#WrestleSofia

U20 World Championships day two semis set

By Vinay Siwach

SOFIA, Bulgaria (August 16) -- After the USA dominated day one of the U20 World Championships, it's time for the second day with five more freestyle weight classes in action in Sofia. Wrestlers from 61kg, 74kg, 86kg, 92kg and 125kg.

MATCH ORDER | WATCH LIVE

14:21: The 92kg last four

Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA) vs. Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI)
Sergey SARGSYAN (ARM) vs. Andro MARGISHVILI (GEO) 

14:15: The semifinals pair at 86kg

Ismail KUCUKSOLAK (TUR) vs. Bennett BERGE (USA)
Sabuhi AMIRASLANOV (AZE) vs. Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA) 

14:05: The 74kg semifinals for the evening session

Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE) vs. Luka CHKHITUNIDZE (GEO)
Sagar JAGLAN (IND) vs. Ryunosuke KAMIYA (JPN) 

14:00: Here are the semifinals for 61kg

Armin HABIBZADEH (IRI) vs. Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Yuto NISHIUCHI (JPN) vs. Mohit KUMAR (IND) 

13:53: The 125kg semifinals are set

Mahendra GAIKWAD (IND) vs. Namoz ABDURASHIDOV (UZB)
Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) vs. Nicholas FELDMAN (USA) 

13:43: Erfan ELAHI (IRI) up against '21 U17 world champion Sagar JAGLAN (IND) in the quarterfinals. Elahi with two quick stepouts to lead 2-0. But Jaglan with a takedown and lace to make it 8-2 at the break. Jaglan is cautioned for feeling and the score is cut to 8-4. But he scores a takedown and makes it 10-4. Huge win for Jaglan over returning world champion

13:40:  Another Iran win. At 125kg, '21 U17 world champion Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) beats Merab SULEIMANASHVILI (GEO) 14-4 to enter the semifinal. He will wrestle Nicholas FELDMAN (USA)

13:37: The 61kg quarterfinal between Armin HABIBZADEH (IRI) and Nicholas BOUZAKIS (USA) is living up to the expectation. Bouzakis had a 6-4 lead but Habibzadeh managed to get a takedown to lead 6-6 before another double leg shot made it 9-7. Both wrestlers continued to go but Habibzadeh managed to win 13-11

13:30: Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA) has done it! He leg laces Aref RANJBARI (IRI) to 10-0. A scream to confirm how important that was for him.

13:25: Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE) is having a field day in Sofia. He now wins 10-0 against Jafar CHULIBOYEV (UZB) to enter the semifinal at 74kg. He will wrestle the winner of  Luka CHKHITUNIDZE (GEO) vs. Tymur HUDYMA (UKR) 

13:15: A 10-0 win for Firouzpour at 92kg and he will wrestle Krisztian ANGYAL (HUN) who had to battle Kutman TOLOBALDIEV (KGZ) before winning 15-12. Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA) also comes from 5-2 down against AKASH (IND) to win 7-6

12:45: Jaxon SMITH (USA) with a big 8-1 win over Ion DEMIAN (MDA) at 92kg. Senior Asian champion Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) is wrestling Satoshi MIURA (JPN). He leads 3-0 at the break 

12:35: Here are the quarterfinals matchups at 125kg:

Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) vs. Merab SULEIMANASHVILI (GEO)
Namoz ABDURASHIDOV (UZB) vs. Roger Rujie LI (CAN) 
Mahendra GAIKWAD (IND) vs. Adil MISIRCI (TUR)
Georgi IVANOV (BUL) vs. Nicholas FELDMAN (USA) 

12:25: Will Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA) win the gold at 86kg this year? The returning silver medalist has reached the quarterfinals with an 11-0 win over Angelos KOUKLARIS (GRE)

12:00: At 61kg, Nicholas BOUZAKIS (USA) trailed early but secures a fall over Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR) while Jeyhun ALLAHVERDIYEV (AZE) wins 10-0 over Mika LEHMKUEHL (RSA)

11:45: Erfan ELAHI (IRI) and Alexander FACUNDO (USA) coming up on Mat D. Elahi scores a stepout but Facundo answers with a takedown. Elahi gets the single leg and adds 2 more to lead 3-2 at the break. The two trade a takedown each in the second period as Elahi keeps the 5-4 lead with over a minute left. Facundo gets a double leg but the time runs out.

11:30: At 74kg, returning silver medalist from 70kg Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE) begins with a 13-0 win over Ulukbek ASILBEKOV (KGZ). He will be the favorite to reach the final from one side of the bracket.

11:10: The first qualification bouts are at 125kg. Home wrestler Georgi IVANOV (BUL) starts the day with a win for Bulgaria. He beats Ryusei FUJITA (JPN) 8-2. In a 34-point slugfest, Merab SULEIMANASHVILI (GEO) comes back from 6-0 down to beat Lyova GEVORGYAN (ARM) 13-11. On Mat B, Adil MISIRCI (TUR) beats Bekzat TAZHI (KAZ)

11:00: Welcome to the second day of the U20 World Championships. The repechage rounds will kick off the day before we move on to the qualification rounds of the five weight classes

#WrestleSofia

Wrestlers from Six Different Countries Advance to Women’s Finals at #WrestleSofia

By Taylor Miller

Photo of Yulia LESKOVETS (UKR)

SOFIA, Bulgaria – Japan and China each put three athletes in gold-medal matches for the last day of women’s freestyle action at the 2019 Cadet World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. India, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine and USA also have wrestlers in the finals.

There will be two head-to-head matchups between Japan and China in tomorrow’s gold matches.

2017 Cadet World champion Hanano SAKURAI (JPN) looks to win another gold medal but will have to face Xueing LIANG (CHN) at 46 kg.

The last bout of the night will feature two-time Cadet World champion Honoka NAKAI (JPN) at 69 kg, facing off against 2019 Cadet Asian bronze medalist Cun LIU (CHN). The two did not meet up in the Asian Championships as Nakai did not go.

Nakai won her last two gold medals at 65 kg.

Japan is also featured in the final at 61 kg, where 2018 Youth Olympic champion and 2018 Cadet World champion Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) will face off against 2019 Cadet European champion Yulia LESKOVETS (UKR).

At 53 kg, the third representative from China, Zhaojing SHI (CHN), will battle for gold. Shi, a 2018 Cadet World bronze medalist, takes on Kalmira BILIMBEK (KGZ), who was fifth in the world last year.

Shi and Bilimbek were at different weights last year.

The finals will take place on Friday at 6 p.m. local time (3:30 a.m. ET) live on unitedworldwrestling.org.

Finals matchups
40 kg: Sterling DIAS (USA) vs. Komal KOMAL (IND)
46 kg: Xueing LIANG (CHN) vs. Hanano SAKURAI (JPN)
53 kg: Zhaojing SHI (CHN) vs. Kalmira BILIMBEK (KGZ)
61 kg: Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) vs. Yulia LESKOVETS (UKR)
69 kg: Honoka NAKAI (JPN) vs. Cun LIU (CHN)