#YasarDogu

Yasar Dogu Set to Welcome Wrestling's Biggest Stars

By Eric Olanowski

ISTANBUL, Turkey (July 1) -- The most anticipated freestyle Ranking Series event of the year, the Yasar Dogu, will take place July 11 to 14 in Istanbul, and more than 275 wrestlers from 21 countries are expected to make the journey to Turkey's most populated city. The goal remains simple: try to pocket the remaining Ranking Series points before heading to Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, for September's World Championships. 

Since the Budapest World Championships, wrestlers have been stashing away Ranking Series points with hopes of becoming one of the forty top-four seeded wrestlers come September. The Yasar Dogu leaves those on the cusp of earning a top-four seed one last opportunity to gain those additional much-needed Ranking Series points. 

Heading into Istanbul, five wrestlers have seized the No. 1 seed, 17 wrestlers have cemented at least a top-four seed, leaving 23 seeds open for the taking in Istanbul. Though they're not all entered, there are still 150 wrestlers who could steal a seed from a current top-four seeded wrestler if they were to win a gold medal in a weight class with 20+ wrestlers in Turkey. 

Wrestling begins July 11 and can be followed live on www.unitedworldwrestling.org. 

Freestyle

57kg
Abdelhak KHERBACHE (ALG)
Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)
Giorgi EDISHERASHVILI (AZE)
Mikyay Salim NAIM (BUL)
Georgi Valentinov VANGELOV (BUL)
Gamal Abdelnaser Hanafy MOHAMED (EGY)
Kumar RAVI (IND)
Givi DAVIDOVI (ITA)
Minir REDJEPI (MKD)
Haljit OSMAN (MKD)
Muhamad IKROMOV (TJK)
Suleyman ATLI (TUR)
Ahmet DUMAN (TUR)
Saban KIZILTAS (TUR)

61kg
Mohamed Al Amine LAKEL (ALG)
Mirjalal HASAN ZADA (AZE)
Asgar MAMMADALIYEV (AZE)
Yasser Eshhata Abady AHMED (EGY)
Rahul Balasaheb AWARE (IND)
Sandeep TOMAR (IND)
Utkarsh Pandharinath KALE (IND)
Behnam Eshagh EHSANPOOR (IRI)
Elmedin SEJFULAU (MKD)
Selehattin SERT (TUR)
Munir Recep AKTAS (TUR)
Recep TOPAL (TUR)
Tyler Lee GRAFF (USA)


Bajrang BAJRANG (IND) enters the Yasar Dogu as the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the world at 65kg. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

65kg
Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE)
Haji Mohamad ALI (BRN)
Fathi Tarek Fathi Attia ISMAIL (EGY)
Ismail MUSUKAEV (HUN)
Bajrang BAJRANG (IND)
Sonba Tanaji GONGANE (IND)
Peiman Bioukagha BIABANI (IRI)
Alibek OSMONOV (KGZ)
Tilek SHARSHEEV (KGZ)
Fati VEJSELI (MKD)
Masoud NIAZI (NED)
Kaireddine BEN TELILI (TUN)
Cengizhan ERDOGAN (TUR)
Selahattin KILICSALLAYAN (TUR)
Mehmet Emin OGUT (TUR)
Zain Allen RETHERFORD (USA)
John Michael DIAKOMIHALIS (USA)

70kg
Fares LAKEL (ALG)
Murtazali Raxmatullayevic MUSLIMOV (AZE)
Gitinomagomed GADZHIYEV (AZE)
Aghahuseyn MUSTAFAYEV (AZE)
Adam BATIROV (BRN)
Mihail Iliev GEORGIEV (BUL)
Ali Pasha Ruslanovich UMARPASHAEV (BUL)
Amr Reda Ramadan HUSSEN (EGY)
Rajnesh RAJNEESH (IND)
Meisam Abolfazl NASIRI (IRI)
Adilet MAMATAEV (KGZ)
Riad REDJEPI (MKD)
Omer Faruk CAYIR (TUR)
Haydar YAVUZ (TUR)
Mustafa KAYA (TUR)
James Malcolm GREEN (USA)

Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA) enters the Yasar Dogu as the second-ranked wrestler in the world at 74kg. The Italian sits four points behind top-ranked Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS). (Photo: Gabor Martin)

74kg
Ishak BOUKHORS (ALG)
Toghrul ASGAROV (AZE)
Khadzhimurad GADZHIYEV (AZE)
Miroslav Stefanov KIROV (BUL)
Daniel ANTAL (HUN)
Csaba VIDA (HUN)
Zsombor Istvan GULYAS (HUN)
Amit Kumar DHANKHAR (IND)
Mohammad Ashghar NOKHODILARIMI (IRI)
Mostafa Mohabbali HOSSEINKHANI (IRI)
Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA)
Mansur SYRGAK UULU (KGZ)
Mohamed SESAY (SLE)
Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Maher GHANMI (TUN)
Haithem DAKHLAOUI (TUN)
Fazli ERYILMAZ (TUR)
Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR)
Yakup GOR (TUR)
Jordan Ernest BURROUGHS (USA)

79kg
Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (ALG)
Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE)
Aleksandr GOSTIYEV (AZE)
Jabrayil HASANOV (AZE)
Benjamin SEZGIN (GER)
Botond LUKACS (HUN)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
Parveen RANA (IND)
Bahman Mohammad TEYMOURI (IRI)
Foday KARGBO (SLE)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
Ramazan Ishak SAR I(TUR)
Ender COSKUN (TUR)
Muhammet Nuri KOTANOGLU (TUR)
Alexander David DIERINGER (USA)

Even though he's locked up his No. 1 seed for the World Championships, top-ranked Fatih ERDIN (TUR) will still wrestle at the Yasar Dogu. (Photo: Gabor Martin) 

86kg
Shamil ZUBAIROV (AZE)
Svetoslav Zhivkov DIMITROV (BUL)
Khaled Masoud Ismail ELMOATAMADAWI (EGY)
Taimuraz FRIEV NASKIDAEVA (ESP)
Patrik SZUROVSZKI (HUN)
Richard Ferenc LIGETI (HUN)
Deepak PUNIA (IND)
Hassan Aliazam YAZDANICHARATI (IRI)
Aligadzhi GAMIDGADZHIEV (KGZ)
Muhammad ALI (PAK)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Ayoub BARRAJ (TUN)
Selim YASAR (TUR)
Osman GOCEN (TUR)
Fatih ERDIN (TUR)
James Patrick DOWNEY III (USA)

92kg
Mohammed FARDJ (ALG)
Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE)
Bendeguz TOTH (HUN)
Viky VIKY (IND)
Alireza Mohammad KARIMIMACHIANI (IRI)
Suleyman KARADENIZ (TUR)
Erhan YAYLACI (TUR)
Ibrahim BOLUKBASI (TUR)
J'Den Michael Tbory COX (USA)

97kg
Aslanbek ALBOROV (AZE)
Hosam Mohamed Mostafa MERGHANY (EGY)
Pavlo OLIINYK (HUN)
Balasz Attila JUHASZ (HUN)
Satywart KADIAN (IND)
Reza Mohammad Ali YAZDANI (IRI)
Abraham de Jesus CONYEDO RUANO (ITA)
Magomed MUSAEV (KGZ)
Mohamed BUNDU (SLE)
Rustam ISKANDARI (TJK)
Ibrahim CIFTCI (TUR)
Baki SAHIN (TUR)
Fatih YASARLI (TUR)
Kyle Frederick SNYDER (USA)

Taha AKGUL (TUR) needs to at least score one Ranking Series to stop a potential world semifinals matchup between his biggest rival, Geno PETRIASHVILI (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

125kg
Seyed Mohammadreza AZARSHAKIB (AZE)
Khaled Omr Zaki Mohamed ABDALLA (EGY)
Ahmed Mahmoud Elsayed Mohamed KHALIL (EGY)
Mihaly NAGY (HUN)
Daniel LIGETI (HUN)
Sumit SUMIT (IND)
Komeil Nemat GHASEMI (IRI)
Farkhod ANAKULOV (TJK)
Taha AKGUL (TUR)
Abdullah OMAC (TUR)
Fatih CAKIROGLU (TUR)
Nicholas Edward GWIAZDOWSKI (USA)

#wrestlebishkek

Asian Championships Freestyle Finals Set

By Ken Marantz & Vinay Siwach

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (April 12) -- The Asian Championships enters day two with five more Freestyle weights. World champion Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) will lead the competition at 125kg as Iran looks to build on its three gold medals won on day one.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | DAY 1 REPORT

14:32: Amir ZARE (IRI) is safely into the 125kg final with a 5-0 victory over Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN). Zare combined three stepouts with two activity clock points and was never in danger himself as the reigning world champion earned a chance for gold in his senior Asian Championships debut.

14:27: Two-time Olympian Aiaal LAZAREV (KGZ) enters the 125kg final after beating Odgerel BATKHISHIG (MGL) 10-0 in the semifinal. This is Lazarev's 10th Asian Championships, first being in 2009, and third final. He won gold in 2015 and was silver medalist in 2021.

14:22: At 74kg, Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) notches perhaps the biggest win of his young career, scoring a takedown in each period to knock off Hossein ABOUZARI (IRI) 4-2 and earn a place in the final in his international senior debut. The 20-year-old Takahashi opens with a textbook double-leg takedown, but gives up a single-leg takedown to trail 2-2 on criteria. In the second period, the Japanese gets the winning takedown, and then fends off all desperate attacks by Abouzari.

14:20: Viktor RASSADIN (TJK) becomes the second wrestler from Tajikistan to enter the finals at the Asian Championships after he defeated Alp BEGENJOV (TKM) 14-4 in the 74kg semifinal. Incidentally, the first finalist -- Yusup ABDULSALAMOV (TJK) -- won at 74kg as well back in 2003.

14:10: Another heartbreak for Kyrgyzstan as Nurtilek KARYPBAEV (KGZ) goes down 5-3 against Sherzod POYONOV (UZB) in the 92kg semifinal. Karypbaev could not keep up with the pace of the bout and broke down.

14:08: Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) gets a chance to add to his 2022 gold after bulling to a 10-0 victory over Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN) in the 92kg semifinals. Sharipov just couldn't stop the charge of Firouzpour, who had six stepouts, two of which got a caution point tacked on. Firouzpour's lone takedown of the match, off a single leg, ended it at 4:14.

13:57: Javrail SHAPIEV (UZB) scored a takedown in the first period and held on that 2-0 lead against Atai IZABEKOV (KGZ). He was cautioned for open fingers on Izabekov's face but that didn't stop Shapiev from winning 2-1 and entering the 86kg final against defending champion Azamat DALUETBEKOV (KAZ). Both wrestled in the 86kg bronze-medal bout at the World Championships which the Kazakh won. But Shapiev won the Asian Games quarterfinal in October.

13:55: Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ) will get a shot at a third straight Asian gold at 86kg after putting on an arm drag clinic in an 11-0 victory over Peilong LI (CHN). Dauletbekov used the arm drag to set up five takedowns, the final one coming 27 seconds into the second period to end the match.

13:47: Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) pulled off a miracle victory over Reza ATRI (IRI) in the 61kg semifinals, scoring a 4-point back trip in the final second for an 11-7 victory. Atri came back from a 5-point deficit to lead 7-6, mainly with a 4-point counter lift. A fleeing point tied the score, but Atri still led on criteria. Zhumashbek Uulu did little to build up his 5-0 lead in the first period, gaining an activity point, a penalty point for a hand to the face, a takedown while countering a throw, and then a point for an unsuccessful challenge after the Iranians thought the takedown should have been called a missed throw.

13:35: Assyl AITAKYN (KAZ) enters the 61kg final after beating Akash DAHIYA (IND) 11-0. A slow start to the semifinal but Aitakyn used a takedown and two turns in the second period to claim the victory.

The semifinals will begin at 13:30 local time

13:20: In the last quarterfinal of the morning session, Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) blanks YASH (IND) 11-0. After a 4-0 lead in the first period, Takahashi scored a stepout in the second period and countered Yash's attack. He scored two exposures to enter the 74kg semifinal. 

13:15: Local star Aiaal LAZAREV (KGZ) breaks BUHEEERDUN (CHN) in the second period and overcomes a three-point deficit and wins the 125kg quarterfinal 10-6.

13:10: Either Turkmenistan or Tajikistan will be assured of taking home a medal after Alp BEGENJOV (TJM) and Viktor RASSIDIN (TJK) advanced to a semifinal clash against each other at 74kg. Begenjov recorded a fall over Fierre AFAN (PHI), and Rassidin followed with a 9-0 victory over Kanat KERIMBEKOV (KGZ) in their respective quarterfinal matches.

13:02: Hossein ABOUZARI (IRI) stays on track to the final by crushing Yong Nam SO (PRK) 12-1 in the 74kg quarterfinals.

12:57: World champion Amir ZARE (IRI) begins his campaign with a 10-0 victory over Anirudh KUMAR (IND) in the 125kg quarterfinals. Zare took a 6-0 lead into the second period and wasted little time finishing up the technical fall.

12:55: The home crowd seems to spur on 2022 Asian U23 silver medalist Nurtilek KARYBAEV (KGZ) in the second period, when he scores three takedowns to forge a 6-1 victory over Issa AL OBAIDI (IRQ) and advances to the 92kg semifinals.

12:55: Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN) manages to keep himself from touching the mat on three points and avoids being taken down. He beats Adilet DAVLUMBAYEV (KAZ) 7-4 to advance to the semifinals at 92kg.

12:45: Javrail SHAPIEV (UZB), an Asian Games bronze medalist and fifth-place finisher at both the Olympics and World Championships, holds on for a 4-1 victory over Tatsuya SHIRAI (JPN) to advance to the 86kg semifinals. Shapiev scored a first-period takedown, and Shirai cut the gap with a stepout a minute into the second period. Shapiev clinches the win with a takedown in the final seconds off a counter from a desperate attack by the Japanese.

12:44: Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) books his place in the 92kg semifinals with an 11-0 rout of Suhe GANG (CHN).

12:34: In one of the featured matches of the midday session, defending champion and two-time world bronze medalist Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ) scores an early single-leg takedown against Hadi VAFAEIPOUR (IRI) in their 86kg quarterfinal, but the Iranian responds with a stepout. That is where the scoring ends, although Vafaeipour ended the match in deep on a single that he just couldn't finish off. The Iranians naturally challenged, but it was denied to give Dauletbekov a 3-1 win and the Iranian side its first loss of the day.

12:25: Reza ATRI (IRI) moves a step closer to his third career Asian medal and possibly second gold with a workmanlike 5-0 victory over Dzhamashed SHARIFOV (TJK) in the 61kg quarterfinals. 

12:00: Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) with a takedown in the final 10 seconds to claim a 9-9 criteria win over Syrbaz TALGAT (KAZ) at 74kg.

11:58: Hossein ABOUZARI (IRI) scores his fourth takedown with 13 seconds left to complete a 10-0 win over Zafarbek OTAKHONOV (UZB) at 74kg to become Iran's fifth wrestler out of five in the quarterfinals. Otakhonov was the silver medalist a year ago at 70kg.

11:52: Returning bronze medalist BUHEEERDUN (CHN) moves on at 125kg with a 5-2 win over Koki YAMAMOTO (JPN). Apart from the one time he got stuck in a fall position, Buheeerdun controlled the bout.

11:48: Anirudh KUMAR (IND), a returning bronze medalist at 125kg, has no trouble in posting a safe 3-0 victory over Zaman ANWAR (PAK). He will next face world champion Amir ZARE (IRI).
 
11:38:
Another Iranian is over the first hurdle as 2022 champion Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) cruises to an 11-0 victory over Satoshi MIURA (JPN) at 92kg.

11:36: Tatsuya SHIRAI (JPN), the world U23 silver medalist after winning the gold in 2022, scores four stepouts in muscling to a 5-0 victory over Sandeep MANN (IND) at 86kg.

11:30: Not to be for Mustafa AL OBAIDI (IRI) as Peilong LI (CHN) storms back after trailing 3-3 on criteria. Li pins Al Obaidi to win the 86kg bout.

11:28: Hadi VAFAEIPOUR (IRI), making his debut in a major tournament for Iran, easily gets past VUTHY HENG (CAM) in his opening match at 86kg, scoring a 10-0 win in 2:39. Among Vafaeipour's accolades is a victory last year on the Beach Wrestling circuit. 

11:20: In a thriller at 61kg, Akash DAHIYA (IND) twice scored exposure points in the second period while Dzhamshed SHARIFOV (UZB) was trying to turn him over, the final time to clinch a 10-8 victory.

11:12: Assyl AITAKYN (KAZ), a two-time world U23 bronze medalist, starts the action on Mat B with a 7-0 victory over Ali ABURAMAILA (PLE) at 61kg.

11:10: Kaisei TANABE (JPN), whose father Chikara was a bronze medalist in 55kg at the 2004 Athens Olympics, squanders a 4-0 lead and drops his bout against Reza ATRI (IRI) 4-4.

11:04: In the opening match on Mat A, Kum Chol Ri (PRK), an Asian cadet champion in 2014, marks his return to the international scene with a quick 10-0 win over Ibrahim GUZAN (YEM) at 61kg

11:00: Another Freestyle day at the Asian Championships in Bishkek. Wrestlers in 61kg, 74kg, 86kg, 92kg and 125kg to wrestle for the five gold medals on offer.