#ChinaOpen2018

World Champion Tkach Closes out China Open with First Gold of the Year

Saturday, June 23, 2018 - 14:34 By Eric Olanowski

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TAIYUAN, China (June 23) - Yuliia TKACH (UKR), the 2014 world champion improved on her second-place finish at the Klippan Lady Open, stopping China’s BAO Lingling (CHN), 4-1 in the 62kg finals to claim her first gold medal of the year. 

“I thought about the mistakes I made at the Klippan Lady Open and just wanted to win here. This is wrestling, and wrestling is my work and my life. I like wrestling and I’m happy that I took first place.” 

Tkach‘s lack of activity in the opening period of the finals put her in a 1-0 hole heading into the break. The three-time Olympian said, “I have to start wrestling if I want to win.” 

Last year's world runner-up got to work in the second period, scoring four points off a high crotch and a leg lace. “Overall, I thought I was aggressive. In the first period, not so much. But in the second period, I was go-go-go, and I was able to pick up the win.” 

At 68kg, fellow Ukranian Alla CHERKASOVA (UKR) joined Tkach as a gold medalist after sticking Xiaoqian WANG (CHN) in the second China versus Ukraine match-up of the night.  

 

China wrapped up the final day of competition in Taiyuan with three gold medals, bringing their tournament total to four overall championship performances. 

TANG Chuying (CHN) captured the host nations first gold medal of the day, pummeling Mariia KUZNETSOVA (RUS), 11-0 in the 65kg finals.
 
In the first period, Tang led 1-0 before transitioning into two leg laces from a low-single. The Chinese wrestler held the 7-0 advantage heading into the final period. 

Tang closed out the match with a four-point throw, giving her an eleven-point technical superiority victory and China their second overall gold medal of the tournament. 

China's second gold medal went to WANG Juan (CHN) who won the 72kg Nordic tournament with four wins on the day, including a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over Japan’s Masako FURUICHI (JPN). 

In the final bout of the tournament, Paliha PALIHA’s (CHN) second-period takedown helped her stop HUANG Yuanyuan (CHN), 3-1 in the all-China battle at 76kg, handing China their fourth gold medal of the tournament. 

TEAM SCORES 
GOLD – China (210 points)
SILVER – Russia (119 points)
BRONZE – Japan (110 points)
Fourth – Korea (90 points)
Fifth – Ukraine (65 points)

RESULTS
62kg (One bronze)
GOLD - Yulia TKACH (UKR) df. BAO Lingling (CHN), 4-1

BRONZE - CUI Fengfeng (CHN) df. HANG Jungwon (KOR), 5-1 

65kg (One bronze)
GOLD -  Chuying TANG (CHN) df. Mariia KUZNETSOVA (RUS), 11-0

BRONZE - Na LU (CHN) df. Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN), 6-4

68kg (One bronze)
GOLD - Alla CHERKASOVA (UKR) df. WANG Xiaoqian (CHN), via fall 

BRONZE - QIN Suning (CHN) df. WANG Jiao (CHN), 12-2

72kg (One bronze)
GOLD - WANG Juan (CHN)
SILVER - Masako FURUICHI (JPN)
BRONZE - WANG Kunming (CHN)

76kg (One bronze)
GOLD - Paliha PALIHA (CHN) df. Yuanyuan HUANG (CHN), 3-1

BRONZE - Zsanett NEMETH (HUN) df. Eunju HWANG (KOR), 6-1

Esmaeili survives Jafarov shock to win ISG 2025 gold

Tuesday, November 18, 2025 - 18:51 By Vinay Siwach

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (November 18) -- He needed some strong defense to win the world title and on Tuesday, Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) needed some clutch offense to beat Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) for the second time in two one month.

Esmaeili and Jafarov clashed in the final of the 67kg weight class at the Islamic Solidarity Games 2025 in Riyad, Saudi Arabi and it seemed that the latter was on his way to upset the Olympic champion and avenge his loss from the World Championships final.

Down 3-3 on criteria, all seemed to be over for Esmaeili as the clock ticked down. In the last 10 seconds, Esmaeili worked on a double-arm lock and then managed to throw Jafarov in danger from standing for four points which changed the result and gave him the win.

Azerbaijan challenged the call but there was no change in the result and Esmaeili defeated Jafarov 8-3, to capture yet another gold medal this year after Asian and World Championships.

Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI)Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) throws Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) during their 67kg bout. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

In Zagreb, Esmaeili was put in par terre for third passivity call. Jafarov, down 2-1, needed a point to turn the result but he failed to score any points as Esmaeili defended the par terre position and captured his first world title.

Jafarov blamed a lapse in concentration in the final seconds that costed him the gold medal in Riyadh.

Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI)Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) won his fourth gold medal this year. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Iran's other world champion from Zagreb, Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) made it seem a little easier as he defeated former world U20 champion Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ), 6-0, winning his third gold in one month.

Farokhi, who won gold at 82kg at the World Championships, moved to 87kg for U23 World Championships and won gold without giving up a point in Novi Sad. Just two weeks later, he now gold at 87kg on Tuesday.

Against Yevloyev in the final, Farokhi was awarded both par terre position which gave him a 2-0 lead. From the second par terre, he managed to score a point as he threw Yevloyev for a stepout. The Kazakhstan wrestler was docked two points for defensive foul making it 5-0.

Kazakhstan challenged the foul call but Yevloyev had clearly blocked Farokhi using his elbow on the Iranian's face. The lost challenged made it 6-0 for Farokhi, giving him the win.

Farokhi had a tough match in semifinals against world bronze medalist Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ) and needed a takedown in the final minute to win 7-6, first time he has shown some difficulty winning bouts.

Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ)Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) won the 77kg gold medal at the Islamic Solidarity Games. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Two other gold medals were awarded on Tuesday with former U23 world champion Alisher GANIEV (UZB) winning the 60kg one and two-time Olympic medalist Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) marking his comeback with gold medal at 77kg.

Makhmudov, who has not wrestled in a full tournament since winning bronze in Paris, was in some form as he made no mistake in his run to the gold medal. In the final, he wrestled Amir ABDI (IRI) and performed a reverse lift throw for five points before securing the fall in the second period.

Abdi got the par terre position in the first period but Makhmudov defended the position, giving only a 1-0 lead to the Iranian. When he got the par terre position, he jumped to the front before performing the lift and holding Abdi on the mat for fall.

Ganiev, who defeated European champion Nihad MAMMADLI (AZE) in the quarterfinal, defeated Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) in the semifinal and humbled Ekrem OZTURK (TUR), 8-0, in the final.

RESULTS

60kg
GOLD: Alisher GANIEV (UZB) df. Ekrem OZTURK (TUR), 8-0

BRONZE: Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) df. Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE), 3-2
BRONZE: Sajjad ALBIDHAN (IRQ) df. Fergat ABDELKRIM (ALG), 5-1

67kg
GOLD: Saeid ESMAEILI LEIVESI (IRI) df. Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE), 8-3

BRONZE: Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) df. Aref MOHAMMADI (QAT), 5-2
BRONZE: Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) df. Hassan ABDELREHIM (EGY), via fall (9-0)

77kg
GOLD: Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) df. Amir ABDI (IRI), via fall (6-1)

BRONZE: Abdullo ALIEV (UZB) df. Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE), 2-2
BRONZE: Shahin BADAGHIMOFRAD (QAT) df. Sami SLAMA (TUN), via fall (8-1)

87kg
GOLD: Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) df. Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ), 6-0

BRONZE: Sid BACHIR (ALG) df. Sukhrob ABDULKHAEV (TJK), 9-0
BRONZE: Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ) df. Islam ABBASOV (AZE), 5-1