#WrestleBudapest

#WrestleBudapest 4th Ranking Series freestyle entries

Tuesday, June 27, 2023 - 07:14 By Eric Olanowski & Vinay Siwach

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (June 22) -- When the fourth Ranking Series in Budapest, Hungary begins on July 13, the World Championships will be just two months away. Most countries would have finalized their world squads and would like to give them a shot at the international competition before the big showdown in Belgrade in September.

The freestyle entry list of the Budapest Ranking Series -- Polyák Imre & Varga János Memorial -- confirms the interest of countries giving international experience to their wrestlers.

Iran will send its top wrestlers -- notably world silver medalist Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI)
and Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI) at 79kg -- perhaps to finalize which one of the two wrestlers in Belgrade.

It has also entered Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI) at 70kg alongwith Ahmad MOHAMMADNEZHADJAVAN (IRI) and Milad VALIZADEH (IRI) at 57kg and Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) and Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) at 92kg.

Georgia, too, has entered wrestlers in all 10 weight classes while Azerbaijan has two wrestlers -- Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE) at 86kg and Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE) at 97kg.

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia are not behind and have entered all 10 weight classes.

The Ranking Series offers prize money to medal winners and allows two-kilogram weight tolerance in each weight category.

All the action from the fourth and final Ranking Series, which will begin with freestyle, will be live on uww.org and UWW App. 

Full Entries:
- Greco-Roman entries
- Women's wrestling entries

57kg
Wanhao ZOU (CHN)
Gamal MOHAMED (EGY)
Valentin DAMOUR (FRA)
Beka BUJIASHVILI (GEO)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
Horst LEHR (GER)
Niklas STECHELE (GER)
Milad VALIZADEH (IRI)
Ahmad MOHAMMADNEZHADJAVAN (IRI)
Abzal OKENOV (KAZ)
Mukhamed BALGABAY (KAZ)
Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ)
Almaz SMANBEKOV (KGZ)
Sunggwon KIM (KOR)
Zanabazar ZANDANBUD (MGL)
Suraj SINGH (NZL)
Gayan EKANAYAKA MUDIYANSELAGE (SRI)
Kamil KERYMOV (UKR)
Zane RICHARDS (USA)

61kg
Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB)
Arman ELOYAN (FRA)
Shota PHARTENADZE (GEO)
Gamzatgadzsi HALIDOV (HUN)
Daniel POPOV (ISR)
Ossimzhan DASTANBEK (KAZ)
Assylzhan YESSENGELDI (KAZ)
Vladimir KUDRIN (KAZ)
Ulukbek ZHOLDOSHBEKOV (KGZ)
Narankhuu NARMANDAKH (MGL)
Yaroslav HURSKYY (UKR)
Andrii DZHELEP (UKR)
Vitali ARUJAU (USA)

65kg
Islam DUDAEV (ALB)
Agustin DESTRIBATS (ARG)
Lachlan MCNEIL (CAN)
Shaohua YUAN (CHN)
Ilman MUKHTAROV (FRA)
Marwane Ahmed YEZZA (FRA)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Edemi BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Andre CLARKE (GER)
Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
SUJEET (IND)
Joshua FINESILVER (ISR)
Sanzhar MUKHTAR (KAZ)
Akbar KURBANOV (KAZ)
Adlan ASKAROV (KAZ)
Ikromzhon KHADZHIMURODOV (KGZ)
Alibek OSMONOV (KGZ)
Changsu KIM (KOR)
Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL)
Divoshan CHARLES FERNANDO (SRI)
Emrah ORMANOGLU (TUR)
Nicholas LEE (USA)
 
70kg
Daniel COLES (CAN)
Amr Reda HUSSEN (EGY)
Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO)
Daniel ANTAL (HUN)
Mohammad BAKHSHISHIRKOLAEI (IRI)
Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI)
Yegor ANCHUGIN (KAZ)
Syrbaz TALGAT (KAZ)
Sanzhar DOSZHANOV (KAZ)
Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ)
Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ)
Anil KARUNA PELI GEDARA (SRI)
Ivan KUSYAK (UKR)
Ihor NYKYFORUK (UKR)
Joseph MC KENNA (USA)
 
74kg
Cesar BORDEAUX (BRA)
Adam THOMSON (CAN)
Shengsong XIA (CHN)
Otari BAGAURI (GEO)
Tim MUELLER (GER)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
Mitchell FINESILVER (ISR)
Nurlan BEKZHANOV (KAZ)
Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ)
Darkhan YESSENGALI (KAZ)
Byungmin GONG (KOR)
Suldkhuu OLONBAYAR (MGL)
Cole HAWKINS (NZL)
Krisztian BIRO (ROU)
Udayantha FERNANDO (SRI)
Tymur HUDYMA (UKR)
Vadym KURYLENKO (UKR)
Julian RAMIREZ (USA)

79kg
Francisco de Deus KADIMA (ANG)
Simon MARCHL (AUT)
Saifedine ALEKMA (FRA)
Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Botond LUKACS (HUN)
Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI)
Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI)
Daniyar KAISANOV (KAZ)
Nurdaulet KUANYSHBAY (KAZ)
Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ)
Zaur EFENDIEV (SRB)
Muhammet AKDENIZ (TUR)
Isa DEMIR (TUR)
Ramazan SARI (TUR)
Oleksii DOMANYTSKYI (UKR)
Chandler MARSTELLER (USA)

86kg
Benjamin GREIL (AUT)
Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE)
Bruno NICOLETTI (BRA)
Xiao SUN (CHN)
Akhmed AIBUEV (FRA)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Ruslan VALIEV (FRA)
Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO)
Lars SCHAEFLE (GER)
Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE)
Csaba VIDA (HUN)
Patrik PUESPOEKI (HUN)
Uri KALASHNIKOV (ISR)
Yeskali DAULETKAZY (KAZ)
Nurzhan ISSAGALIYEV (KAZ)
Nurtilek KARYPBAEV (KGZ)
Gwanuk KIM (KOR)
Sebastian JEZIERZANSKI (POL)
Andrei FRANT (ROU)
Myles AMINE (SMR)
Osman GOCEN (TUR)
Fatih ERDIN (TUR)
Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR)
Vladyslav PRUS (UKR)
Maximus HALE (USA)
 
92kg
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Balazs Attila JUHASZ (HUN)
Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI)
Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI)
Matthew FINESILVER (ISR)
Akezhan AITBEKOV (KAZ)
Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ)
Denys SAHALIUK (UKR)
Zahid VALENCIA (USA)
 
97kg
Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Nishan Preet RANDHAWA (CAN)
ALATANGALIDA (CHN)
Awusayiman HABILA (CHN)
Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO)
Erik THIELE (GER)
Vladislav BAITSAEV (HUN)
Richard VEGH (HUN)
Benjamin HONIS (ITA)
Nursultan AZOV (KAZ)
Alisher YERGALI (KAZ)
Bekzat URKIMBAY (KAZ)
Kanybek ABDULKHAIROV (KGZ)
Juhwan SEO (KOR)
Sung Yup RYU (KOR)
Mahamed ZAKARIIEV (UKR)
Murazi MCHEDLIDZE (UKR)
David MCHEDLIDZE (UKR)
Kyle SNYDER (USA)

125kg
Catriel MURIEL (ARG)
Johannes LUDESCHER (AUT)
Zhiwei DENG (CHN)
Diaaeldin ABDELMOTTALEB (EGY)
Youssif HEMIDA (EGY)
Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO)
Gennadij CUDINOVIC (GER)
Daniel LIGETI (HUN)
Abraham CONYEDO RUANO (ITA)
Omar EYUBOV (KAZ)
Yusup BATIRMURZAEV (KAZ)
Yeihyun JUNG (KOR)
Yurii IDZINSKYI (UKR)
Mason PARRIS (USA)

'I was destroyed, couldn't sleep': Ghasempour recalls painful loss to Sadulaev

Monday, March 10, 2025 - 10:53 By Vinay Siwach

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TIRANA, Albania (March 10) -- "I've thought about it a lot. Of course, it's in the past and thinking about it won't change anything. But I've thought a lot about why I made a mistake in those four seconds and I could have managed the wrestling differently and finished it very easily."

Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) stares at the empty walls of the interview room as he recalls the heartbreaking and shocking 5-3 loss to Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW) in the semifinal of the World Championships last October.

The images of Ghasempour holding his head in hands after the loss went viral on social media. Sadulaev was praised for his champion mindset and his ability to script a remarkable late turnaround. Ghasempour was consoled by his fans, who urged him to not lose heart.

Those comforting words felt hollow at that point and Ghasempour felt 'lost'.

"The reality is that the fighting spirit and the feeling I had on the first day of the competition caused all those feelings to disappear and I was destroyed. I couldn't control myself and I just wanted the competition to end and go back," Ghasmepour says, with his voice breaking as he recollects his thoughts.

For 5 minutes and 55 seconds, Ghasempour controlled the 92kg semifinal against Sadulaev, a two-time Olympic champion known for his must-win attitude. A loss would have reinforced the belief that the Sauldaev aura was fading. A win for Ghasempour, a two-time world champion at 92kg, would make him only the third wrestler to beat Sadulaev.

But with five seconds remaining, Sadulaev snapped the Iranian down, spun behind, then managed to fling him to the mat for a 4-point takedown.

Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI)Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW), behind, hits the match-winning takedown on Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

"It was also very difficult for me to come to terms with the loss," Ghasempour recalls. "After the match, I felt very bad and didn't sleep all night. I was awake from the intensity of thought and pressure, and it was very difficult for me. Due to the pressure I was under, I took four painkillers after the match."

A few hours of sleep was never going to be enough for Ghasempour to return for his bronze-medal bout against David TAYLOR (USA), which he lost 6-2.

Four months have passed since that day in Tirana, a city Ghasempour returned for the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series last week and captured the gold medal. Though not the World Championships and there was no Sadulaev in the field, Ghasempour managed to bring a smile on his face as he stood on the podium.

However, memories flashed back.

"When I was going up to the podium [after winning gold], I thought again that I could have been standing on the Worlds podium a few months ago, not this tournament," he said. "But that's how sports is, and if a professional athlete wants to continue their path, they must know that winning and losing are part of sports."

Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI)Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) won the 92kg gold medal at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series in February. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Ghasempour did take comfort from the messages he received. Yet, he is unable to move on from those five seconds of lapse in concentration.

"People gave me a lot of good energy and praised me constantly, which shows the kindness of the people," he says. "But what I wanted didn't happen and the result wasn't as I wanted. It would have been better if it ended with a good result."

As the new Olympic cycle begins, Ghasempour wants to make amends. There will be many pit stops before he can be at his first Olympics and he wants to capture every gold medal that comes his way.

"There are three more World Championships left before the Olympics [in 2028]," he says. "The World Championships are very important to me, and after that, it's the Olympic medal that I want to have in my medal showcase. In the year leading up to the Olympics, I will make the decision and compete in a weight class so that I can participate in the Olympics."