#Bishkek2018

Yazdani Charati Storms into 86kg Freestyle Final

Sunday, March 4, 2018 - 10:40 By Ken Marantz

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Reigning world and Olympic champion Hassan YAZDANI CHARATI (IRI) was one of two Iranians to make the five freestyle finals on the final day of the Asian Championships, surprisingly the same number for Mongolia---and they very nearly had double that.

Kazakhstan also has two finalists in the evening session at Kozhomkul Sports Palace, while Uzbekistan, which put four wrestlers into the finals on the previous day and came away with two golds, couldn't keep the momentum going and was among four countries with one finalist.

Yazdani Charati, making his debut at the continental championships, will face two-time Asian medalist Uitumen ORGODOL (MGL) in the 86kg final.

In the 92kg final, Mohammadjavad EBRAHIMIZIVLAEI (IRI) will clash with Adilet DAVLUMBAYEV (KAZ). They will know each other from the 2016 World University Championships, where the Iranian won the gold and the Kazakh took a bronze at 86kg.

The match for the gold at 125kg will be a clash between native Georgians now wrestling for other countries.

Giorgi SAKANDELIDZE (QAT), who won world bronze medals in 2009 and 2010 for Georgia, is already assured of becoming the first Asian medalist from the Gulf nation. He will try to make it gold when he faces Davit MODZMANASHVILI (UZB), a London 2012 Olympic silver medalist for Georgia.


Muslim EVLOEV (KGZ), 74kg finalist working on a gut-wrench. Photo by Max Rose-Fyne.

Muslim EVLOEV (KGZ) will aim to emulate Greco-Roman champion Akzhol MAKHMUDOV and win a gold for the host country when he takes on veteran Mandakhnaran GANZORIG (MGL) in the 74kg final.

The 31-year-old Mongolian is chasing his first Asian gold after taking home silvers in 2009 and 2013 and a bronze in 2015. His collection also includes world bronze medals from 2013 and 2014.

Nurislam SANAYEV (KAZ) working on getting to a single leg. Photo by Max Rose-Fyne.

At 61kg, Nurislam SANAYEV (KAZ), a bronze medalist a year ago in New Delhi, advanced to the final along with newcomer Kazuya KOYANAGI (JPN).

Two Mongolians relegated to bronze-medal matches will rue letting a place in the finals slip through their fingers.

In the 92kg semifinals, Turtogtokh LUVSANDORJ (MGL) had an 8-4 lead with a minute left against Adilet DAVLUMBAYEV (KAZ), only to allow the Kazakh to storm back and clinch a 10-9 win with two step-outs in the final 10 seconds.

Sakandelidze was taken to the limit before forging out a 2-1 win in his 125kg semifinal with Zolboo NATSAGSUREN (MGL), who will now have to be content going for a second straight bronze medal.

"All four had a chance to make the finals, but two of them made mistakes," Mongolia head coach Byambujuv BATTALUGA said. "I did think all of them would make the finals. But I'm very happy."

Yazdani Charati caused a stir when he was roughly slammed to the mat for a takedown just seconds into his opening quarterfinal match with Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ).

But the Iranian shook off the shock and calmly reeled off five straight takedowns to end the first period up 10-2. He then finished the match 34 seconds into the second period with another takedown.

In the semifinals, Yazdani Charati overwhelmed Javrail SHAPIEV (UZB) with a pair of 4-point moves to win by 13-0 technical fall within the first period.

That was one of three head-to-head clashes between wrestlers from Iran and Uzbekistan (Iran won two). In another of note, Mostafa HOSSEINKHANI (IRI) ousted New Delhi 2017 champion Bekzod ABDURAKHMONOV, 3-2, in their 74kg quarterfinal match.

Uzbekistan coach Olimdjan Khikmatov said Abdurakhmonov was nursing an injured knee and was not in top condition.

As for having just one finalist a day after advancing four, Khikmatov shrugged and said, "Yesterday was good, today not so good."

Freestyle
61kg (12 entries)
Gold - Kazuya KOYANAGI (JPN) v Nurislam SANAYEV (KAZ)

Bronze - Sharvan SHARVAN (IND) v Abbos RAKHMONOV (UZB)
Bronze - Ulubek ZHOLDOSHBEKOV (KGZ) v Iman SADEGHIKOUKANDEH (IRI)

Semifinal - Kazuya KOYANAGI (JPN) df. Abbos RAKHMONOV (UZB), 7-2
Semifinal - Nurislam SANAYEV (KAZ) df. Iman SADEGHIKOUKANDEH (IRI), 5-4

74kg (12 entries)
Gold - Mandakhnaran GANZORIG (MGL) v Muslim EVLOEV (KGZ)

Bronze - KIM Daisung (KOR) v Daniyar KAISANOV (KAZ)
Bronze - Dovletmyrat ORAZGYLYJOV (TKM) v Mostafa HOSSEINKHANI (IRI)

Semifinal - Mandakhnaran GANZORIG (MGL) df. Daniyar KAISANOV (KAZ), 8-6
Semifinal - Muslim EVLOEV (KGZ) df. Mostafa HOSSEINKHANI (IRI), 8-4

86kg (12 entries)
Gold - Hassan YAZDANI CHARATI (IRI) v Uitumen ORGODOL (MGL)

Bronze - Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ) v Javrail SHAPIEV (UZB)
Bronze - Deepak PUNIA (IND) v BI Shengfeng (CHN)

Semifinal - Hassan YAZDANI CHARATI (IRI) df. Javrail SHAPIEV (UZB) by TF, 13-0, 3:47
Semifinal - Uitumen ORGODOL (MGL) df. BI Shengfeng (CHN) by TF, 12-1, 2:42

92kg (10 entries)
Gold - Mohammadjavad EBRAHIMIZIVLAEI (IRI) v Adilet DAVLUMBAYEV (KAZ)

Bronze - SUE Changjae (KOR) v LIN Zushen (CHN)
Bronze - Azizbek SOLIEV (UZB) v Turtogtokh LUVSANDORJ (MGL)

Semifinal - Mohammadjavad EBRAHIMIZIVLAEI (IRI) df. LIN Zushen (CHN), 7-2
Semifinal - Adilet DAVLUMBAYEV (KAZ) df. Turtogtokh LUVSANDORJ (MGL), 10-9

125kg (13 entries)
Gold - Davit MODZMANASHVILI (UZB) v Giorgi SAKANDELIDZE (QAT)

Bronze - NAM Koungjin (KOR) v Zolboo NATSAGSUREN (MGL)
Bronze - Sohbet BELLIYEV (TKM) v Amin TAHERI (IRI)

Semifinal - Davit MODZMANASHVILI (UZB) df. Amin TAHERI (IRI), 3-0
Semifinal - Giorgi SAKANDELIDZE (QAT) df. Zolboo NATSAGSUREN (MGL), 2-1

#UWWAwards

UWW Most Dominant Wrestlers 2025: Amouzad, Motoki, Esmaeili

Thursday, December 25, 2025 - 11:08 By Eric Olanowski

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 24) -- There were several dominant performances in 2025 on the wrestling mat. But it was three wrestlers who remained at the top of their weight classes and racked up dominant wins one after another. Two were Olympic champions while one was an Olympic silver medalist. All three became world champions in Zagreb.

Freestyle Most Dominant Wrester: Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI)

- 14–0
- Rank 1 at 65kg 
- 58,000 RS points 
- Outscored world and Olympic medalists 42–4
- World Championships, Tirana RS and ISG golds

Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) was about as perfect as you could be in a season, returning to prominence with title-winning efforts at the World Championships, Islamic Solidarity Games and Muhamet Malo Ranking Series event and finishing the season as the No.1 ranked wrestler in the world at 65kg with 58,000 Ranking Series points.

The Paris silver medalist, collected an unblemished 14-0 record in 2025 -- with five of those wins coming against top-level opponents who have world or Olympic medals on their resumes in Olympic champion Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN), Umidjon JALALOV (UZB), Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) and Real WOODS (USA). The craziest part about those five matches against the world’s best, Amouzad outscored 42-4.

But without a doubt, the highlight of Amouzad’s season came in Zagreb when he finally got his long awaited rematch, beating Kotaro KIYOOKA in a revenge match from the Paris 2024 Olympic finals.

The scariest part about Amouzad’s dominance -- he’s only 23 years old and he’s still getting better.

Women's Wrestling Dominant Wrestler: Sakura MOTOKI (JPN)

- 9-0
- Five pins, two technical superiorities
- 45,000 RS points 
- 8/9 bouts finished before regulation
- Completed Golden Grand Slam (U17, U20, U23, Senior World and Olympic gold)

Coming into the 2025 season, Motoki made her goals crystal clear -- become the third wrestler in history of the sport to win wrestling’s Golden Grand Slam -- and for those who don’t know, that is gold medals at the U17, U20, U23, Senior World Championships and the Olympic Games.

The only two missing from the Olympic champ's resume were the U23 and Senior World golds.

At the 2025 U23 and senior World Championships, Motoki showed that she’s in a league of her own, as she went 9-0, with eight  matches finishing before time expired. She scored five falls and two technical superiority wins.

Her win in the final of the World Championships will be one that will be talked about for ages as the most dramatic win of the season. Motoki scored a buzzer-beating takedown against Ok Ju KIM (PRK) with a 10-second flurry that consisted of a head outside single, arm throw, over-under knee pick, before head locking Kim with four tenths of a second left to keep her history making hopes alive.

In the end, Motoki’s heart and courage under fire helped her close out the year as the third wrestler to complete the Golden Grand Slam and she did it with a level of dominance we may not see again for a very long time.

Greco-Roman Dominant Wrestler: Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI)

- Rank 1 at 67kg 
- 58,000 RS points  
- 11–0 Record
- World Championships, Asian Championships and  ISG golds

In a 2025 campaign that saw him become a world champion, Esmaeili's season was immaculate, as he cemented his place among the sport’s top pound-for-pound wrestler with a season full of titles, stacking gold-medals at the World Championships, Asian Championships and Islamic Solidarity Games, rounding out the season ranked No. 1 in the world at 67kg.

The Paris Olympic champion remained unbeaten in 2025, winning all 11 bouts of his bouts in dominant fashion -- scoring eight shutout wins, with seven technical falls -- including a pair of 9-0 win against world champions Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) and Sebastian NAD (SRB). The reigning Olympic gold medalist also collected two victories over Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE), one in the world final and one in the Islamic Game gold-medal match, where he tossed his Azeri opponent for four as time expired to rob his rival of the title.

His opponents should not ease up because at just 22 years old, Esmaeili is still sharpening his tool set and leveling up his skills.