#WrestleTokyo

#WrestleTokyo Olympic Games Preview: 65kg

Thursday, July 29, 2021 - 15:57 By Eric Olanowski

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TOKYO, Japan (July 21) – Top-seeded Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS) headlines the loaded 65kg bracket that'll feature fellow world champions Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) and Haji ALIYEV (AZE) and six other world-medal holders.

Rashidov, who captured a world title in '19 after falling in the gold-medal match in back-to-back years, is seeded No. 1. The other trio of seeded wrestlers included '19 world-medal winners Bajrang BAJRANG (IND), Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ) and Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN).

Punia, a three-time world medalist -- including an '18 world finalist -- is seeded No. 2 at 65kg. He heads into the Tokyo Olympic Games looking to become the fourth Indian freestyle wrestler to win an Olympic medal. He'd join Kha-Shaba JADAV (IND), Sushil KUMAR (IND) and Yogeshwar DUTT (IND). 

Following his 13th place at the '17 World Championships, Punia finished on the podium in 19 consecutive events. The high-paced Indian superstar won a pair of world medals during that span, a quartet of Asian championships medals -- including a gold in '19 -- and four Ranking Series titles.

Niyazbekov is seeded third at 65kg. The 32-year-old Zhanakorgan, Kazakhstan native, is a two-time world medalist. He claimed bronze at the '11 World Championships, then reached the world finals in '19 with a thrilling 9-9 criteria win over Bajrang. However, Niyazbekov ultimately fell to Rashidov in the gold-medal match and settled for a runner-up finish in his home country. 

But Niyazbekov will be on the same side of the bracket as second-seeded Punia. The pair have split their last two meetings. The Kazakh won in Nur-Sultan, but most recently, Punia evened up the rivalry with a 10-0 win at the Ali Aliev Tournament in Kaspiisk, Dagestan. 

Hungary's Muszukajev is seeded fourth at the weight. The former Russian-turned-Hungarian had a breakout performance at the '19 World Championships. The 28-year-old grabbed five victories -- including wins over world champion Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) and Olympic champion Vladimir KHINCHEGASHVILI (GEO) -- en route to winning a world bronze medal. He'll sit on the top side of the bracket with Rashidov, who beat him in the world semifinals, 3-2.

Other world-title holding threats outside of Rashidov to pay attention to are Ototguro and Aliyev. Fans should also keep an eye on multiple-time world medalists and outside threats Alejandro Enrique VALDES TOBIER (CUB) Magomedmurad GADZHIEV (POL).

A year after becoming Japan's youngest-ever freestyle world champion, Takuto Otoguro went 3-2 at the '19 World Championships and finished fifth. But since that upsetting finish in Nur-Sultan, the 22-year-old who hails from Fuefuki, Japan, has won three consecutive competitions. He won the '19 Japan Championships and downed Bajrang in the finals at back-to-back Asian Championships to claim gold.

Aliyev, Azerbaijan's first-ever three-time world champion, seems to be finding his stride up at 65kg. After winning a bronze medal in Rio at 57kg, the 30-year-old ascended from 61kg to 65kg. He succeeded early at 65kg on the European level -- winning golds at the '18 European Championships and '19 European Games -- but failed to finish inside the top-10 at the '18 and '19 World Championships. But since his 12th-place finish at the '19 World Championships, Aliyev strung together podium finished at the Individual World Cup, World Olympic Qualifier and the Poland Open.

Gadzhiev, the now two-time Olympian, is a 70kg silver and bronze-medal finisher, respectively, at the '17 and '19 World Championships. After winning '20 titles at the European Championships, Poland Open and Individual World Cup, the 33-year-old, originally from Gurubki, Karabudakhkentsky, Dagestan, appeared at 65kg for the European Olympic Qualifier. He reached the semifinals but lost to eventual champion Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) before injuring defaulting out to a fifth-place finish. 

Less than two months later, at the World Olympic Qualifier, Gadzhiev bounced back and scored five wins en route to earning a 65kg berth to Tokyo. 

Valdes Tobier will return to competition for the first time in 17 months. Due to the pandemic, the '17 and '18 world bronze medalist hasn't competed since punching his ticket to Tokyo with a first-place finish at the '19 Pan-American Olympic Qualifier. 

Tokyo will be the 32-year-old Cuban's second Olympic Games. He finished in seventh-place at the '16 Rio Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, despite being enrobed with world champs and medalists across the bracket, one of the biggest favorites to contend for 65kg gold is Armenia's red-hot Vazgen Tevanyan.

Since falling to Otoguro in the second round at the '19 World Championships, Tevanayan has transformed himself into a completely different wrestler -- and it all started with his magical Individual World Cup performance. In Belgrade, 21-year-old won five matches and capped off his run with a 9-1 thumping of then-reigning world bronze medalist Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN).  

He extended his win streak to nine consecutive matches after punching his ticket to his first Olympic Games with wins over Olympic champion Vladimir KHINCHEGASHVILI (GEO), three-time world champ Aliyev and two-time world medalist Magomedmurad GADZHIEV (POL) at the European Olympic Qualifier. 

Wrestling at the Tokyo Olympic Games kicks off August 1-7 at the Makuhari Messe with 65kg action beginning on August 6.

65kg
No. 1 Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS)
No. 2 Bajrang BAJRANG (IND)
No. 3 Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ)
No. 4 Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
Takuto OTOGURO (JPN)
Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL)
Adama DIATTA (SEN)
Haithem DAKHLAOUI (TUN)
Alejandro Enrique VALDES TOBIER (CUB)
Agustin Alejandro DESTRIBATS (ARG)
Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM)
Haji ALIYEV (AZE)
Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ)
Morteza Hassanali GHIASI CHEKA (IRI)
Magomedmurad GADZHIEV (POL)
Georgios PILIDIS (GRE)

#Grappling

Grappling: Romanov returns to win 130kg gold; Prendes repeats

Tuesday, October 14, 2025 - 22:41 By Vinay Siwach

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NOVI SAD, Serbia (October 14) -- When the last time Alexandr ROMANOV (MDA) participated in the World Grappling Championships, he was close to completing a double gold in Gi and No-Gi. While he managed to win gold in Gi, Romanov fell short in No-Gi competition and won a bronze medal.

Three years later, the Moldovan has taken the first step towards achieving his dream. On Tuesday, Romanov had a comeback in the World Grappling Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia and won gold in the No-Gi competition at 130kg.

Romanov was in top form winning two bouts via submission and two, including the final, via decision but dominated his opponents to win gold medal.

Alexandr ROMANOV (MDA)Alexandr ROMANOV (MDA), red, defeated Aleksander KOLDOVSKI (UKR) in the 130kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Up against Aleksander KOLDOVSKI (UKR), Romanov stuck to his plan and started off slow. But as Koldovski slowed down after two minutes during the five-minute bout, Romanov hit a footsweep to score two points and controlled his opponent for three more points. Another control gave him two more points as he defeated Koldovski a 7-1 victory.

"I knew the Ukrainian as he is a freestyle wrestler," Romanov said. "I waited for the second half of the bout as they tend to slow down and I hit my favorite move to win."

In other finals, UWW grapplers dominated the finals, winning four golds while Farhad BAGIROV (AZE) defended his 58kg gold medal. In women's competition, Carlota PRENDES LARIOS (ESP) also defended his 53kg gold medal while Alycia QUENEE (FRA) won at 71kg. Alena VLASOVA (UWW) won her two bouts to claim the 90kg gold as the weight class had only three participants.

Bagirov maintained his control in the final by using a rear chokehold on Zedginidze who tried escaping a couple of time. But at the two-minute mark of the final, Zedginidze tapped out to give Bagirov his second successive gold medal at 58kg.

Kurban KADIEV (UWW)Kurban KADIEV (UWW) won the 71kg gold medal in Novi Sad. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

At 71kg, Kurban KADIEV (UWW) and Nurbek TALBUDIN (KAZ) failed to score any points in the regular five minutes and the final continued in overtime. Due to no technical points scored, a toss was needed to decide who will get the advantageous position. Talbudin won the toss to be on top and needed to score minimum one point in the designated one minute to win the match. However, Kadiev managed to defend his position for one minute to be declared winner.

In contrast, the 77kg final between Gazimagomed GAZIEV (UWW) and Illia SUKHODIEIEV (UKR) ended in just 36 seconds as the former caught Sukhodieiev in a triangle choke to win the final.

Murad ABDULATIPOV (UWW), who was moving up from 84kg to 92kg for this year, did not feel as weight of the jumping up a weight class and defeated Islam TAPPASKHANOV (UWW), 2-0, in the 92kg final to win his second straight gold medal.

Both the points for Abdulatipov were awarded when Tappaskhanov was called passive in the five-minute bout and he failed to score during the 15-second activity clock.

At 100kg, Mukhamed URUSOV (UWW) blanked Aleksandre TEVZADZE (GEO), 4-0, to win his first world title. He earned his first two points after a back-mount position after a scramble and later scored another similar takedown for two more points.

Carlota PRENDES LARIOS (ESP)Carlota PRENDES LARIOS (ESP) grapples in the 53kg final that she won. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Prendes Larios repeats

Carlota PRENDES LARIOS (ESP) won two of three bouts, including the final, via submission to capture her second straight world title at 53kg. She began by controlling Viktoriia ISAIEVA (UKR) right off the whistle for two points before scrambling herself in a triangle choke position which gave her two more points.

Isaieva tried defended different position but after a couple of failed attempts to get out of the triangle choke, she tapped with Prendes Larios winning the bout in one minute and 56 seconds.

In a thrilling 71kg final, Alycia QUENEE (FRA) managed to capture her first world title after beating Anna REMNEVA (UWW), 3-1. Quenee finished with a silver medal in 2022 and bronze last year.

But there was no one stopping Quenee this year. She began the final with a stepout and took a 1-0 lead. Remneva tried to control her with a triangle hold but Quenee never came in a position to gave up points.

The French grappler kept her position and controlled Remneva on the mat for two points, extending her lead to 3-0. During the same position, Quenee was called passive and she gave a point but that did not stop her from winning 3-1.

At 90kg, Alena VLASOVA (UWW) upgraded her bronze from last year to gold after winning both her bouts via submission. She defeated Tatiana KABANOVA (UWW) in the first bout and then submitted Justyna SITKO (POL).

RESULTS

Men's Grappling

58kg
GOLD: Farhad BAGIROV (AZE) df. Daviti ZEDGINIDZE (GEO), via submission (6-0)

BRONZE: Bohdan CHORNEI (UKR) df. Jaden SOSA (USA), via submission (0-2)
BRONZE: Alikhan ALSHINBAY (KAZ) df. Razmik MISAKYAN (ARM), 8-2

71kg
GOLD: Kurban KADIEV (UWW) df. Nurbek TALBUDIN (KAZ), overtime (0-0)

BRONZE: Apandi AMAGAEV (UWW) df. Zhassulan ZHETPISBAY (KAZ), via submission
BRONZE: Dzhimsher RAZMADZE (GEO) df. Nico PULVERMUELLER (GER), 2-0

77kg
GOLD: Gazimagomed GAZIEV (UWW) df. Illia SUKHODIEIEV (UKR), via submission

BRONZE: Sam SCHWARTZAPFEL (USA) df. Angelos NIKOLOPOULOS (GRE), 10-2
BRONZE: Magomed IBRAGIMOV (UWW) df. Dumitru CEBAN (MDA), 2-1

92kg
GOLD: Murad ABDULATIPOV (UWW) df. Islam TAPPASKHANOV (UWW), 2-0

BRONZE: Anthony ROBINSON (USA) df. Reda MEBTOUCHE (FRA), via submission (1-2)
BRONZE: Mateusz MAZUR (POL) df. Antonio SALTUPS CARETTO (ITA), 4-2

100kg
GOLD: Mukhamed URUSOV (UWW) df. Aleksandre TEVZADZE (GEO), 4-0

BRONZE: Saba DJAVAKHICHVILI (FRA) df. Khasan ZAPIROV (UWW), 1-0
BRONZE: Eldar RAFIGAEV (MDA) df. Herve REDON (FRA), via submission (0-2)

130kg
GOLD: Alexandr ROMANOV (MDA) df. Aleksander KOLDOVSKI (UKR), 7-1

BRONZE: Umar GAISUMOV (UWW) df. Abraham COBY MARTINEZ (ESP), via submission (2-0)
BRONZE: Nikita LOBOIKO (UWW) df. Nizami GAFAROV (AZE), 5-1

Women's Grappling

53kg
GOLD:  Carlota PRENDES LARIOS (ESP) df. Viktoriia ISAIEVA (UKR), via submission (4-0)

BRONZE: Evelina FLORIAK (UKR) df. Giulia ANGIOLINI (ITA), via submission (0-3)
BRONZE: Anorbi GRISHINA (UWW) df. Valeriia SHUVALOVA (UWW), 2-2

71kg
GOLD: Alycia QUENEE (FRA) df. Anna REMNEVA (UWW), 3-1

BRONZE:  Maja SALAMON (POL) df. Daniella SANTANA FABELO (ESP), 13-4
BRONZE: Valentina PAVLOVA (UWW) df. Anna KOTIUK (UKR), 4-1

90kg
GOLD: Alena VLASOVA (UWW)
SILVER: Tatiana KABANOVA (UWW)
BRONZE: Justyna SITKO (POL)