#WrestleTokyo

#WrestleTokyo Olympic Games Preview: 125kg

Friday, July 30, 2021 - 19:15 By Eric Olanowski

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TOKYO, Japan (July 22) -- A pair of under 21-year-old phenoms head into the Tokyo Olympic Games looking to disrupt a heavyweight pecking order that's stood tall since the '14 World Championships.
 
Taha AKGUL (TUR) and Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) head into Tokyo as the betting favorites to vie for 125kg Olympic gold. The pair of dominant big men have claimed every world or Olympic title since the '14 World Championships and every continental gold medal since the '12 European Championships. Collectively, they own an Olympic gold medal, Olympic bronze, five world titles and eight European golds.
 

But rising 21-year-old stars Amir ZARE (IRI) and Gable STEVESON (USA) will look to keep their red-hot streaks alive and insert themselves into the conversation as the world's best big men.
 
The American has yet to face off against either heavyweight legend, while Zare scored a stunning 15-11 win over Petriashvili at the Iranian Pro League in late '19. The Iranian trailed the Georgian 11-2 but scored 13 unanswered points and picked up the massive victory, 15-11. 

Since then, Zare passed his last two international tests with flying colors. The Mazandaran native grabbed seven combined wins at the '20 Matteo Pellcione and the '21 Poland Open and picked up signature wins over London Olympic champion Bilyal MAKHOV (RUS) and two-time world medalist Nicholas GWIAZDOWSKI (USA).
 
Steveson made his senior-level international debut earlier this year at the Pan-American Championships. He easily won gold, and though the competition level was down significantly, he outscored his opponents 50-0 en route to his first international gold medal.

In addition to Petriashvili and Akgul, Yusup BATIRMURZAEV (KAZ) and Oleksandr KHOTSIANIVSKYI (UKR) also sit in a seeded position.

Batirmurzaev is seeded second. The 25-years-old from Sulak, Dagestan, heads into Tokyo riding six consecutive senior-level podium finishes. He kicked his streak with a '20 Asian gold medal. His success continued into the Matteo Pellicone, where he reached the finals but fell to Amarveer DHESI (CAN). Then, the Russian-turned Kazakh won a ticket to Tokyo for Kazakhstan by claiming gold at the Asian Olympic Qualifier in his home country. He also won bronze medals at the Poland Open Ranking Series event and the Ali Aliyev.

Another guy who can cause a shakeup at 125kg is fourth-seeded Aleksander KHOTSIANIVSKI (URK). Despite being 0-3 against Akgul, the '19 world bronze medalist has beaten Petriashvili. He picked up his victory over the reigning three-time world champion at the '18 International Ukrainian Tournament.

A heavyweight darkhorse to keep an eye on is China's Zhiwei DENG (CHN). The 33-year-old from Qingdao, Shandong Province, captured a silver medal at the 2018 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary and became China's first-ever freestyle world medalist. He followed that up with a bronze-medal finish at the '19 World Championships. 

Prior to Deng's world-medal winning performance in '18 World, China had reached the bronze medal match four times and failed to win a bronze in each of those four matches. 

125kg
No. 1 Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO)
No. 2 Yusup BATIRMURZAEV (KAZ)
No. 3 Taha AKGUL (TUR)
No. 4 Oleksandr KHOTSIANIVSKYI (UKR)
Zhiwei DENG (CHN)
Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI)
Egzon SHALA (KOS)
Diaaeldin ABDELMOTTALEB (EGY)
Djahid BERRAHAL (ALG)
Gable Dan STEVESON (USA)
Amarveer DHESI (CAN)
Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (BLR)
Gennadij CUDINOVIC (GER)
Lkhagvagerel MUNKHTUR (MGL)
Sergei KOZYREV (RUS)
Aiaa lLAZAREV (KGZ)

#WrestleBelgrade

Makhmudov returns to worlds final; Kayaalp-Mirzazadeh showdown at 130kg

Thursday, September 21, 2023 - 16:22 By Vinay Siwach

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BELGRADE, Serbia (September 21) -- World champion and Olympic silver medalist Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) survived a big scare in the semifinal of the 77kg weight class as Nao KUSAKA (JPN) came within three points of stunning the Kyrgyz history maker.

Makhmudov survived to win 7-5 in a bout that saw Kusaka mount a comeback in the second period after trailing 7-1.

Kusaka got the first passivity advantage but failed to get any turn on Makhmudov who got a takedown using an arm spin and one turn to lead 4-1. In the second period, Kusaka was called passive and Makhmudov managed to turn him again to make it 7-1.

But as Makhmudov began to fade away, Kusaka scored two takedowns in one minute to make it 7-5. Makhmudov defended his two-point lead for the final 15 seconds to make it to the final.

"It makes me realize I am not so far from the world level," Kusaka said about his performance. "In the second period, the opponent was running out of gas. I just needed to get one more move. But there was fatigue from the tournament overall. I wanted to attack but I couldn't. I'm still a bit behind."

Kusaka still has a chance to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics if he wins a bronze medal on Friday.

"I will try to get what I have put everything in my life into," he said about qualifying for Paris. "It was disappointing [to lose today], but tomorrow I will regroup and definitely come out and win. Whether I lose in the first round or in the semifinal, if I don't get to the Olympics it's all for nothing."

Makhmudov will take on 2021 world silver medalist Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) for the gold medal. Suleymanov put on a big show to defeat European champion Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) 5-0 as he got a big four-pointer in the second period to get the win.

Both Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan also won Paris Olympic spots, thanks to the wrestlers reaching the final at the World Championships.

At 130kg, Riza KAYAALP (TUR) will look to defend his gold against Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) in the final, a repeat from last year.

Kayaalp, a three-time Olympic champion, defeated Lingzhe MENG (CHN), 3-1 and earned a Paris spot for Turkiye. Kayaalp got the third passivity but Meng did not ask for par terre and Kayaalp remained unmoved to win 3-1.

Mirzazadeh defeated Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB), 1-1, in the other semifinal after the two traded passivities. He also earned a Paris quota for Iran and will now look to become a world champion over Kayaalp.

In the two non-Olympic weight classes in action on Thursday, Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) returned to the World Championships final after two years as he defeated defending champion Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR), 5-5, in a thrilling semifinal after a third passivity.

Huseynov had defeated Akbudak to win gold in 2021 but since has lost twice to Akbudak. He was trailing 5-0 in the semifinal but Huseynov, who received the par terre advantage in the second period managed to get exposure and two points to cut Akbudak's lead to 5-3.

Akbudak was called passive again with 1:10 on the clock and Huseynov was called for a leg foul when he was attempting a lift. Azerbaijan challenged and Akbudak was guilty of blocking. The caution and two points put Huseynov ahead 5-5 on criteria, a lead he defended till the end.

To win his second world gold medal, Huseynov will take on Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI) who also won on a third passvity. Mihail BRADU (MDA) was leding 1-1 on criteria when he was called passive for the second time and Mohamadipiani got a huge bodylock for four to win 5-1.

At 55kg, defending world champion Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) set up a repeat final against Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO).

Azizli got a 3-1 win over Poya DAD MARZ (IRI) while Tsurtsumia defeated Jasurbek ORTIKBOEV (UZB), 7-4, in what was a repeat of the quarterfinal from 2022 which the Georgian won 5-2.