#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

#AmateurMMA

U20 Amateur MMA: New Zealand, Tajikistan crown world champs

By Vinay Siwach

LOUTRAKI, Greece (November 11) -- Gold medals for Tajikistan and New Zealand highlighted the first U20 World Amateur MMA Championships in Loutraki, Greece.

Tajikistan won two golds medals, both in men's division, while New Zealand won a gold medal through Lily HOUBEN (NZL) in women's division in the five-day event.

Houben, who is quickly making a name for herself in the New Zealand combat sports circles, used a classic armbar to submit Dinara TIUTIUNOVA (UWW) in the only bout, which was the final, at 90kg.

Apart from 90kg, three more weight classes were in action in women's -- 50kg, 61kg and 65kg. Alina NAIDINA (UWW) defeated Kseniia SHIPILKINA (UWW) to win the gold medal at 50kg.

Ukraine won golds at 61kg and 66kg through Yana MELNYCHUK (UKR) and Yuliia MELNYCHUK (UKR), the sisters helping it win the time title as well with 50 points. New Zealand finished second with 25 points.

Muhammadkabir NAZARZODA (TJK)Muhammadkabir NAZARZODA (TJK) won gold medal in the 62kg weight category. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

In men's, nine weight classes were in action with champions from Tajikistan, Moldova, France, Ukraine and UWW fighters.

Ukraine, once again the best team, won two gold medals, both at the expense of Kazakhstan. The first came at 77kg when Kyryl KYSELOV (UKR) defeated Kydyrali KAIRGALI (KAZ) in the final and the second came at 100kg as Yevhenii MURADOV (UKR) beat Radomir MOROZOV (KAZ) in the final.

Muhammadkabir NAZARZODA (TJK) gave Tajikistan its first gold medal when he defeated Maksim BUSYGIN (UWW) in the 62kg final. Soon after, : Mukhammadamin SHAMOLOV (TJK) added a second gold medal for the country when he beat Nikita LIKHTIN (UWW) in the 66kg final.

For Moldova, Ion SILI (MDA) showed his dominance in the 93kg final as he defeated Alikhan EVLOEV (UWW) to win the gold medal.

At 130kg, former U17 world silver medalist in Freestyle 125kg and U20 European bronze Levan LAGVILAVA (FRA) used his wrestling skills to win both bouts in the Nelson bracket to win the gold medal. Lagvilava recently finish fifth at the U20 World Championships.

Alibeg ALIBEKOV (UWW) won gold medal at 57kg, Ian GURBANOV (UWW) at 71kg, and Viktor SHEENKO (UWW) at 84kg.

RESULTS

U20 Men's Amateur MMA

57kg
GOLD: Alibeg ALIBEKOV (UWW)
SILVER: Bohdan CHORNEI (UKR)
BRONZE: Arturo COLMENAREJO GARCIA (ESP)
BRONZE: Kyllian DURANDET (FRA)

62kg
GOLD: Muhammadkabir NAZARZODA (TJK)
SILVER: Maksim BUSYGIN (UWW)
BRONZE: Amir ALKANOV (KAZ)
BRONZE: Mikhail KLIMENKO (UWW)

66kg
GOLD: Mukhammadamin SHAMOLOV (TJK)
SILVER: Nikita LIKHTIN (UWW)
BRONZE: Mansur ABDRAKHMAN (KAZ)
BRONZE: Oleh CHERNIK (UKR)

71kg
GOLD: Ian GURBANOV (UWW)
SILVER: Bilel BOULAMA (FRA)
BRONZE: Bohdan BECHKO (UKR)
BRONZE: Isa KHARSIEV (UWW)

77kg
GOLD: Kyryl KYSELOV (UKR)
SILVER: Kydyrali KAIRGALI (KAZ)
BRONZE: Ali SHARIFOV (KAZ)
BRONZE: Aliskhan DUDURGOV (UWW)

84kg
GOLD: Viktor SHEENKO (UWW)
SILVER: Andrii BOIAR (UKR)
BRONZE: Vadym ZHUKOV (UKR)
BRONZE: Athanasios MADEMLIS (GRE)

93kg
GOLD: Ion SILI (MDA)
SILVER: Alikhan EVLOEV (UWW)
BRONZE: Yehor RAILIANU (UKR)
BRONZE: Yerkebulan ASSANOV (KAZ)

100kg
GOLD: Yevhenii MURADOV (UKR)
SILVER: Radomir MOROZOV (KAZ)
BRONZE: Anton MAZAEV (UWW)
BRONZE: Cinar PAMUK (TUR)

130kg
GOLD: Levan LAGVILAVA (FRA)
SILVER: Mateusz ZIENKIEWICZ (POL)
BRONZE: Yerassyl SARTBAY (KAZ)

U20 Women's Amateur MMA

50kg
GOLD: Alina NAIDINA (UWW)
SILVER: Kseniia SHIPILKINA (UWW)

61kg
GOLD: Yana MELNYCHUK (UKR)
SILVER: Diana PARFENOVA (UWW)
BRONZE: Alessia AMENDOLA (ITA)
BRONZE: Tetiana LAPTIEVA (UKR)

65kg
GOLD: Yuliia MELNYCHUK (UKR)
SILVER: Renata AZNABAEVA (UWW)

90kg
GOLD: Lily HOUBEN (NZL)
SILVER: Dinara TIUTIUNOVA (UWW)