#Bishkek2018

Uzbekistan Opens Asian Freestyle with Wrestlers in Four of Five Finals

Saturday, March 3, 2018 - 10:33 By Ken Marantz

Uzbekistan shone brightest on the opening day of men's freestyle at the Asian Championships, with Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medalists Ikhtiyor NAVRUZOV and Magomed IBRAGIMOV among a foursome that advanced to the finals in the five weight classes.

Navruzov, who won a second career Asian silver medal last year in New Delhi, will aim for his first continental gold when he faces LEE Seungbong (KOR) in the 70kg final on the fifth day at the Kozhomkul Sports Palace.

Ibragimov struck gold in New Delhi, and he'll try to make it back-to-back championships with a victory in the 97kg final, where he will clash with Mojtaba GOLEIJ (IRI), a world U23 champion in 2017.

Ezzatollah AKBARIZARINKOLAEI (IRI) picks as a takedown on his way to the 79kg gold-medal bout. Photo: Max Rose-Fyne.

There will be another Uzbekistan-Iran duel on tap, as 2013 world silver medalist Ezzatollah AKBARIZARINKOLAEI (IRI) and Rashid KURBANOV (UZB) advanced to the 79kg gold-medal match.

Kurbanov had been a fixture on the Asian medal podium for a half-decade, winning golds in 2011 and 2013 before finishing third in 2014 and 2015. He also won a world bronze medal in 2013.

The other Uzbeki in a final will be Makhmudjon SHAVKATOV, who failed to medal at the past two Asian Championships but is now assured of nothing less than a silver. But his objective will be gold when he faces KANG Kumsong (PRK) in the 57kg final.

Uzbekistan will have a chance for five medals on the day, as Temurjon USMONOHUNOV advanced to a bronze-medal match at 65kg and a clash with KIM Kukgwang (PRK).

"It is normal," said Uzbekistan coach Olimdjan Khikmatov when asked if his squad's showing exceeded expectations. "Today is good, tomorrow will be better," he added with a smile.

The Uzbeki-less final will pit 2015 and 2016 Asian champion Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ) against up-and-coming Daichi TAKATANI (JPN) for the 65kg title.

En route to the final, Takatani, the younger brother of former world silver medalist Sosuke TAKATANI, knocked off the other gold medalist from New Delhi 2017 in action on Saturday, Bajrang BAJRANG (IND), in the quarterfinals.

Bajrang has made a name for himself for giving up early points, then storming back with his extraordinary stamina and countermoves---in his first-round match, he turned a 5-0 deficit into a 16-5 technical fall.

But it was Takatani, a world junior bronze medalist in 2014, who had to come from behind, as he trailed 2-0 and 5-4 before scoring a late takedown and a step-out for a 7-5 victory.

Takatani then followed that up by scoring a pair of takedowns in each period to top Yones EMAMICHOGHAEI (IRI) 8-4 in the semifinals.

Japan freestyle coach Shogo MAEDA said the new rule specifying that wrestlers weigh-in on the morning of the competition, instead of the day before, works in Takatani's favor as he is adept at weight control and assuring he is in top condition.

"Bajrang has stamina and is strong late in the match, but this time, he stopped moving and seemed winded," Maeda said. "Takatani is especially strong in tackling late in the match. He's good when the opponent stops moving, catching a leg and fighting to score.

"It was the same against Iran. He's strong in fighting to the end."

Among the more interesting matches of the morning session was the first-round clash between New Delhi 2017 silver medalist LEE Seungchul and Russian-born Haji Mohamad ALI (BRN).

Lee dominated and built up a 10-2 lead, but mistakenly stopped wrestling momentarily, thinking he had earned a technical fall. Whether or not that inspired Ali is unknown, but he suddenly came to life and ended up going ahead 16-14 before winning by fall with 1:06 left.

Unfortunately, Ali had to then default his quarterfinal match against Uzbekistan's Usmonohunov.

Freestyle
57kg (14 entries)
Gold - KANG Kumsong (PRK) v Makhmudjon SHAVKATOV (UZB)

Bronze - Zhandos ISLMAILOV (KAZ) v Nader HAJIAG HANIASAMAKOUSHI (IRI)
Bronze - SONG Hyeonsik (KOR) v Tomohiro HASEGAWA (JPN)

Semifinal - KANG Kumsong (PRK) df. Tomohiro HASEGAWA (JPN), 8-0
Semifinal - Makhmudjon SHAVKATOV (UZB) df. Nader HAJIAG HANIASAMAKOUSHI (IRI), 10-9

65kg (14 entries)
Gold - Daichi TAKATANI (JPN) v Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ)

Bronze - KIM Kukgwang (PRK) v Temurjon USMONOHUNOV (UZB)
Bronze - Bajrang BAJRANG (IND) v Yones EMAMICHOGHAEI (IRI)

Semifinal - Daichi TAKATANI (JPN) df. Yones EMAMICHOGHAEI (IRI), 8-4
Semifinal - Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ) df. Temurjon USMONOHUNOV (UZB) by TF, 10-0, 2:24

70kg (12 entries)
Gold - Ikhtiyor NAVRUZOV (UZB) v LEE Seungbong (KOR)

Bronze - Byambadorj BAD ERDENE (MGL) v Meirzhan ASHIROV (KAZ)
Bronze - Kumar VINOD (IND) v Elaman DOGDURBEK UULU (MGL)

Semifinal - Ikhtiyor NAVRUZOV (UZB) df. Elaman DOGDURBEK UULU (MGL), 5-2
Semifinal - LEE Seungbong (KOR) df. Meirzhan ASHIROV (KAZ), 4-3

79kg (12 entries)
Gold - Ezzatollah AKBARIZARINKOLAEI (IRI) v Rashid KURBANOV (UZB)

Bronze - LEE Yunseok (KOR) v Tsubasa ASAI (JPN)
Bronze - Turbold GANBOLD (MGL) by Default

Semifinal - Ezzatollah AKBARIZARINKOLAEI (IRI) df Turbold GANBOLD (MGL) by TF, 10-0, 3:15
Semifinal - Rashid KURBANOV (UZB) df. Tsubasa ASAI (JPN), 3-1

97kg (11 entries)
Gold - Mojtaba GOLEIJ (IRI) v Magomed IBRAGIMOV (UZB)

Bronze - Aibek USUPOV (KGZ) v Takeshi YAMAGUCHI (JPN)
Bronze - Mamed IBRAGIMOV (KAZ) v KIM Jaegang (KOR)

Semifinal - Mojtaba GOLEIJ (IRI) df. KIM Jaegang (KOR) by TF, 11-0, 1:51
Semifinal - Magomed IBRAGIMOV (UZB) df. Takeshi YAMAGUCHI (JPN) by TF, 10-0, 5:15

#WrestleTirana

Masterful Uguev Repeats as European Champion

Sunday, April 26, 2026 - 23:12 By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (April 26) -- Zavur UGUEV (UWW) became a two-time European champion in Tirana on Sunday. For a wrestler of Uguev's pedigree, the number looks bleak.

But the 31-year-old, who will turn 32 on May 21, doesn't rue the missed golds but says those were the experiences that helped him win gold later.

"Last year I won my first European gold medal," Uguev said. "My first two or three medals, I was still young and things didn’t work out. There were very experienced athletes competing, and I gained experience from them."

In his two appearances at the European Championships in 2017 and 2018, Uguev suffered losses to Giorgi EDISHERASHVILI (AZE). In the 2018 final, Edisherashvili scored a takedown in the last seven seconds to win.

"[From] losing in the finals in the last 7 seconds in Kaspiysk, I gained great experience," he said. "But last year, I was in great shape and I’m happy that in my career I now have two European Championship gold medals."

His second gold in Tirana may have gone under that radar given the return and dominance of Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW), who won his sixth European gold on Saturday and first in six years.

However, if there was an award for the most outstanding wrestler of the tournament, Uguev would handsomely beat all others wrestlers to it.

On Sunday, Uguev defended his 61kg gold medal in Tirana with rather ease after defeating former world champion and home-favorite Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB). The 4-0 win over Abakarov consisted one activity clock, one stepout and a two-point takedown from Uguev.

Even the low-scoring final was a masterclass from Uguev, one of the few who still mixes the art of defense and positioning to win bouts.

At one point, Abakarov would keep trying the two-on-one on Uguev's arm and instead of panicking, Uguev would casually block Abakarov using his head. After the two-minute mark in the match, Abakarov had a similar grip and Uguev was blocking using his head and grip one of Abakarov's wrist.

Abakarov moved to a position from which he could either whizzer or wrist snap Uguev. However, as soon as Abakarov moved sideways, Uguev placed his foot behind Abakarov and let go off his grip, quickly switching to a leg-attack. He scored a stepout to lead 2-0 after one activity period point.

Uguev set up his takedown in the second period when Abakarov took a shot from space and Uguev blocked it using a chest wrap. Instead of scoring exposure from front, Uguev jumped behind and locked Abakarov who tried to break the grip. But Uguev scored a takedown on the edge to lead 4-0, his winning score.

Zavur UGUEV (UWW) pins Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) in the 61kg semifinals. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

It was in the semifinals against Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM), Uguev fell behind 3-2 but he brought down Harutyunyan in danger for two points before holding the Armenian in such a grip that he failed to move despite having split hands. Eventually, he gave up to Uguev's pressure who won via fall.

"The final is always a tough contest, both last and this year," Uguev said. "Last year it was Harutyunyan, a four-time European champion, and this year it’s Abakarov, the world champion. It’s a real pleasure to compete against them. I’ve come here solely to compete against them."

Two months ago, Uguev was in Tirana and he put on a wrestling masterclass, winning the 61kg gold medal. However, it was in Tirana that he lost to phenom Masanosuke ONO (JPN) and Vitali ARUJAU (USA) and finished fifth at the World Championships.

"I was here at the start of February for the ranking tournament, and I suppose I had some thoughts about it [losing World Championships in Tirana]," he said. "But I managed to win that tournament, and I came here with the sole intention of winning. The first attempt [2024 World Championships] didn’t go to plan."

Zavur UGUEV (UWW) after winning the 61kg gold medal in Tirana. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

The three-time world champion and Tokyo Olympic gold medalist at 57kg has been competing at 61kg for three years now. While he will eventually move to 57kg for a run at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Uguev says he is enjoying wrestling at a higher weight and not dieting during competitions.

"I’ll be wrestling in 65kg soon," he said jokingly. "I’ll probably be dropping down to 57kg. I’ll probably compete for another year or so [at 61kg], and then I’ll keep dropping down. I’m not actually that heavy to begin with, and I reckon anyone competing at 57kg is roughly the same weight as me. For now, I don’t see the point in cutting weight, and I think it’s better to stay as I am for the time being, compete for another year or so. I think that this year, or early next year, we’ll start thinking about which weight class to move to.

"Now that I’ve moved up to 61kg, I’m really enjoying the competition. When I was competing at 57kg, I struggled so much. Now, when I watch the wrestlers like Musa MEKHTIKHANOV (UWW), for example, I’m reminded of my own days on the mat. It’s just that when you’re on a diet, you don’t want to think about anything else. All you can think about is food. Now I feel comfortable. I’m not dieting; I enjoy wrestling and I’m managing to do well at it."

As for European Championships golds, Uguev isn't stopping.

"I'm not going to stop here," he said. "I'm not chasing numbers, I'll keep wrestling as long as I have the strength."

Uzbekistan Opens Asian Freestyle with Wrestlers in Four of Five Finals

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Masterful Uguev Repeats as European Champion