#WrestlePontevedra

U23 World Championships entry list

By Eric Olanowski & Vinay Siwach

PONTEVEDRA, Spain (October 6) -- The final World Championships of the season is here. The U23 World Championships will be staged in Spain's eastern coastal city of Pontevedra from October 17 to 23.

The field consists of 15 senior world medalists and includes eight senior world champions.

As is always the case, Japan is sending a strong women's contingent headed by Olympic and world champion Yui SUSAKI (JPN) along with fellow 2022 world champs, Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) and Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN).

Amit ELOR (USA), the recently crowned world champion in Belgrade, will be aiming to win her third world title of the year having already won the U20 and senior titles.

The Greco-Roman field also has former world champion as Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) leads his nation into the tournament. He won a bronze medal in Belgrade.

Iran will be led by the 2021 world champion at 130kg Aliakbar YOUSOFI (IRI). The team also has Poya DAD MARZ (IRI), Seyed SOHRABI (IRI) and Mohammad Reza MOKHTARI (IRI) among others.

The team will be keen on reinstating some of the pride for Iran which had a disastrous senior World Championships with no gold medals.

The freestyle competition will see strong teams entered by the USA, Iran, India, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.

Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) will look to defend his 61kg title. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

Freestyle

57kg
Tadeu De DEUS (ANG)
Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM)
Tofig ALIYEV (AZE)
Logan SLOAN (CAN)
Diego ZULUAGA CUEVAS (COL)
Adrian LOPEZ GOMEZ (ESP)
Diamantino IUNA FAFE (GBS)
Giorgi GEGELASHVILI (GEO)
Horst LEHR (GER)
Aman SEHRAWAT (IND)
Ahmad MOHAMMADNEZHADJAVAN (IRI)
Toshiya ABE (JPN)
Daulet TEMIRZHANOV (KAZ)
Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ)
Demian LIUTCANOV (MDA)
Munkh BATKHUYAG (MGL)
Rodrigo GANEGODAGE (SRI)
Thomas EPP (SUI)
Ahmet DUMAN (TUR)
Kamil KERYMOV (UKR)
Vitali ARUJAU (USA)

61kg
Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Intigam VALIZADA (AZE)
Stilyan ILIEV (BUL)
Jason LUNEAU (CAN)
Elkin ESPANA SANTA (COL)
Yousef EISSA (EGY)
Adam BIBOULATOV (FRA)
Ramaz TURMANIDZE (GEO)
Nico MEGERLE (GER)
Akash DAHIYA (IND)
Armin HABIBZADEH (IRI)
Kodai OGAWA (JPN)
Assyl AITAKYN (KAZ)
Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ)
Joseph SILVA (PUR)
Matheesha SAMARADIVAKARA (SRI)
Nils LEUTERT (SUI)
Emrah ORMANOGLU (TUR)
Andrii DZHELEP (UKR)
Aaron NAGAO (USA)

65kg
Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM)
Ayub MUSAEV (BEL)
Ivan BADAVROV (BUL)
Daniel COLES (CAN)
Felipe FERRUSOLA MILLA (ESP)
Said HOSSEINI (FIN)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Ross CONNELLY (GBR)
Gia UGRELIDZE (GEO)
Leon GERSTENBERGER (GER)
Gamzatgadzsi HALIDOV (HUN)
Anuj KUMAR (IND)
Kian MAHMOUD (IRI)
Kaiki YAMAGUCHI (JPN)
Adlan ASKAROV (KAZ)
Ikromzhon KHADZHIMURODOV (KGZ)
Leomid COLESNIC (MDA)
Ganbayar NAMSRAI (MGL)
Samuel ALVAREZ (PUR)
Gunawardana KANKANAMLAGE (SRI)
Dominik LARITZ (SUI)
Gurbanmuhammet CHARYYEV (TKM)
Hamza ALACA (TUR)
Erik ARUSHANIAN (UKR)
Cole MATTHEWS (USA)
Aseel AL MAKTARI (YEM)

70kg
Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM)
Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE)
Muhammad ABDURACHMANOV (BEL)
Emmanuel OLAPADE (CAN)
Jorge GATICA HINRICKSEN (CHI)
Ramon GERSAK PEREZ (ESP)
Marwane YEZZA (FRA)
Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO)
Shamil USTAEV (GER)
Parvinder NAIN (IND)
Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI)
Aliakbar FAZLIKHALILI (IRI)
Gianluca COLETTI (ITA)
Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Syrbaz TALGAT (KAZ)
Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ)
Nicolai GRAHMEZ (MDA)
Tugsjargal ERDENEBAT (MGL)
Stefan COMAN (ROU)
Waththa WADUGE (SRI)
Tobias PORTMANN (SUI)
Hojamuhammed IBRAGIMOV (TKM)
Omer CAYIR (TUR)
Ihor NYKYFORUK (UKR)
Yahya THOMAS (USA)
Saddam ALHADA (YEM)

74kg
Hrayr ALIKHANYAN (ARM)
Simon MARCHL (AUT)
Khadzhimurad GADZHIYEV (AZE)
Dimitar ANGELOV (BUL)
Patrik LEDER (CAN)
Jhoan SERNA RODRIGUEZ (COL)
Mohamed EL KARCHOUCH (ESP)
Temuri BERUASHVILI (GEO)
Richard SCHROEDER (GER)
Christos CHRISTOFORIDIS (GRE)
Sagar JAGLAN (IND)
Mohmmadsadegh FIROUZPOUR (IRI)
Raul ZARBALIEV (ISR)
Luca FINIZIO (ITA)
Yuto FUKADA (JPN)
Yerkhan BEXULTANOV (KAZ)
Alinur TAKIROV (KGZ)
Vasile DIACON (MDA)
Diego SANDOVAL (MEX)
Temuujin MENDBILEG (MGL)
Jean STE MARIE (MRI)
Szymon WOJTKOWSKI (POL)
Sonny SANTIAGO (PUR)
Krisztian BIRO (ROU)
Palamure PALAMURE ARACHCHILAGE (SRI)
Atamyrat CHARLYYEV (TKM)
Ismet CIFTCI (TUR)
Vadym KURYLENKO (UKR)
David CARR (USA)

79kg
Arman AVAGYAN (ARM)
Ashraf ASHIROV (AZE)
Oktay HASAN (BUL)
Adam THOMSON (CAN)
Gabriel IGLESIAS (ESP)
Erik REINBOK (EST)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
Zsombor NAGY (HUN)
CHANDERMOHAN (IND)
Sobhan YARI (IRI)
Ilan BONDAR (ISR)
Kosuke YAMAKURA (JPN)
Daulet YERGESH (KAZ)
Mukhammad ABDULLAEV (KGZ)
Stanislav NOVAC (MDA)
Miguel ORNELAS (MEX)
Ernest DOROSZ (POL)
Tony NEGRON (PUR)
Divan ILANDARI PEDIGE (SRI)
Tanguy DARBELLAY (SUI)
Soltan BEGENJOV (TKM)
Abdulvasi BALTA (TUR)
Valentyn BABII (UKR)
Carter STAROCCI (USA)

86kg
Knyaz IBOYAN (ARM)
Benjamin GREIL (AUT)
Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE)
Hunter LEE (CAN)
Jaime GARCIA (ESP)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Evsem SHVELIDZE (GEO)
Lars SCHAEFLE (GER)
Angelos KOUKLARIS (GRE)
Cesar UBICO ESTRADA (GUA)
Jointy KUMAR (IND)
Sajjad GHOLAMI (IRI)
Chengiz SOLTANOV SOLTANLI (ISR)
Mattia NASELLO (ITA)
Tatsuya SHIRAI (JPN)
Maksat SATYBALDY (KAZ)
Nurtilek KARYPBAEV (KGZ)
Ivars SAMUSONOKS (LAT)
Ivan ICHIZLI (MDA)
Cezary SADOWSKI (POL)
Jairo RIVERA (PUR)
Edward LESSING (RSA)
Emre CIFTCI (TUR)
Mukhammed ALIIEV (UKR)
Trent HIDLAY (USA)
Steven RODRIGUEZ (VEN)

92kg
Sergey SARGSYAN (ARM)
Ilia HRISTOV (BUL)
Tejvir BOAL (CAN)
Aimar ALZON (ESP)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Johannes MAYER (GER)
Gkivi BLIATZE (GRE)
Krisztian ANGYAL (HUN)
Parveen KUMAR (IND)
Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI)
Hikaru ABE (JPN)
Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ)
Baisal KUBATOV (KGZ)
Osmans DZASEZEVS (LAT)
Ion DEMIAN (MDA)
Machiel GROBLER (RSA)
Palliya GURUNNANSELAGE DON (SRI)
Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR)
Denys SAHALIUK (UKR)
Jacob CARDENAS (USA)

97kg
Hovhannes MAGHAKYAN (ARM)
Thomas BARNS (AUS)
Islam ILYASOV (AZE)
Callum KNOX (CAN)
Riveri MTSITURI (GEO)
Ertugrul AGCA (GER)
Richard VEGH (HUN)
Sahil AHLAWAT (IND)
Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI)
Hibiki ITO (JPN)
Yunus GAFUROV (KAZ)
Radu LEFTER (MDA)
Nicolaas DE LANGE (RSA)
Shatlyk HEMELYAYEV (TKM)
Mucahit CELIK (TUR)
Vasyl SOVA (UKR)
Tanner SLOAN (USA)

125kg
Vakhit GALAYEV (AZE)
Georgi IVANOV (BUL)
Jackson SERNA (CAN)
Carlos ACEBRON (ESP)
Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO)
Azamat KHOSONOV (GRE)
Milan KORCSOG (HUN)
Anirudh KUMAR (IND)
Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI)
Lior ALTSHULER (ISR)
Kai SHUTTO (JPN)
Alisher YERGALI (KAZ)
Zyyamuhammet SAPAROV (TKM)
Adil MISIRCI (TUR)
Yurii IDZINSKYI (UKR)
Anthony CASSIOPPI (USA)

Aliakbar YOUSOFI (IRI)Aliakbar YOUSOFI (IRI), a 2021 world champion, will lead the Iran Greco-Roman team. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Nihad GULUZADE (AZE)
James CASTANO (ESP)
Giorgi TOKHADZE (GEO)
Ilias ZAIRAKIS (GRE)
LALIT (IND)
Poya DAD MARZ (IRI)
Ken MATSUI (JPN)
Nurzat KABDYRAKHIMOV (KAZ)
Taalaibek BEISHENBEK UULU (KGZ)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Abduvali RAHIMBAYEV (TKM)
Ahmet TASKINOGLU (TUR)
Mykola HAVRYCHKIN (UKR)
Camden RUSSELL (USA)

60kg
Tigran MINASYAN (ARM)
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
Borislav KIRILOV (BUL)
Ronaldo SANCHEZ (COL)
Aser EBRO (ESP)
Irakli DZIMISTARISHVILI (GEO)
Georgios SCARPELLO (GER)
Sumit DALAL (IND)
Omid ARAMI (IRI)
Melkamu FETENE (ISR)
Kaito INABA (JPN)
Olzhas SULTAN (KAZ)
Nurmukhammet ABDULLAEV (KGZ)
Grzegorz KUNKEL (POL)
Arslanbek ZAKIRBAYEV (TKM)
Jui HUANG (TPE)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
Vladyslav KUZKO (UKR)
Phillip MOOMEY (USA)

63kg
Hrachya POGHOSYAN (ARM)
Ziya BABASHOV (AZE)
Ilia MUSTAKOV (BUL)
Ahmed BAGHDOUDA (EGY)
Andy JUAN (ESP)
Tino OJALA (FIN)
Giorgi SHOTADZE (GEO)
Krisztian KECSKEMETI (HUN)
VINAY (IND)
Iman Khoon MOHAMMADI (IRI)
Abere FETENE (ISR)
Andrea SETTI (ITA)
Ryuto IKEDA (JPN)
Yerzhet ZHARLYKASSYN (KAZ)
Ermek KANYBEK UULU (KGZ)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Azatjan ACHILOV (TKM)
Mustafa YILDIRIM (TUR)
Maksym LIU (UKR)
Mason CARZINO HARTSHORN (USA)
Yonaiker MARTINEZ (VEN)

67kg
Sahak HOVHANNISYAN (ARM)
Ivo ILIEV (BUL)
Julian HORTA (COL)
Elmer MATTILA (FIN)
Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA)
Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Krisztian VANCZA (HUN)
ASHU (IND)
Seyed SOHRABI (IRI)
Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN)
Almatbek AMANBEK (KAZ)
Amanat SAMAT UULU (KGZ)
Vilius SAVICKAS (LTU)
Alexei HAHLOVSCHI (MDA)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Aleksander MIELEWCZYK (POL)
Niklas OEHLEN (SWE)
Begmyrat NOBATOV (TKM)
Ramazan AKTAS (TUR)
Dmytro MIROSHNYK (UKR)
Peyton OMANIA (USA)

72kg
Shant KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Gurban GURBANOV (AZE)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Marcos SANCHEZ (ESP)
Randel UIBO (EST)
Giorgi CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Samuel BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Jose VARELA (GUA)
VIKAS (IND)
Amir ABDI (IRI)
Daigo KOBAYASHI (JPN)
Yerassyl NURBOSSYNOV (KAZ)
Adilkhan NURLANBEKOV (KGZ)
Eimantas VILIMAS (LTU)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Edsson OLMOS (MEX)
Kamil CZARNECKI (POL)
Miru OLSSON (SWE)
Muhammetnazar JUMAYEV (TKM)
Furkan ZIRIN (TUR)
Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR)
Benjamin PEAK (USA)

77kg
Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)
Emad ABOUELATTA (EGY)
Junior BENITEZ (ESP)
Edvin KIN (EST)
Akseli YLI HANNUKSELA (FIN)
Davit SOLOGASHVILI (GEO)
Idris IBAEV (GER)
Attila TOESMAGI (HUN)
Sajan BHANWALA (IND)
Mohammad Reza MOKHTARI (IRI)
David ZHYTOMYRSKY (ISR)
Nao KUSAKA (JPN)
Rassul ZHUNIS (KAZ)
Akylbek TALANTBEKOV (KGZ)
Aistis LIAUGMINAS (LTU)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Emmanuel BENITEZ (MEX)
Patryk BEDNARZ (POL)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Lamjed MAAFI (TUN)
Abdurrahman KALKAN (TUR)
Dmytro VASETSKYI (UKR)
Britton HOLMES (USA)
Daniel BELLO (VEN)

82kg
Jones MABUNGU (ANG)
Gagik HAKOBYAN (ARM)
Ivaylo IVANOV (BUL)
Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Jose ESTEVEZ (ESP)
Ranet KALJOLA (EST)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Beka GURULI (GEO)
Erik LOESER (GER)
Ilias PAGKALIDIS (GRE)
Peter DOEMOEK (HUN)
Rohit DAHIYA (IND)
Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI)
Tesshin HIGUCHI (JPN)
Temirkhan BAIGANIN (KAZ)
Beksultan NAZARBAEV (KGZ)
Semion BREKKELI (MDA)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Adam GARDZIOLA (POL)
Mats AHLGREN (SWE)
Toyly ORAZOV (TKM)
Ali HUNC (TUR)
Madamin MIRZOIEV (UKR)
Tyler CUNNINGHAM (USA)

87kg
Gevorg TADEVOSYAN (ARM)
Lachin VALIYEV (AZE)
Zahari ZASHEV (BUL)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Andreas VAELIS (EST)
Beka MELELASHVILI (GEO)
Nikolaos IOSIFIDIS (GRE)
Istvan TAKACS (HUN)
Sunil KUMAR (IND)
Abolfazl CHOUBANI (IRI)
Satoki MUKAI (JPN)
Maksat SAILAU (KAZ)
Azat SALIDINOV (KGZ)
Daniel VELIZ (MEX)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Szymon SZYMONOWICZ (POL)
Christian ZEMP (SUI)
Muhittin SARICICEK (TUR)
Vitalii ANDRIIOVYCH (UKR)
Michial FOY (USA)

97kg
Hayk KHLOYAN (ARM)
Markus RAGGINGER (AUT)
Igor ALVES (BRA)
Sami SAMRA (EGY)
Jose FERRANDIZ (ESP)
Richard KARELSON (EST)
Loic SAMEN (FRA)
Giorgi KATSANASHVILI (GEO)
Anton VIEWEG (GER)
Apostolos TSIOVOLOS (GRE)
Alex SZOKE (HUN)
NITESH (IND)
Ali ABEDIDARZI (IRI)
Yuri NAKAZATO (JPN)
Islam UMAYEV (KAZ)
Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Ionut GOSA (ROU)
Luka KATIC (SRB)
Aybegshazada KURRAYEV (TKM)
Mustafa OLGUN (TUR)
Valentyn SHKLIARENKO (UKR)
Nicholas BOYKIN (USA)

130kg
Sarkhan MAMMADOV (AZE)
Marcel ALBINI (CZE)
Geronimo CAMARA (ESP)
Giorgi TSOPURASHVILI (GEO)
Nikolaos NTOUNIAS (GRE)
Dariusz VITEK (HUN)
PARVESH (IND)
Aliakbar YOUSOFI (IRI)
Marin NISHIMURA (JPN)
Damir ZUPAROV (KAZ)
Paul MORALES (MEX)
Tomasz WAWRZYNCZYK (POL)
Jonovan SMITH (PUR)
Fatih BOZKURT (TUR)
Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR)
Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA)

Yui SUSAKI (JPN)Yui SUSAKI (JPN) will be wrestling at her first U23 World Championships. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Women’s Wrestling 

50kg
Shahana NAZAROVA (AZE)
Samantha ROMANO (CAN)
Nada MOHAMED (EGY)
Maria CAZALLA (ESP)
Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA)
Lisa ERSEL (GER)
Szimonetta SZEKER (HUN)
Ankush PANGHAL (IND)
Emanuela LIUZZI (ITA)
Yui SUSAKI (JPN)
Maral TANGIRBERGENOVA (KAZ)
Jekaterina JERMALONOKA (LAT)
Maria LEORDA (MDA)
Munkhgerel MUNKHBAT (MGL)
Christianah OGUNSANYA (NGR)
Amanda TOMCZYK (POL)
Stefania PRICEPUTU (ROU)
Svenja JUNGO (SUI)
Yung LIN (TPE)
Sarra HAMDI (TUN)
Zehra DEMIRHAN (TUR)
Aida KERYMOVA (UKR)
Nyla VALENCIA (USA)

53kg
Gultakin SHIRINOVA (AZE)
Taylor MCPHERSON (CAN)
Javiera ORTEGA (CHI)
Lucia YEPEZ (ECU)
Carla JAUME (ESP)
Anastasia BLAYVAS (GER)
Aikaterini VEKRI (GRE)
Antim PANGHAL (IND)
Akari FUJINAMI (JPN)
Ellada MAKHYADDINOVA (KAZ)
Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA)
Zeltzin HERNANDEZ (MEX)
Beatrice FERENT (ROU)
Keshani MADURAVALAGE (SRI)
Meng HSIEH (TPE)
Zeynep YETGIL (TUR)
Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR)
Felicity TAYLOR (USA)
Mariana ROJAS (VEN)

55kg
Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Virginie KAZE GASCON (CAN)
Tatiana HURTADO (COL)
Laura GOMEZ (ESP)
Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
AARTI (IND)
Moe KIYOOKA (JPN)
Zeinep BAYANOVA (KAZ)
Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA)
Otgontuya BAYANMUNKH (MGL)
Mercy ADEKUOROYE (NGR)
Andreea ANA (ROU)
Fernando PORUTHOTAGE (SRI)
Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR)
Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR)
Alisha HOWK (USA)

57kg
Sezen BELBEROVA (BUL)
Kirti SAXENA (CAN)
Maria BAEZ (ESP)
Celeste SION (FRA)
Tamara DOLLAK (HUN)
SITO (IND)
Sae NANJO (JPN)
Laura ALMAGANBETOVA (KAZ)
Susana LOZANO (MEX)
Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR)
Othelie HOEIE (NOR)
Patrycja GIL (POL)
Georgiana LIRCA (ROU)
Siwar BOUSETA (TUN)
Melda DERNEKCI (TUR)
Alina HRUSHYNA (UKR)
Alexandra HEDRICK (USA)

59kg
Welvina VEMBA (ANG)
Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)
Fatme SHABAN (BUL)
Katherine RENTERIA (COL)
Maria RAMOS (ESP)
Gaelle RUIZ (FRA)
Anne NUERNBERGER (GER)
Nikolett SZABO (HUN)
Mansi AHLAWAT (IND)
Himeka TOKUHARA (JPN)
Diana KAYUMOVA (KAZ)
Ramina MAMEDOVA (LAT)
Ameyalli JESSEL (MEX)
Magdalena GLODEK (POL)
Karoline ORTIZ (PUR)
Ana PUIU (ROU)
Evelina HULTHEN (SWE)
Ebru DAGBASI (TUR)
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)
Lexie BASHAM (USA)

62kg
Birgul SOLTANOVA (AZE)
Ana GODINEZ (CAN)
Viktoria VESSO (EST)
Ameline DOUARRE (FRA)
Kelsey BARNES (GBR)
Anna SZEL (HUN)
SHAFALI (IND)
Nonoka OZAKI (JPN)
Irina KUZNETSOVA (KAZ)
Paulina DANISZ (POL)
Anna FABIAN (SRB)
Hsin PAI (TPE)
Yagmur CAKMAK (TUR)
Iryna BONDAR (UKR)
Alexandria LILES (USA)
Astrid MONTERO (VEN)

65kg
Nigar MIRZAZADA (AZE)
Aleah NICKEL (CAN)
Iva GERIC (CRO)
Nerea PAMPIN (ESP)
Iris THIEBAUX (FRA)
BHATERI (IND)
Elena ESPOSITO (ITA)
Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN)
Dariga ABEN (KAZ)
Asli DEMIR (TUR)
Kateryna ZELENYKH (UKR)
Emma BRUNTIL (USA)

68kg
Meiriele CHARAMBA SANTOS HORA (BRA)
Katie MULKAY (CAN)
Marta OJEDA (ESP)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
ARJU (IND)
Naruha MATSUYUKI (JPN)
Albina KAIRGELDINOVA (KAZ)
Zuzanna WOLCZYNSKA (POL)
Zsuzsanna MOLNAR (SVK)
Tindra SJOEBERG (SWE)
Nesrin BAS (TUR)
Manola SKOBELSKA (UKR)
Sienna RAMIREZ (USA)

72kg
Brianna FRASER (CAN)
Maria CEBALLOS (COL)
Kendra DACHER (FRA)
Lilly SCHNEIDER (GER)
Reetika HOODA (IND)
Sumire NIIKURA (JPN)
Alexandra ZAITSEVA (KAZ)
Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL)
Maria NITU (ROU)
Nazar BATIR (TUR)
Iryna ZABLOTSKA (UKR)
Amit ELOR (USA)

76kg
Amelia FRISBEE (CAN)
Tatiana RENTERIA (COL)
Carla LERA (ESP)
PRIYANKA (IND)
Yasuha MATSUYUKI (JPN)
Inkara ZHANATAYEVA (KAZ)
Luz HERNANDEZ (MEX)
Sarnai BAYARBAATAR (MGL)
Marion BYE (NOR)
Daniela TKACHUK (POL)
Hui CHANG (TPE)
Mehtap GULTEKIN (TUR)
Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)
Dymond GUILFORD (USA)

#WrestleAstana

Makhmudov breaks Iranian gold monopoly on Asian C'ships opening day

By Ken Marantz

ASTANA, Kazakhstan (April 9) -- World champion Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) prevented an Iranian sweep of the gold medals on the opening day of the Asian Championships on Sunday, retaining his Greco-Roman 77kg title when his Iranian opponent was forced to default before the final due to injury.

Makhmudov was awarded the gold without a fight against Amin KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI), but it could be said the Iranian would have been hard-pressed to defeat Makhmudov even if he had been in the best of shape.

Makhmudov, who became Kyrgyzstan's first-ever male world champion last year in Belgrade, had stormed into the final with a pair of first-period technical falls. The forfeit gave him a second straight Asian title and third overall.

"I would like to say that this is one of the luckiest tournaments for me," Makhmudov said. "Unfortunately, I couldn’t wrestle against the best ones, I could not wrestle the Korean guy, I thought I would wrestle him in the semifinals," he added, referring to five-time former Asian champion and two-time Olympic medalist Hyeonwoo KIM (KOR), who lost in the quarterfinals to Kodai SAKURABA (JPN). Makhmudov handily defeated Sakuraba in the semis.

"Also, I thought I would be able to wrestle my good friend from Iran, but unfortunately he got injured," Makhmudov said. "I wish him a sooner recovery and a quick comeback on the mat."

Kaviyaninejad, the only unseeded Iranian in action on the first day, suffered a twisted left knee during a tough 1-1 quarterfinal win over Rui LIU (CHN). He had it strapped for his semifinal victory over Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ), but felt unable to perform in the final. He now has a silver to go with the Asian gold he won at 72kg in 2020 and a bronze medal won in 2021.

Otherwise, it was as good a day as it gets for Iran at the Zhaksylyk Ushkempirov Martial Arts Palace. The Middle East powerhouse swept the four other gold medals at stake with victories by Poya DAD MARZ (IRI) at 55kg, Iman MOHAMMADI (IRI) at 63kg, Naser ALIZADEH (IRI) at 87kg and Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) at 130kg. For Alizadeh, it was his third straight title.

Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ)Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) won his third Asian Championships title. (Photo: UWW / Assem Shalgumbayeva)

Makhmudov, who will turn 24 on Saturday, stole the spotlight at the 2018 Asian Championships in Bishkek in his native country when he won the 72kg gold at age 18. A serious knee injury soon after that required surgery and a long rehab, which kept him out of action for over two years.

But he made up for the lost time by winning the silver medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, then made his historic run to the world gold last year. He underwent knee surgery after that but opened this year with a victory at the Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov tournament in Sofia in early March.

"After the World Championships in Serbia, I had surgery on my knee, recovered and got back to training," he said. "This is a very important year for me, this is the qualifying World Championships [for the 2024 Paris Olympics], and I would like to be there in my best form. I would like to qualify for the Olympics as soon as possible, and spend the rest of the time preparing for the Olympics."

Iman Khoon MOHAMMADI (IRI)Iman MOHAMMADI (IRI) completed his three wins, including the final, with a 9-0 scoreline. (Photo: UWW / Assem Shalgumbayeva)

The most dominant wrestler of the day was Mohammadi, as he won all three of his matches at 63kg by 9-0 technical falls, finishing up with a victory by that scoreline over Shermukhammad SHARIBJANOV (UZB).

The top-seeded Mohammadi, who completed a world U23 and U20 double last year, scored two takedowns and two stepouts to take a 6-0 lead after the first period. Put in par terre in the second period, he finished the match at 4:09 with a lift and roll.

Mohammadi's victory was a virtual repeat of his 10-0 win over Sharibjanov in a bronze-medal match at the Ranking Series Zagreb Open in early February.

Naser ALIZADEH (IRI)Naser ALIZADEH (IRI) defended his 87kg Asian title in Astana. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Alizadeh was also facing a familiar opponent, and had a similar result, putting away former Asian champion Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ) with an 8-0 technical fall 33 seconds into the second period.

Alizadeh used a throw from par terre to take a 3-0 lead, then got three consecutive stepouts to go up 6-0 at the break. The Iranian quickly finished the match in the second period with two more stepouts, the second coming when he slipped out of a headlock throw attempt.

It marks the third year in a row that Alizadeh has defeated Tursynov at the Asian Championships, having beaten him 3-0 in the semifinals last year and by fall in the quarterfinals in 2021.

Tursynov pulled a surprise by knocking off world 82kg silver medalist Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB) in the quarterfinals, coming back from five points down to win 11-5.

For the 32-year-old Tursynov, the silver is his first Asian medal in eight years -- he won the silver in 2015, the year after winning his lone gold.

Poya DAD MARZ (IRI)Poya DAD MARZ (IRI) is now unbeaten in four international tournaments since September 2022. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Dad Marz, coming off a victory at the Zagreb Open, got the Iranian gold rush started by taking the 55kg title with a 3-1 win over a scrappy RUPIN (IND), who knocked off 2022 silver medalist and top seed Amangali BEKBOLATOV (KAZ) in the quarterfinals.

"Two years ago in the Kazakhstan Asian Championships, I won a bronze medal and now I changed that medal to gold," Dad Marz said. "I hope to represent Iran in the next World Championships and win a gold medal there."

In the final, both wrestlers received a passivity point, but neither could turn the other in par terre. Rupin's came in the second period, putting him ahead on criteria when he was called for passivity and again put on the bottom. As Dad Marz was working for a front headlock, the Indian was assessed a 2-point penalty for locking the Iranian's arm.

"The Indian wrestler was a tough rival and he defeated Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in the previous rounds," Dad Marz said.

The 23-year-old Dad Marz is on an upward trajectory, having won the 2017 world junior gold, a senior Asian bronze in 2021, the world U23 gold last year and the Zagreb Open this year.

"During the last months, I won gold medals in Spain and Zagreb tournaments as well as at the Baku World Cup with the Iran team," he said. "I hope to continue these titles and compensate for my loss last year [at the senior worlds] in Belgrade with the best medal at the 2023 World Championships."

Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI)World silver medalist Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) won his second Asian title and first since 2020. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Capping the gold rush was world silver medalist Mirzazadeh, who received a passivity point in each period to defeat Lingzhe MENG (CHN) 2-0 in the 130kg final to wrap up the day's action and add to the Asian gold he won in 2020.

"It's my second gold in the Asian Championships after the first appearance in 2020 in New Delhi and I am glad about that," Mirzazadeh said. "It was also my first competition after the Belgrade World Championships and I had a good performance in the new year.

"It's five months until the 2023 World Championships and I should prepare myself better to change the 2022 silver medal to gold."

Meng, a bronze medalist at the Zagreb Open, made it to the final with a victory by cautions over defending champion Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ). Syzdykov, who led 5-0 early on, became visibly winded in the second period and three times sheepishly gave up a stepout, after which he received a caution. Meng was leading 11-3 when the bout ended.

Hosts pick up 3 bronzes

In addition to Tursynov's silver medal, host Kazakhstan came away with three bronze medals from Bekbolatov at 55kg, Mukhamedali MAMURBEK (KAZ) at 63kg and Syzdykov, who mustered the energy to win his third-place match at 130kg.

Bekbolatov needed just 1:38 to notch a 9-0 technical fall over Haifeng ZHANG (CHN), while Mamurbek took only slightly less time (1:28) to beat Chiezo MARUYAMA (JPN) by the same score.

Syzdykov defeated Minseok KIM (KOR) 5-3 in a rematch of last year's gold-medal showdown in Mongolia that the Kazakh won by fall.

Neighboring Uzbekistan was one of two countries with two bronze-medal winners, as Zagreb Open silver medalist Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB) rolled over Taiga ONISHI (JPN) with a 9-0 technical fall in 3:23 at 55kg, and Berdimuratov edged Atabek AZISBEKOV (KGZ) 2-2 at 87kg.

Maruyama and Onishi -- both world U20 bronze medalists -- were among four Japanese wrestlers in bronze-medal matches, but only Kodai SAKURABA (JPN) made it to the medal podium, which he did for the second straight year at 77kg.

Sakuraba, a 2019 world U23 silver medalist, overwhelmed Jeyhun OVEZDURDYYEV (TKM) by a 9-0 technical fall in 1:38 as he tries to solidify his place in the weight class that Shohei YABIKU (JPN) won a bronze medal in at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Ovezdurdyyev fell short in his bid to become Turkmenistan's fourth-ever Asian medalist in Greco-Roman and first since 2018.

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Masato SUMI (JPN), who gave Alizadeh a tough fight in a 1-1 loss in the 87kg quarterfinals, failed to follow that up and lost 4-1 to Sunil KUMAR (IND), who earned his second straight bronze medal.

India also won two bronze medals, as NEERAJ (IND) preceded Kumar's win by beating Jinseub SONG (KOR) 5-2 at 63kg.

The other bronze at 77kg went to unheralded Rui LIU (CHN), who scored a takedown and gut wrench in the first 15 seconds and held on for a 5-2 win over Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ), which denied him a fifth senior Asian medal.

Roman KIM (KGZ) won his second straight Asian bronze and third overall at 130kg with a 10-1 technical fall in 4:06 over world U20 bronze medalist Temurbek NASIMOV (UZB).

Day 1 Results

Greco-Roman

55kg (10 entries)
GOLD: Poya DAD MARZ (IRI) df. RUPIN (IND), 3-1

BRONZE: Amangali BEKBOLATOV (KAZ) df. Haifeng ZHANG (CHN) by TF, 9-0 (1:38)
BRONZE: Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB) df. Taiga ONISHI (JPN) by TF, 9-0 (3:23)

Semifinal: RUPIN (IND) df. Haifeng ZHANG (CHN), 3-1
Semifinal: Poya DAD MARZ (IRI) df. Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB), 8-1

63kg (9 entries)
GOLD: Iman MOHAMMADI (IRI) df. Shermukhammad SHARIBJANOV (UZB) by TF, 9-0 (4:09)

BRONZE: NEERAJ (IND) df. Jinseub SONG (KOR), 5-2
BRONZE: Mukhamedali MAMURBEK (KAZ) df. Chiezo MARUYAMA (JPN) by TF, 9-0 (1:28)

Semifinal: Iman MOHAMMADI (IRI) df. Jinseub SONG (KOR) by TF, 9-0 (5:03)
Semifinal: Shermukhammad SHARIBJANOV (UZB) df. Mukhamedali MAMURBEK (KAZ) by Fall, 4:41 (6-5)

77kg (12 entries)
GOLD: Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) df. Amin KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI) by Inj. Def.

BRONZE: Kodai SAKURABA (JPN) df. Jeyhun OVEZDURDYYEV (TKM) by TF, 9-0 (1:38)
BRONZE: Rui LIU (CHN) df. Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ), 5-2

Semifinal: Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) df. Kodai SAKURABA (JPN) by TF, 9-1 (2:41)
Semifinal: Amin KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI) df. Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ), 3-1

87kg (10 entries)
GOLD: Naser ALIZADEH (IRI) df. Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ) by TF, 8-0

BRONZE: Sunil KUMAR (IND) df. Masato SUMI (JPN), 4-1
BRONZE: Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB) df. Atabek AZISBEKOV (KGZ), 2-2

Semifinal: Naser ALIZADEH (IRI) df. Sunil KUMAR (IND), 7-2
Semifinal: Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ) df. Atabek AZISBEKOV (KGZ) by TF, 12-0 (1:43)

130kg (11 entries)
GOLD: Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) df. Lingzhe MENG (CHN), 2-0

BRONZE: Roman KIM (KGZ) df. Temurbek NASIMOV (UZB) by TF, 10-1, 4:06
BRONZE: Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ) df. Minseok KIM (KOR) 5-3

Semifinal: Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) df. Temurbek NASIMOV (UZB) by TF, 9-0 (2:34)
Semifinal: Lingzhe MENG (CHN) df. Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ) by Cautions, 4:30 (11-3)