUBEKOV – Rustam TEIISHOV
63kg- Kaly SULAIMANOV – Urmatbek AMATOV
67kg- Roman TSAREV
72kg- NURGAZY ASANGULOV
77kg- Esen ASANOV - Kairatbek TUGOLBAEV
82kg-Atabek AZISBEKOV
87kg- Samat SHIRDAKOV
97kg- Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV
130kg- No wrestler

Georgia
55kg- Kakha IREMADZE – Bachana PUTKARADZE
60kg- Lasha MARIAMIDZE – Irakli DZIMISTARISHVILI
63kg- Khvicha TCHITAVA
67kg- Goga GOGIBERASHVILI – Joni KHETSURIANI
72kg-Giorgi KHUTCHUA
77kg- Bakuri GOGOLI
82kg- Aivengo RIKADZE – Rudolph OGANEZOV
87kg- Giorgi KATSANASHVILI – Gurami KHETSURIANI
97kg- Valerian MURVANIDZE
130kg- No wrestler

Kazakhstan
55kg- Amangali BEKBOLATOV - Bauyrzhan SADVOKASSOV – Khorlan ZHAKANSHA
60kg- Meirambek AINAGULOV- Aidos SULTANGALI - Baglan ZHAKANSHA - Dastan ZARLYKHANOV
63kg- Kudaibergen TURSYNOV
67kg- Daniar KALENOV- Almat KEBISPAYEV - Meirzhan SHERMAKHANBET
72kg- Demeu ZHADRAYEV - Abylaikhan AMZEEV - Ibragim MAGOMADOV
77kg- Maksat YEREZHEPOV - Tamerlan SHADUKAEV
82kg- No wrestler
87kg- Azamat KUSTUBAEV - Khussein MUTSOLGOV
97kg-Yerulan ISKAKOV - Olzhas SYRLYBAI
130kg- Anton SAVENKO

Bulgaria
60kg- Avgustin SPASOV
67kg- Deyvid DIMITROV
72kg- Stoyan KUBATOV
82kg- Daniel ALEKSANDROV
87kg-Tarek ABDELSLAM

Tajikistan
60kg- Khasan SUFIEV
67kg- Azizbeki SHARIFZODA
72kg- Loiqi AMIRKHONZODA - Suhrob HOJIEV
82kg- Sukhrob ABDULKHAEV
97kg- Mirzo SAFAROV - Khabibullah ABDULLOEV
130kg- Sukhroj AZIZOV

Ukraine
55kg- Viktor PETRIK
67kg- Vitali FUGLAEV - Fevzi MAMUTOV- Dmitri KOSENOK
72kg- Artur POLITAEV
82kg- Yaroslav FILCHAKOV
87kg- Yuri SKRYUBA
97kg- Evgeni SAVETA
130kg- Nikolai KUCHMIY

Romania
55kg- Florin TITA
87kg-Nicu Samuel OJOG
97kg- Dorin Constantin PIRVAN
130kg- Alin ALEXUC- CIURARIU

Finland
87kg- Rami HIETANIEMI - Vili ROPPONEN
130kg- Tuomas LAHTI
Other wrestlers:
Jarno ALANDER
Nabard SIDIK ALI

Italy
60kg- Jacopo SANDRON
67kg- Davide CASCAVILLA
77kg- Luca DARIOZZI
82kg- Simone FIDELBO
97kg- Luca GODINO

#WrestleIstanbul

U17 Worlds: AIN, India put 2 wrestlers each in Greco finals

Monday, July 31, 2023 - 17:34 By Vinay Siwach

ISTANBUL (July 31) -- Team Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) and India put two wrestlers each in the Greco-Roman finals on day one of the U17 World Championships in Istanbul on Monday.

Six other nations managed a finalist each including host nation Turkiye which has 110kg defending champion Cemal BAKIR (TUR) going for back-to-back gold medals.

For India, SURAJ (IND), who became the country's first Greco-Roman world U17 champion in 32 years, made it to his second straight final, this time at 55kg. RONAK (IND) joined him at 110kg and the U17 Asia silver medalist will try to upset home favorite Bakir on Tuesday.

AIN rode on Zaur BESLEKOEV (AIN) and Mikhail SHKARIN (AIN) who made it to the gold medal bouts at 65kg and 80kg respectively.

Shakhzod RUZIOKHUNOV (UZB) defeated Edgar PETROSYAN (ARM) 4-1 in the semifinal. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Defending team champions Iran put one finalist at 48kg as Payam AHMADI BALOOTKI (IRI), who was a bronze medalist at 45kg last year, made it to the final against Shakhzod RUZIOKHUNOV (UZB) who is a silver medalist at 45kg from last year.

Balootki will be extremely pleased with his performance as he handed U17 European champion Murat KHATIT (AIN) a 3-2 loss to enter the final. Ruziokhunov was clearly the better wrestler against Edgar PETROSYAN (ARM) who suffered a 4-1 loss.

Returning world champion SURAJ (IND) reached the 55kg final after beating Halil CANIR (TUR) in the semifinal. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

At 55kg, Suraj was on track for a U17 Asia final rematch against Mohammadreza GHOLAMI (IRI) as both reached their respective semifinals. However, Ghomali suffered a heartbreaking loss to Jordyn RANEY (USA).

Ghomali led 5-1 with less than 20 seconds on the clock when Raney got a headlock for four, giving the US wrestlers a 5-5 criteria lead. Raney and Gholami exchanged danger positions in the following sequence but it was Raney's which was last, earning him a 7-7 win. A lost challenge from Iran made it 8-7.

Suraj, banking on his experience from last year's gold-medal run, blanked home wrestler Halil CANIR (TUR) in the other semifinal, using a correct throw and his trademark arm throw to win 6-0.

Yusif AHMADLI (AZE), blue, will face Zaur BESLEKOEV (AIN) in the 65kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Beslekoev will face Yusif AHMADLI (AZE) in the 65kg final after he defeated Giorgi TCHIKAIDZE (GEO) 5-1 in the semifinal. Tchikaidze was giving the first advantage when Beslekoev was called passive. But the Georgian failed to get any turn from par terre. Beslekoev managed to score a takedown before the break to lead 2-1.

When Tchikaidze was called passive in the second period, Beslekoev managed to get a turn from par terre and score a 5-1 victory.

Ahmadli was up against Islambek KARIMJONOV (UZB) for a place in the final and the bout was even poised when the wrestlers exchanged four-point throws. But Ahmadli got a headlock for four and added two turns to make it 12-4 and claim the victory.

At 80kg, Shkarin toyed around with Eleftherios PAPPAS (GRE) in the semifinal and won 9-0 to book a place in the final. He was awarded the passivity in the first period and managed to turn Pappas twice before launching a perfect throw for four.

Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN) reached the 80kg final after beating Uladzislau DUBROUSKI (AIN). (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

He will face Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN) in the final after the Japanese wrestler stopped Uladzislau DUBROUSKI (AIN) in the semifinal. Yoshida began the bout with a four as he drove Dubrouski toward danger before throwing him back first. The AIN team challenged the call but lost, giving Yoshida a 5-0 lead.

A headlock attempt from Dubrouski did not yield any points but gave Yoshida two points as the Japanese used a gut wrench to turn Dubrouski, who managed to pull things back a little when a bearhug ended in a correct throw for two points.

Yoshida, however, kept the pressure in the second period and scored a stepout to lead 8-2 and then added another to make it 9-2. He clinched the victory with another stepout.

Camil BAKIR (TUR) reached second straight U17 Worlds final after beating U17 Asia champion Amirhossein ABDEVALI (IRI). (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Bakir, with his hometown's support behind him, rallied to beat U17 Asia champion Amirhossein ABDEVALI (IRI) 4-2 in a heated semifinal. The defending champion scored a hard-fought turn from par terre to lead 3-0 at the break before defending when he was put in par terre.

Iran challenged for a block from Bakir but lost the challenge which added another point to Bakir's score to make it 4-1.

Abdevali had Bakir in danger for a second when he wrapped his around his waist and was about to launch him for a big throw. However, Bakir managed to keep his feet on the mat and gave up only a stepout as the score changed to 4-2. He defended his two-point lead to claim a victory over Abdevalo, one of the five brothers.

He will now face U17 Asia silver Ronak who impressed in a 6-3 victory over Eldar EMIROV (AIN) in the other semifinal. He was behind 3-0 after Emirov scored a turn from par terre.

Ronak need a turn from par terre against Emirov in the second period and he did exactly that. He scored two gut wrenches over Emirov to make it 5-3 in his favor. He survived a score when he tried throwing Emirov in the final two seconds but fell on his back. Emirov challenged for two points but it was clear on review that the time had expired, giving Ronak a 6-3 win.

RESULTS

48kg
GOLD: Shakhzod RUZIOKHUNOV (UZB) vs. Payam AHMADI BALOOTAKI (IRI)

SF 1: Shakhzod RUZIOKHUNOV (UZB) df. Edgar PETROSYAN (ARM), 4-1
SF 2: Payam AHMADI BALOOTAKI (IRI) df. Murat KHATIT (AIN), 3-2

55kg
GOLD: SURAJ (IND) vs. Jordyn RANEY (USA)

SF 1: SURAJ (IND) df. Halil CINAR (TUR), 6-0
SF 2: Jordyn RANEY (USA) df. Mohammadreza GHOLAMI (IRI), 8-7

65kg
GOLD: Yusif AHMADLI (AZE) vs. Zaur BESLEKOEV (AIN)

SF 1: Yusif AHMADLI (AZE) df. Islombek KARIMJONOV (UZB), 12-4
SF 2: Zaur BESLEKOEV (AIN) df. Giorgi TCHIKAIDZE (GEO), 5-1

80kg
GOLD: Mikhail SHKARIN (AIN) vs. Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN)

SF 1: Mikhail SHKARIN (AIN) df. Eleftherios PAPPAS (GRE), 9-0
SF 2: Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN) df. Uladzislau DUBROUSKI (AIN), 10-2

110kg
GOLD: RONAK (IND) vs. Cemal BAKIR (TUR)

SF 1: RONAK (IND) df. Eldar EMIROV (AIN), 6-3
SF 2: Cemal BAKIR (TUR) df. Amirhossein ABDEVALI (IRI), 4-2

Olympic, World Medalists to Compete at Takhti Cup

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U17 Worlds: AIN, India put 2 wrestlers each in Greco finals