#WrestleAlmaty

Tasmuradov, Assakalov Fall as Iran Puts 4 into Greco Finals on First Day

Tuesday, April 13, 2021 - 10:02 By Ken Marantz

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ALMATY, Kazakhstan (April 13) --- Uzbek greats Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) and Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB) saw their bids to add to extensive continental gold medal collections quashed at the hands of Iranians, as the Asian Championships opened Tuesday with the first half of the Greco-Roman competition in Almaty.

Meysam DALKHANI (IRI), avenging a loss to Tasmuradov at last year's championships in New Delhi, held on for a 9-7 victory over the defending champion in the quarterfinals at 63kg.

"I had wrestled him before at the Delhi Asian Championships, but he defeated me," Dalkhani said. "I was thinking about how to avenge that loss. Obviously training harder and being smarter on the mat was important."

Dalkhani followed up that victory with an 8-5 win over Hanjae CHUNG (KOR) to become the first of four Iranians who advanced to the finals, to be held in the night session at the Baluan Sholak Palace of Culture and Sports.

Dalkhani, who is already assured of improving on his third-place finish from last year, will look to make it to the top of podium when he faces Matteo Pellicone silver medalist Sultan ASSETULY (KAZ).

In their semifinal, Tasmuradov, a Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medalist who was seeking a sixth Asian gold medal, caught Dalkhani with a 4-point headlock. But Dalkhani worked out of it for a reversal and came back with a big 4-point throw of his own, before taking a 9-6 lead into the second period.

The 29-year-old Tasmuradov, who secured a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics at 60kg when he finished fifth at the 2019 World Championships in Nursultan, had a chance from the par terre position, but couldn't turn the determined Iranian. After desperate attempts to score at the end, Tasmuradov collapsed to the mat.

"I did not train in the lockdown, so I am coming to mat straight after the break," said Tasmuradov, who added he is nursing a knee injury. "I began training again 10 days ago."

Tasmuradov abandoned a chance to pick up at least a bronze when he defaulted his repechage match. Last year, he relegated Dalkhani to the bronze-medal match with a technical fall victory in the semifinals.

"Iran has good wrestlers and Dalkhani is very good," Tasmuradov said. "But he was very dirty in the bout and he trash-talked a lot during the bout. I did not even touch his fingers and he acting if I broke them. Good actors."

In the other semifinal, Assetuly saw Muhamad FWAZ (SYR) roll out of two headlocks before finally clamping down on a third and securing a fall at 2:23 with a 12-4 lead.

At 87kg, Assakalov, who will be heading to a second Olympics by virtue of his bronze medal at the Nursultan worlds, knocked off defending Asian champion Kumar SUNIL (IND) 3-1 in his opening match, but had no answer for Naser ALIZADEH (IRI) in the semifinals.

Alizadeh led 3-1 after the first period, then added a number of stepouts and a gut wrench from the par terre position en route to a 10-4 victory.

"I am happy that he could perform so well and reach the final," said Alizadeh's coach, Adel Baei TABAR. "In his own way, he has proved that he a good wrestler for Iran and hopefully he will be the champion."

Alizadeh set up the clash with three-time Asian champion Assakalov by defeating Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ) 3-1 in the quarterfinals. Four days  earlier, Tursynov earned a place for Kazakhstan at the Tokyo Olympics at the Asian Olympic qualifying tournament, held April 9-11 at the same venue.

It marked the second straight year that Assakalov was ousted by an Iranian. Last year in New Delhi, he fell to Behrouz HEDAYAT (IRI) and left the Indian capital empty-handed.

"I had no plans for Iran or anyone else," Assakalov said. "I only planned to win the gold medal at the Asian Championships and represent my country at the Olympics with the dignity of Asian champion. But God had other ideas."

Still, he said he was content with the result. "I will fight for the bronze medal in the evening and we will see. I am happy with everything."

Standing in Alizadeh's path to the gold is Atabek AZISBEKOV (KGZ), who will be looking for his first Asian title after twice coming away with silver medals. He defeated Seunghwan LEE (KOR) 6-3 in the other semifinal.

Pejman POSHTAM (IRI) will get a chance to improve on his 2020 silver medal at 77kg after a 4-point arm throw early in the match proved to be the difference when criteria decided a tight 7-7 semifinal win over Singh GURPREET (IND).

Gurpreet, who had also wrestled in the Olympic qualifier but came up one victory short of a ticket to Tokyo, advanced to the semifinals with a nail-biting 11-8 win over Bilan NALGIEV (UZB)  in which he rallied from a 6-1 deficit.

"The qualifier and championships were too close and I could not recover," Gurpreet said. "My body is tired and my muscles have become weak after frequent weight cutting."

Poshtam noticed the fatigue in the Indian, who was unable to convert in the par terre position in the second period.

"He was tired from his last bout," Poshtam said. "I had to plan a lot for Gurpreet because he is good in all positions. The par terre position is where the match changes and it was good."

In the final, Poshtam will face Daler REZA ZADE (TJK), who topped Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ) 6-1 in the other semifinal. He will try to become the first-ever Asian gold medalist in Greco from Tajikistan, and the second overall after Yusup ABDUSALAMOV (TJK) won at freestyle 74kg in 2003.

As for Iran's opening-day performance, Poshtam commented: "Iran has done well to make four finals. We have been training for the last five months for the Asian Championships. And I think we were prepared to win at this  championships."

The fourth Iranian finalist Aliakbar YOUSOFIAHMADCHALI (IRI), who wore down Sukhrob FATTOEV (UZB) and won by disqualification on cautions with 1:29 left and a 14-5 lead. He will face Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ), a fifth-place finisher in 2019 who advanced by fall over 2020 bronze medalist Minseok KIM (KOR).

At 55kg, Ilkhom BAKHROMOV (UZB) ended Iran's chance for a sweep of the opening-day golds -- and earned a chance to regain the title he won in 2019 --when he knocked off Poya DAD MARZ (IRI) 3-1 in the semifinals.

In the final, he will face Yu SHIOTANI (JPN), who stormed to a 9-0 technical fall in 4:15 over Sandeep SANDEEP (IND).

Shiotani was the runner-up at the All-Japan Championships last December to Takushoku University teammate Hiromu KATAGIRI (JPN), who lost to Bakhromov in the 2019 Asian final. Katagiri has ostensibly retired after joining a general Japanese company that does not have an affiliated wrestling team.

Day 1 results

Greco-Roman

Semifinals

55kg (10 entries)
Yu SHIOTANI (JPN) df. Sandeep SANDEEP (IND) by TF, 9-0, 4:15
Ilkhom BAKHROMOV (UZB) df. Poya DAD MARZ (IRI), 3-1

63kg (12 entries)
Sultan ASSETULY (KAZ) df. Muhamad FWAZ (SYR) by Fall, 2:23 (12-4)
Meysam DALKHANI (IRI) df. Hanjae CHUNG (KOR), 8-5

77kg (12 entries)
Daler REZA ZADE (TJK) df. Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ), 6-1
Pejman POSHTAM (IRI) df. Singh GURPREET (IND) 7-7

87kg (10 entries)
Naser ALIZADEH (IRI) df. Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB), 10-4
Atabek AZISBEKOV (KGZ) df. Seunghwan LEE (KOR), 6-3

130kg (8 entries)
Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ) df. Minseok KIM (KOR) by Fall, 1:04 (8-3)
Aliakbar YOUSOFIAHMADCHALI (IRI) df. Sukhrob FATTOEV (UZB) by Disq., 4:31 (14-5).

#WrestlePontevedra

Begenjov wins Turkmenistan's historic world title in Freestyle

Saturday, September 7, 2024 - 23:12 By Vinay Siwach

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PONTEVEDRA, Spain (September 7) -- After falling agonizingly short of a World Championship medal two years in a row, Alp BEGENJOV (TKM) made amends in the most impressive way possible -- winning Turkmenistan's first-ever world title in Freestyle.

Begenjov won the gold medal in 79kg weight class at the U20 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain on Saturday, becoming the first Freestyle world champion of his country. It is only the second time Turkmenistan has won a gold medal at any World Championships. Shorat KHODAYEV (TKM) won a U17 world gold in 1994.

"It was my dream," Begenjov said. "I made my dream come true. I’ve become a world champion. It’s the first time in the history of my country [in Freestyle]."

Begenjov had competed at the U17 World Championships in 2022 and 2023, finishing 12th and fifth respectively. This year, he finished fifth at Asian Championships, 12th at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers and won bronze at the U23 Asian Championships. The loss at the Asian Championships hurt Begenjov.

"I was so disappointed after losing at the Asian Championships," he said. "I started training harder and last month I won the U20 Asian Championships and now the World Championships."

Not only did he win gold, Begenjov did so without conceding a point in the tournament. He outscored his opponents 46-0, including the 5-0 win over Jackary RYDER (USA) in the final.

He led 1-0 at the break after Ryder failed to score after being put on the activity clock. Begenjov used his fake attacks to keep Ryder on check and scored a stepout to extend his lead to 2-0.

Ryder did get on Begenjov's leg a couple of times but failed to finish those attacks. On one occasion, Ryder was trying to lift after a single-leg attack but Begejnov grabbed Ryder's leg and he fell on his back, giving up two points as Begenjov extended his lead to 4-0. A lost challenge made it 5-0.

The 18-year-old plans to compete at the U23 World Championships but doesn't plan to compete at the senior level yet.

"I have to train harder to repeat this and win the senior world title," he said. "I am physically not strong enough yet for senior level."

Trained by his uncle in Ashgabat, Begenov graduated from school earlier this year and joined the university.

"I will start my first year," he said. "I will study stock exchange. We have this faculty in Turkmenistan."

Apart from Ryder's silver medal, the United States won gold and three bronze medals. Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) upgraded his silver from last year to gold, winning the 57kg weight class by beating Lev PAVLOV (AIN) in the final.

This was Lilledahl's fourth straight age-group world final after he made two at U17 level and one at U20. He won silver in 2021 and upgraded to gold in 2022 at the U17 Worlds.

In the final against Pavlov, who he had beaten on his way to the final last year in Amman, Lilledahl got two activity points while Pavlov got one. Pavlov failed to find a perfect opening to score a point in the final seconds and dropped the final 2-1.

"When I wrestled him before, it was a lot more wide open," Lilledahl said. "With it being the finals [this year], he would kind of just wrestle to win. That's what you have to do. You're here to win. 

"That's pretty much what I figured would happen. He doesn't really like to create a lot of action, which kind of plays against me because I like the action. It was a stylistic matchup. Having wrestled him before, we kind of knew each other and knew how each other felt and stuff like that."

Aitmukhan adds U20 title

World champion at 92kg Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) gave the U20 World Championships a try and went home with a gold medal. Aitmukhan became Kazakhstan's first Freestyle world champion at the senior level last year at 92kg in Belgrade.

By winning the 97kg gold medal in Pontevedra, Aitmukhan as became only the fourth wrestler from Kazakhstan, and first in 24 years, to win a gold in Freestyle at U20 World Championships.

Aitmukhan was so dominant in the final that Khetag KARSANOV (AZE) could not stop him from winning the final 10-0.

Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI)Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI) completes a takedown in the 65kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

Iran won the gold medal at 65kg as Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI) shut out Makoto HOSOKAWA (JPN), and won the final 10-2. Khorramdel lost his semifinal to Eldar AKHMADUDINOV (AIN) last year but won a bronze medal in the 61kg weight class.

The U20 Asian champion had a difficult path to the final as he had to make a comeback in his opening bout against Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR), winning 12-11. Aykhan ABDULLAZADA (AZE) also fought hard but lost 9-6 before Khorramdel hung on for a 6-4 win over Adam ARKHIEV (AIN) in the semifinals.

Hosokawa was displeased with his performance as Khorramdel blocked him from the right side and Hosokawa failed to score from his strong position. 

While Hosokawa lost, his Nippon Sports Science University teammate Ryoya YAMASHITA (JPN) won the gold medal at 70kg. Two days before his bouts, Yamashita had announced in the dining hall that he could "only see the gold medal". Yamashita made sure he took it home.

In a high-paced final, Magomed BAITUKAEV (AIN) failed to challenge Yamashita's speed and style and lost 6-0 in the 70kg final.

"This was my first international world tournament," Yamashita said. "I played with the intention of having fun and had a lot of fun. This is my goal for this year, but after competing, I realized that the senior world championships or the Olympics would be even more amazing. "

It was not all fun for Baitukaev on the mat as Yamashita showed his A game. Yamashita got the first point via stepout and earned a second when the 30-second activity clock against Baitukaev ended. Yamashita blasted a double in the second period to get two points and turned using head-in-middle lace to lead 6-0. Baitukaev had no energy left to attack and Yamashita won the gold medal.

Yamashita celebrated by gesturing like he was taking out the imaginary Samurai swords. 

"I came up with it when I was thinking of doing a performance based on Japanese culture," he said. "It's a Japanese tradition since ancient times. I did it because I admired it."

Yamashita trains with Olympic champions Rei HIGUCHI (JPN and Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN) at NSSU and wants to replicate the success his teammates had.

"I realized that what I was doing was correct," he said. "It was a great environment to have someone close to me that I was aiming for. I was really moved by watching the matches. I was inspired by that."

For him to be at the Olympics, Yamashita will have to wait at least four years and jump to 74kg to make the team for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

"I'm still thinking about it, but I guess I can only be 74kg to qualify for the Olympics," he said "I would like to be at 74kg for Los Angeles."

RESULTS

57kg
GOLD: Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) df. Lev PAVLOV (AIN), 2-1

BRONZE: Luka GVINJILIA (GEO) df. Myktybek UKIMETULY (KAZ), 4-1
BRONZE: ANKUSH (IND) df. Hayko GASPARYAN (ARM), 6-2

65kg
GOLD: Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI)  df. Makoto HOSOKAWA (JPN), 10-2

BRONZE: Bowen BASSETT (USA) df. Nikoloz BESHIDZE (GEO), 10-0
BRONZE: Adam ARKHIEV (AIN) df. Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR), 4-1

70kg
GOLD: Ryoya YAMASHITA (JPN) df. Magomed BAITUKAEV (AIN), 6-0

BRONZE: Ali KARAMPOUR (IRI) df. Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO), via fall (9-0) 
BRONZE: Peter DUKE (USA) df. Aikyn BOLATULY (KAZ), 18-7

79kg
GOLD: Alp BEGENJOV (TKM) df. Zackary RYDER (USA), 5-0

BRONZE: Leandro ARAUJO (BRA) df. Said SAIDULOV (AIN), 5-4
BRONZE: Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) df. AMIT (IND), 13-2

97kg
GOLD: Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) df. Khetag KARSANOV (AZE), 10-0 

BRONZE: Justin RADEMACHER (USA) df. Nikolaos KARAVANOS (GRE), 10-0
BRONZE: Adam JAKSIK (SVK) df. Rifat GIDAK (TUR), 2-1

Semifinals

61kg
GOLD: Masanosuke ONO (JPN) vs. Ebrahim KHARI (IRI)

SF 1: Masanosuke ONO (JPN) df. Marcus BLAZE (USA), 7-2
SF 2: Ebrahim KHARI (IRI) df. Abdinur NURLANBEK (KAZ), 6-4

74kg
GOLD: Ali REZAEI (IRI) vs. Ladarion LOCKETT (USA)

SF 1: Ali REZAEI (IRI) df. Shingo ANDO (JPN), 10-0
SF 2: Ladarion LOCKETT (USA) df. Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE), 3-1

86kg
GOLD: Ibragim KADIEV (AIN) vs. Joshua BARR (USA)

SF 1: Ibragim KADIEV (AIN) df. Abolfazl RAHMANI (IRI), 12-2
SF 2: Joshua BARR (USA) df. Ahmet YAGAN (TUR), 10-0

92kg
GOLD: Sali SALIEV (BUL) vs. Mustafagadzhi MALACHDIBIROV (AIN)

SF 1: Sali SALIEV (BUL) df. Connor MIRASOLA (USA), 5-4
SF 2: Mustafagadzhi MALACHDIBIROV (AIN) df. Kamil KURUGLIYEV (KAZ), 5-0

125kg
GOLD: Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) vs. Benjamin KUETER (USA)

SF 1: Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) df. Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR), 3-1
SF 2: Benjamin KUETER (USA) df. Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL), 13-3