#WrestleZagreb

Ramazanov makes golden debut at Zagreb Open; Nolf, Aman champs

Thursday, January 11, 2024 - 00:17 By Vinay Siwach

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ZAGREB, Croatia (January 10) -- Magomed RAMAZANOV (BUL) has had a busy week. After winning the Bulgarian Championships on Friday, he traveled to Germany for the Bundesliga and won. On Wednesday, he made his way through a tough 86kg bracket to win the Zagreb Open.

"I’ve already wrestled 11 bouts this week and I still have one more left this Saturday," Ramazanov said. "I was out for two years so it’s not a problem for me to wrestle even daily, because I am really hungry and want to participate in more tournaments."

Making his international debut for Bulgaria, Russian transfer Ramazanov won five bouts in Zagreb to clinch the gold medal and put his name in the hat at 86kg seven months before the Paris Olympics.

Ramazanov's run in Zagreb began with a win over Ethan RAMOS (PUR), followed by victories over Maxwell DEAN (USA), Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) and Chandler MARSTELLER (USA).

From the other side, two-time world bronze medalist Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ) was dominating proceedings, having opened the day with a 6-2 win over Deepak PUNIA (UWW). He reached the final with three technical superiority wins over Valentyn BABII (UKR), Evsem SHVELIDZE (GEO) and Matthew FINESILVER (ISR).

Dauletbekov looked set to beat Ramazanov as he led 5-0 at the break but the second period saw a different Ramazanov as he scored single-leg takedowns to lead 6-5 with 45 seconds remaining in the final.

This shocked Dauletbekov who was struggling with his conditioning. Once Ramazanov felt that he had broken Dauletbekov, he piled up his attacks, winning 8-5.

"The final match was a little difficult, my opponent was experienced," he said. "That’s why I had to prepare seriously for that match. In the first period, I was behind but in the second period I went all in and turned the tide of the match."

Ramazamov would like to carry this form into his Saturday's Bundesliga bout and the European Championships which begins a month later in Bucharest, Romania.

Jason NOLF (USA)Jason NOLF (USA) pins Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) in the 74kg semifinal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Jason NOLF (USA) defended his 74kg gold medal with an impressive show throughout the day. Hossein ABOUZARIPASHKOLAEI (IRI) was the second Iranian wrestler who tried to stop Nolf from winning the gold medal. Yones EMAMI (IRI) was in the final last year but Abouzaripashkolaei defeated him 4-4 in the quarterfinals to advance.

Celebrating his 28th birthday on Wednesday, Nolf was slow to start in the final and allowed Abouzaripashkolaei to get the first activity point at the break. But the second period saw Nolf's ascend as he scored takedowns with ease. A 10-1 scoreline in his favor meant that he added a second Zagreb Open gold.

In the semifinals, Nolf pinned European champion Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) in just 35 seconds.

"I am satisfied with my performance," Nolf said. "Whenever I can give 100 percent on the mat, I feel happy."

Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM)Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) scores on Joseph MCKENNA (USA) in the 65kg quarterfinals. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

At 65kg, Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) won the gold medal after Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) pulled out injured. Tevanyan had earlier avenged his World Championships semifinal loss to Sebastian RIVERA (PUR) and was looking to challenge Amouzad.

Amouzad secured his spot on the Iran Olympic team as he defeated Abbas EBRAHIMZADEH (IRI) 12-4 in the semifinals to settle the debate.  

Tevenyan defeated Joseph MC KENNA (USA) 5-2 in the quarterfinals before humbling Riveria 9-1 which included a remarkable four-point throw.

AMAN (IND)AMAN (UWW) improved on his bronze-medal finish from last year and won gold at 57kg. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Improving on his bronze-medal finish from last year, AMAN (UWW) won the gold at 57kg after four technical superiority wins in as many bouts. In the final, the Asian champion took on Wanhao ZOU (CHN) and never gave the slightest of chances to the Chinese wrestler. Winning 10-0, Aman improved on the previous win over Zou which was 7-4 in the Asian Championships semifinals.

His other wins included 15-4 over Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR), 11-0 over Zane RICHARDS (USA) and 11-0 over Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO) in the semifinal.

Bekhbayar ERDENEBAT (MGL)Bekhbayar ERDENEBAT (MGL) defeated Andrii DZHELEP (UKR) in the 61kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

At 61kg, Bekhbayar ERDENEBAT (MGL) returned to competition after more than two years and surprised everyone by winning the gold medal over Andrii DZHELEP (UKR), 9-2.

Erdenbat had traveled to Zagreb to help his ward Zane RICHARDS (USA) at 57kg. While he won the gold medal, Richards lost to Aman and failed to win the bronze medal as well.

In an all-Georgia final at 70kg, Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO) managed to hand Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO) a 7-4 defeat.

 

sf

RESULTS

57kg
GOLD: AMAN (UWW) df. Wanhao ZOU (CHN), 10-0

BRONZE: Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR) df. Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO), via fall (14-5)
BRONZE: Georgi VANGELOV (BUL) df. Horst LEHR (GER), 3-1. 
by VPO1, 3 - 1

61kg
GOLD: Bekhbayar ERDENEBAT (MGL) df. Andrii DZHELEP (UKR), 9-2

BRONZE: Aliabbas RZAZADE (AZE) df. Joseph SILVA (PUR), 4-2
BRONZE: Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE) df. Daniel POPOV (ISR), 7-3

65kg
GOLD: Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) df. Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI), via inj. def. 

BRONZE: Joseph MC KENNA (USA) df. Sebastian C RIVERA (PUR), 10-0
BRONZE: Abbas EBRAHIMZADEH (IRI) df. Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR), 10-0

70kg
GOLD: Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO) df. Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO), 7-4

BRONZE: Douglas ZAPF (USA) df. Marc DIETSCHE (SUI), 13-2

74kg
GOLD: Jason NOLF (USA) df. Hossein ABOUZARIPASHKOLAEI (IRI), 10-1

BRONZE: Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN) df. Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE), 4-1
BRONZE: Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE) df. Tobias PORTMANN (SUI), 5-3

86kg
GOLD: Magomed RAMAZANOV (BUL) df. Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ), 8-5

BRONZE: Chandler MARSTELLER (USA) df. Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE), 5-0
BRONZE: Evsem SHVELIDZE (GEO) df. Matthew FINESILVER (ISR), 7-3

#JapanWrestling

Paris Olympic Champ Sakurai Retires at Age 24

Sunday, April 5, 2026 - 09:12 By Ken Marantz

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TOKYO (April 4) -- Having never really regained the motivation that led her to achieve her ultimate goal of an Olympic gold, Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN) has decided to retire at the tender age of 24.

Sakurai, the women’s 57kg champion at the Paris Olympics, has announced that she will hang up her singlet and begin a second career nurturing a new generation of wrestlers and serving as a goodwill ambassador of sports for her native Kochi Prefecture in western Japan.

“After 21 continuous years, I feel I have reached the cutoff point of my wrestling career, so I have decided to retire,” Sakurai said at a press conference Friday at the Kochi Prefecture government office.

“I gave everything I had for the Olympics, and I was able to experience the feeling of achievement and the ultimate joy. It's difficult to win the Olympics without determination. I couldn't get back to the mindset I had before Paris. That is the biggest reason [for retiring].”

Known for her steely aggressiveness belying a quiet demeanor, and a wicked use of a 2-on-1 arm bar, Sakurai prefaced her triumph in Paris by winning three consecutive world titles, at 55kg in 2021 and back-to-back golds at 57kg in 2022 and 2023.

A U17 world champion in 2016, she won golds at the Asian Championships and Asian Games in 2022 and 2023, respectively, but suffered the second of just two career international losses at the 2024 Asian Championships, where she fell to Yongxian FENG (CHN) in the final.

She bounced back five months later for her crowning achievement in Paris, where she defeated 2016 Rio Olympic champion Helen MAROULIS (USA) 10-4 in the semifinals, then took the gold with a 6-0 victory over Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) in a rematch of the 2023 world final.

Making the win in Paris even more special was the fact that not only did Sakurai strike gold, but so did another Japanese wrestler who started the sport together with her at the kids wrestling club in Kochi run by her father.

Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN), the freestyle 65kg champion in his Olympic debut, and Sakurai became the toast of Kochi, a rural prefecture fronting the Pacific on the island of Shikoku. They were paraded through the streets of the prefectural capital of Kochi City and hailed as heroes.

Like almost all of Japan’s medalists in Paris, the two took time off from the sport to run the gauntlet of TV interviews and variety shows, and just chill out in general. Sakurai, who returned to Kochi and started graduate studies in sport sciences at Kochi University, was particularly slow in returning to the mat.

In what would prove to be her first – and last – competition after Paris, she won the 57kg title at the second-tier Japan Women’s Open in October 2025, ostensibly to qualify for the Emperor’s Cup All-Japan Championships the following December. That would be the starting point for domestic qualifying for major global tournaments.

But Sakurai never made it to the Emperor’s Cup, and has now fully turned the corner on a new career.

“Over the past year, this decision was made after talking to many people, fretting about it, and thinking things through,” she said.

Sakurai said that as an extension of her father’s Kochi Wrestling Club, she wants to run a series of clinics outside of the city, mainly in her hometown of Konan just to the east of Kochi, to expose more children to wrestling and help it grow.

“Aside from wrestling, I'm learning so many things in graduate school right now, so I want to acquire a wide range of knowledge so that I can give back to Kochi Prefecture properly,” Sakurai said. “I think there will be various problems when I put things into practice, so I want to acquire solid knowledge so that I can solve those problems.”

Fans at this week’s Asian Championships in Bishkek will see another product of the Kochi Wrestling Club in action in Moe KIYOOKA (JPN), Kotaro’s younger sister and a former world champion who will be looking to add the 53kg gold to the one she won at 55kg in 2024. She and Sakurai were also teammates at Ikuei University.

And the name Sakurai might soon be appearing on the world stage again. Her younger sister, Tsukino SAKURAI (JPN), won the Asian U15 title last year.