#Trnava2018

Three Reigning Greco-Roman Junior World Champions Registered for #Trnava2018

By Eric Olanowski

TRNAVA, Slovakia (August 31) - The 2018 Junior World Championships kick off September 17-23 and each participating nation has summited their final entries to United World Wrestling. Nearly 265 Greco-Roman wrestlers from 43 nations will make the journey to Trnava, Slovakia with hopes of becoming a Junior World Champion. 

Three reigning champions in Kamal BEY (USA), Kerem KAMAL (TUR) and Amin KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI) are registered to defend their titles from last years Tampere Junior World Championships. 

Aleksander KOMAROV (RUS), the three-time age-level world champion and most dominant age-level wrestler in the world was expected to compete for Russia at 82kg but is not registered for the Junior World Championships. Instead, Russia has entered Shamil OZHAEV (RUS) at GR 82kg.

Greco-Roman wrestling begins on September 17 and will be wrestled through September 19. 

ROSTERS
ALG 
60kg - Mourtada NAANAA    

72kg - Amar MOUMENE        

ARM
55kg - Tigran MINASYAN       
60kg - Ararat MANUCHARYAN         
63kg - Hrachya POGHOSYAN
67kg - Malkhas AMOYAN      
77kg - Vahe POGHOSYAN     
82kg - Erik ELOYAN    
87kg - Hakob BAGHDASARYAN        
97kg - Razmik KHACHATRYAN          
130kg - David OVASAPYAN     

AUT 
97kg - Markus RAGGINGER  

AZE 
55kg - Zulfigar ALIYEV           
60kg -  Hasan MAMMADLI     
63kg - Elnur MUSAYEV          
67kg - Mahammadali HASANOV      
72kg - Ulvu GANIZADE          
77kg - Nasir HASANOV          
82kg - Nazarshah FATULLAYEV         
130kg - Sarkhan MAMMADOV            

BLR
55kg - Aliaksandr NIAHODA  
60kg - Ihar DROZD     
63kg - Maksim NEHODA       
67kg - Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK         
72kg - Martun BADALIAN      
77kg - Yauheni YUROU          
82kg - Kiryl MASKEVICH        
87kg - Ihar YARASHEVICH     
97kg - Uladzislau PUSTASHYLAU      
130kg - Ilya YUDCHYTS            

BRA 
67kg - Joilson DE BRITO RAMOS JUNIOR      

BUL
60kg - Ivo ILIEV    
63kg - Nikalas SULEV
67kg - Krasimir DORMUSHEV       
72kg - Krasimir KRUMOV
77kg - Zahari ZASHEV         
82kg - Svetoslav NIKOLOV  
97kg -Delian ALISHAHI       
130kg - Ignat MILENOV          

CHI
130kg - Diego ALMENDRAS RODRIQUEZ           

2016 Junior World Championship arena shot. Photo by Justin Hoch.

CHN
55kg - Liguo CAO       
60kg - Libin DING       
63kg - Delin WANG   
67kg - Xin HUANG     
72kg - Chuan ZHANG
77kg - Yilana YILANA
82kg - Wentao SU     
87kg - Maimaiti KAISAIER     
97kg - Yiming LI         
130kg - Lingzhe MENG            

CRO
72kg - Pavel PUKLAVEC         
82kg - Karlo KODRIC  
87kg - Filip SMETKO  
130kg - Ante MILKOVIC           

CZE
67kg - Denis MERTL   
72kg - Jakub BIELESZ
77kg - David PRUSA / Daniel VARGA
87kg - Jakub KROCAK
130kg - Ondrej DADAK

Mohamed ELSAYED, 2016 Cadet World Champion. Photo by Justin Hoch.

EGY
63kg - Hassan MOHAMED     
67kg - Mohamed ELSAYED    
72kg - Gamal MARZOUK       
130kg - Youssef ISSA   

EST
63kg - Denis BOLUNOV         
67kg - Kristo VIIDAS   
72kg - Andris PENT    
77kg - Hans Uku LEITHAM     
82kg - Ranet KALJOLA            
87kg - Ardo PAJUR    
97kg - Hendrik KALME           

FIN
67kg - Elmer Joakim MATTILA           
72kg - Akseli Elias YLI HANNUKSELA
77kg - Waltteri Harri Kristian LATVALA         
97kg - Arvi Martin SAVOLAINEN       

GEO
55kg - Ramaz SILAGAVA       
60kg- Irakli DZIMISTARISHVILI         
63kg - Leri ABULADZE           
67kg - Joni KHETSURIANI      
72kg - Nikoloz TCHIKAIDZE    
77kg - Beka GURULI  
82kg - Aivengo RIKADZE        
87kg - Temuri TCHKUASELIDZE         
97kg - Nika LOMIDZE
130kg - Beka MAKARIDZE        

GER
60kg - Andrej GINC    
63kg - Chlovelle Van MEIER  
72kg - Anthony Ezra SANDERS          
87kg - Nikolaos PAPADOPOULOS      
130kg - Franz RICHTER            

HUN
60kg - Tamas TOEROEK         
63kg - Krisztian Istvan VANCZA         
67kg - Tibor Sandor GYUERKY           
72kg - Gergely BAK    
77kg - Moric KISMONI           
82kg - Istvan TAKACSHUN
87kg - Alex SZOKE     
97kg - Balint VATZI    
130kg - Roland VATZI  

Vijay VIJAY (IND), 2018 Junior Asian Championship runner-up. Photo by Sachiko Hotaka.

IND
55kg - Vijay VIJAY      
60kg - Sachin RANA   
63kg - Manjeet MANJEET      
67kg - Malkit HOODA
72kg - Kuldeep MALIK           
77kg - Sajan SAJAN    
82kg - Sanjeet SANJEET         
87kg - Kumar SUNIL  
97kg - Viresh KUNDU
130kg - Aryan PANWAR          

IRI
55kg - Pouya NASERPOUR    
60kg - Ali NEJATI        
63kg - Bahram MAROUFKHANI IMCHEH      
67kg - Yousef HOSSEINVAND FATHI
72kg - Amin KAVIYANINEJAD
77kg - Shayan AFIFI   
82kg - Hosein FOROUZANDEH GHOJEHBEIGLOU    
87kg - Mohammadhadi SARAVI        
97kg - Vahid DADKHAH GHASEM ABADI      
130kg - Amin MIRZAZADEH    

ISR
67kg - Shamil ALAEV

ITA
55kg - Giovanni FRENI           
60kg - Jacopo SANDRON       
67kg - Ignazio SANFILIPPO    
77kg - Mirco MINGUZZI        
97kg - Luca SVAICARIITA

JPN
55kg - Shota OGAWA            
60kg - Kazuki YABE    
63kg - Harushi SHIMAYA       
67kg - Taishi HORIE   
72kg - Minto MAEDA
77kg- Rai HAYASHI   
82kg - Yudai SASAKI / Masao TANAKA          
87kg - Ryohta NASUKAWA    
97kg - Akira YAMANAKA / Naoki MATSUMOTO   
130kg - Sota OKUMURA          

Merey BEKENOV (KAZ), 2018 Junior Asian Champion. Photo by Sachiko Hotaka. 

KAZ
55kg - Alpamys DASTANBEK
60kg- Galym KABDUNASSAROV      
63kg - Madiyar MALTEKBAYEV         
67kg - Merey BEKENOV        
72kg - Daulet LARIONOV       
77kg - Temirlan YESPENBET  
82kg - Stanislav RYLSKIY        
87kg - Sanzhar TEMIRBEK     
97kg - Islam UMAYEV            
130kg - Anton SAVENKO         

KGZ
55kg - Nurtazin KERIMBERDI UULU  
60kg - Dastan KADYROV        
63kg - Erbol BAKIROV            
67kg - Khalmurat IBRAGIMOV          
72kg - Ilim BILIMOV   
77kg - Akzhol MAKHMUDOV
82kg - Ilgiz BILIMOV  
87kg - Amankeldi TALANTBEK UULU

KOR
55kg - Doohoon KIM  
60kg - Seongmin KIM
63kg - Kyoungsub KIM           
67kg - Unho HAN       
72kg - Jueun JEONG  
77kg - Boseong KANG           
82kg - Inseob KIM      
87kg - Junyeop PARK
97kg - Jeongbin KWON          
130kg - Taeho YIM       

KSA
55kg - Tuorki Ali M HAZOAZI
60kg - Hassan M WADDAN    

LTU
60kg - Gytis KULEVICIUS        
77kg - Titas KERSEVICIUS      
97kg - Arnoldas BARANOVAS            

MDA
67kg - Valentin PETIC             
72kg - Anatolie POPOV          

NOR
67kg - Haavard JOERGENSEN
77kg - Per Anders KURE        

POL
60kg - Sebastian NOWICKI         
63kg - Mateusz SZEWCZUK          
67kg - Filip PETRONCZAK         
72kg - Gracjan GLOGIEWICZ
82kg - Piotr DUK            
87kg - Michal DYBKA            
97kg - Gerard KURNICZAK   
130kg - Patryk KAMINSKI  

POR
55kg - Andre CARDOSO OLIVEIRA SILVA       
63kg - Daniel DE MATOS OLIVEIRA DE MORAIS CA  

ROU
55kg - Florin TITA      
60kg - Razvan ARNAUT         
82kg - Nicu Samuel OJOG     
130kg - Lenard Istvan BEREI    

Oleg AGAKHANOV, 2018 Junior European Champion. Photo by Max Rose-Fyne. 

RUS
55kg - Emin SEFERSHAEV     
60kg- Abu AMAEV   
63kg - Azamat KAIROV          
67kg - Miakhdi IAKHIAEV      
72kg - Sergei STEPANOV       
77kg - Islam OPIEV    
82kg - Shamil OZHAEV          
87kg - Ilia ERMOLENKO         
97kg - Artur SARGSIAN         
130kg - Oleg AGAKHANOV      

SRB
55kg - Sebastian KOLOMPAR
67kg - Adam KATONA            
72kg - Sava MIJOKOVIC         
77kg - Andrija Luka MALETIN
82kg - Branko KOVACEVIC     

SUI
55kg - Dimitar SANDOV        
87kg - Ramon BETSCHART     
97kg - Damian VON EUW      

SVK
63kg - Istvan SLUKA   
67kg - Nikolas HULMAN        
72kg - Gergely BUERSOELY   
77kg - Bence HOLOCSI          
82kg - Zoltan MEGALY           

SWE
67kg - Elias ANDERSSON      
72kg - Mats AHLGREN      
77kg - Per OLOFSSON  
82kg - Anders OLSSON    
130kg - Jacob LOGAARD        

TJK
67kg - Faridun AKHMEDOV   
72kg - Bakhtovar KHASANOV            
77kg - Daler REZA ZADE        
130kg - Azmuddin VAKHOBOV           

TKM
63kg - Seydylla TAZAYEV       

TUR
55kg - Cihat Ahmet LIMAN    
60kg - Kerem KAMAL
63kg - Abdullah TOPRAK       
67kg - Ismail GUN     
72kg - Erkan ERGEN  
77kg - Alper Murat ERDURAN           
82kg - Muhutdin SARICICEK  
87kg - Bedirhan TAN
97kg - Beytullah KAYISDAG   
130kg - Fatih BOZKURT           

UKR
55kg - Vladyslav KUZKO         
60kg- Ihor KUROCHKIN        
63kg - Oleksandr HRUSHYN  
67kg - Parviz NASIBOV          
72kg - Ihor BYCHKOV
77kg - Dmytro GARDUBEI
82kg - Vitalii ANDRIIOVYCH
87kg - Dmytro KIIASHOK
97kg - Oleksandr YEVDOKIMOV
130kg - Vladyslav KOVALENKO            

Kamal BEY (USA), 2017 Junior World Champion. Photo by Marion Stein. 

USA
55kg - Brady KOONTZ            
60kg - Taylor LA MONT         
63kg - Alston NUTTER           
67kg - Peyton OMANIA         
72kg - Tyler DOW      
77kg - Kamal BEY       
82kg - Andrew BERREYESA   
87kg - Barret HUGHES          
97kg - Chad PORTER  
130kg - Cohlton SCHULTZ       

UZB
63kg - Turabek TIRKASHEV   
67kg - Kamol KUZIEV
72kg - Makhmud BAKHSHILLOEV     
82kg - Alijon KHUSEYNOV     
97kg - Abubakr ALIMOV        
130kg - Temur Mirzo MAMAJANOV   

#WrestleHangzhou

Tazhudinov adds Asian Games title; Iran finishes with 3 golds

By Vinay Siwach

LIN'AN, Hangzhou, China (October 7) -- Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) has not been home to Dagestan yet. The world champion is on the road since winning the gold medal in Belgrade, traveling to Bahrain and now to Hangzhou, China for the Asian Games.

If his village Gergebil was planning for a welcome for his world title, it would now need to be a grand one as Tazhudinov added an Asian Games title on Sunday.

After beating Kyle SNYDER (USA) and Abdulrashid SADULAEV (AIN) in back-to-back matches at the World Championships, Tazhudinov had to travel to Bahrain. The much-awaited welcome in Dagestan was postponed with the Asian Games scheduled from October 4-7 in Hangzhou.

And since it's a once-in-a-four- years Games, Tazhudinov decided to give it a shot.

"This tournament is a bit different from others because it happens only once in four years," Tazhudinov said. "That’s why we didn’t take any rest. We didn’t fly to Dagestan. We went directly to Bahrain, rested a little bit, and started the preparations for the Asian Games. And won it."

If the World Championships saw a high-flying Tazhudinov, the Asian Games witnessed a Tazhudinov who was content with scoring points in a much-reserved manner.

Out of his four wins to the gold medal, only one was a fall while others were on points. He defeated Awusayiman HABILA (CHN) 7-3 in the opening bout, pinned Kanybek ABDULKHAIROV (KGZ) in the quarterfinals, and won 6-1 against Juhwan SEO (KOR) in the semifinals.

Wrestling Mojtaba GOLEIJ (IRI) in the final, Tazhudinov put out his best performance with Goleij struggling to break the world champion's defense and giving up two takedowns in Tazhudinov's 6-1.

The 20-year-old had beaten Goleij at the Asian Championships semifinal as well but that victory was much closer as he won 13-8. Tazhudinov explained that wrestling at two tournaments in the space of two weeks made him tired which forced him to change the approach.

"I didn’t have enough time to recover after the World Championships that’s why the games went a bit tough for me," he said.

The gold medal made Tazhudinov the first wrestler from Bahrain to win a medal. Before Hangzhou, Bahrain had only entered wrestling at the Asian Games once, in 2018 when Adam BATIROV (BRN) finished seventh in Jakarta. Tazhudinov also credited his coach Shamil OMAROV for his contribution to the historic achievement.

"My coach is very experienced, he raised a two-time Olympic champion [Sadulaev]," he said. "I learn a lot from him, he supports us and he is always here with us."

For now, both Tazhudinov and Omarov will fly to Dagestan and plan for the next season.

"I haven’t been home yet in Dagestan. But I hope they will meet me there nicely," he said. "I don’t know yet about the next tournament. I just want to rest now."

Hassan YAZDANI (IRI)Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) defeated Deepak PUNIA in the 86kg gold medal bout. (Photo: UWW / Sachiko Hotaka)

Yazdani defends gold

Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) was easily the biggest attraction of the final day in wrestling as Iranian fans cheered every point he scored. And Yazdani was cheered on several occasions as he comfortably defended his 86kg gold medal at the Asian Games beating Deepak PUNIA 10-0, his fourth technical superiority win in four bouts in Hangzhou.

Wrestling two weeks after the World Championships in which he reached the final but suffered a fall against David TAYLOR (USA), Yazdani was once again in top form despite a heavily tapped right shoulder.

After a slow first period with Yazdani being the only active wrestler, the final finished in just 2:29 as Yazdani's gut wrenched Punia.

There were little celebrations from Yazdani as he continued to stress that only an Olympic gold medal would make him celebrate a victory.

"Paris Olympics!," Yazdani said to the waiting media in the mixed zone at the Lin'an Sports Culture and Exhibition Center.

Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI)Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) completed a 7-0 win over Lkhagvagerel MUNKHTUR (MGL). (Photo: UWW / Sachiko Hotaka)

World champion Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) won his first Asian Games gold medal by beating Asian champion Lkhagvagerel MUNKHTUR (MGL) 7-0. His high-paced wrestling at this weight makes it extremely difficult for his opponents to remain in the contest.

"His conditioning is very high," Munkhtur said after the final. "The strength part is normal but it's his conditioning which keeps him going for six minutes."

Zare hardly broke a sweat and forced stepout in the final before getting two takedowns to finish the bout.

Zare reclaimed the 125kg world title from Taha AKGUL (TUR) after beating both Akgul and Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) in the semifinals and final in Belgrade.

Yones EMAMI (IRI)Yones EMAMI (IRI) became the Asian Games champion at 74kg. (Photo: UWW / Sachiko Hotaka)

At 74kg, Yones EMAMI (IRI) put away the disappointment of missing out on a medal at the World Championships with the 74kg gold in the Asian Games. Emami defeated Asian Championships silver medalist Kirin KINOSHITA (JPN) 9-0 in the final.

With Iran winning three gold medals on the final day, it emerged as the most successful country at the 19th Asian Games, winning five gold, four silver and one bronze medal. Japan finished second with five gold, three silver and four bronze medals.

In the bronze medal bouts, China and Uzbekistan won two each finish the competition on a high.

Defending champion at 74kg Bekzod ABDURAKHMONOV (UZB) bounced back after losing to Emami in the semifinal. He pinned Perman HAMMADOV (TKM) to capture his third Asian Games medal.

Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ) beat Magomet EVLOEV (TJK), 4-2, in a tense bout to win the second 74kg bronze.

Javrail SHAPIEV (UZB) added the second bronze of the night to Uzbekistan's tally as he defeated Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN) 3-0. He was joined by Dovletmyrat ORAZGYLYJOV (TKM) on the podium after the Turkmen denied Bat Erdene BYAMBASUREN (MGL), 12-4.

At 97kg, Asian Championships silver medalist Awusayiman HABILA (CHN) managed to hold off Juhwan SEO (KOR) for a 2-1 victory to give the home country a bronze medal on the final day. The other bronze medal went to Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL) who used two big throws to beat Alisher YERGALI (KAZ), 8-1.

More glory was in store for China as BUHEEERDUN (CHN) managed to go past Yusup BATIRMURZAEV (KAZ), 5-2. Veteran Aiaal LAZAREV (KGZ) dished out a final-second gut-wrench to beat Khusanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB), 7-6. Lazarev trailed 6-3 but scored a takedown and turned Rakhimov just before the clock expired to win a hard-fought bronze.

Asian GamesThe 86kg medalists at the Asian Games. (Photo: UWW / Sachiko Hotaka)

RESULTS

74kg
GOLD: Yones EMAMI (IRI) df. Kirin KINOSHITA (JPN), 9-0

BRONZE: Bekzod ABDURAKHMONOV (UZB) df. Perman HOMMADOV (TKM), via fall
BRONZE: Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ) df. Magomet EVLOEV (TJK), 4-2

86kg
GOLD: Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) df. Deepak PUNIA, 10-0

BRONZE: Javrail SHAPIEV (UZB) df. Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN), 3-0
BRONZE: Dovletmyrat ORAZGYLYJOV (TKM) df. Bat Erdene BYAMBASUREN (MGL), 12-4

97kg
GOLD: Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) df. Mojtaba GOLEIJ (IRI), 6-1

BRONZE: Awusayiman HABILA (CHN) df. Juhwan SEO (KOR), 2-1
BRONZE: Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL) df. Alisher YERGALI (KAZ), 8-1

125kg
GOLD: Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) df. Lkhagvagerel MUNKHTUR (MGL), 7-0

BRONZE: BUHEEERDUN (CHN) df. Yusup BATIRMURZAEV (KAZ), 5-2
BRONZE: Aiaal LAZAREV (KGZ) df. Khusanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB), 7-6