BANGKOK (February 18) – Iran added gold and silver medals to its Greco-Roman collection at the Asian Championships on Thursday to take the team title with 71 points – 13 points in front of second-place Kazakhstan.

Kyrgyzstan, however, had the big day on the mats at the Bangkok Youth Center with veterans Kanybek ZHOLCHUBEKOV (59kg) and Zhanarbek KENZHEEV (85kg) making title runs to lift their team to third place in the final standings.

“I’m so happy inside for our team and our two new champions,” Kyrgyz wrestling federation official Damirbek ASYLBEK UULU said after the Kenzheev finale. “This is a great feeling to have as we get ready now for Astana (site of the Asian Olympic qualification tourney in Kazakhstan).”

In the 59kg final against Saman ABDVALI (IRI), Zholchubek fell behind early but roared back with a bodylock takedown to front headlock and turn to tie the score at 4-4. A reverse waistlock and lift for four points gave the 2010 Asian Games silver medalist the lead for good.

Kenzheev, meanwhile, earned three points off a throw-by for a takedown in the first period and made it stand for a 3-2 victory and his second continental crown. In Astana, Kenzheev will be seeking his first trip to the Olympic Games since 2004.

At 71kg, 2014 world bronze medalist Afshin BYABANGARD (IRI) worked an arm drag to go-behind three times against Nurbek KHOLMUKHAMMATOV (UZB) for takedowns, then sealed the technical fall with a gut wrench to give Iran its fourth gold medal of the championships.

National team coach Iraj ESFANDIYARIFAR (IRI) said “I’m so happy with the performance of the wrestlers – but, of course, I wish we could have earned more medals of a different color (alluding to a silver and two bronze).”

“I think this has been good preparation for us and now we want to focus on Astana so we can qualify the final three weights and start moving forward with our preparations for the Olympic Games,” said Esfandiyarifar.

At last year’s world championships in Las Vegas, Iran qualified three of the six Greco-Roman weight categories for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games – 75kg, 85kg and 98kg. The three remaining categories being targeted by Iran in Astana will be 59kg, 66kg and 130kg.

Women’s events also got under way on the second day of the championships with Rio 2016 qualifier Risako KAWAI (JPN) sweeping in for a double-leg takedown in the 63kg final and dropping RIM Jong-Sim (PRK) to her back for the fall at 2:46.

At 75kg, Asian Games bronze medalist OCHIRBAT Burmaa (MGL) scored a go-behind takedown in the first period and made it stand throughout the second for a 2-0 victory over former junior world champ Rino ABE (JPN).

Greco-Roman

59kg (13 entries)
Gold – Kanybek ZHOLCHUBEKOV (KGZ) df. Saman ABDVALI (IRI), 9-4
Bronze – Mirambek AINAGULOV (KAZ) df. Ritisak PRAVAN (THA) by TF, 8-0, 0:22
Bronze – Gaurav SHARMA (IND) df. KIM Eun-Bin (KOR), 2-1

71kg (9 entries)
Gold – Afshin BYABANGARD (IRI) df. Nurbek KHOLMUKHAMMATOV (UZB) by TF, 8-0, 2:00
Bronze – Darkhan BAYAKHMETOV (KAZ) df. Didar AMANNAZAROV (TKM) by TF, 20-4, 2:19
Bronze – ZHANG Ridong (CHN) df. XU Kai-xiang (TPE) by TF, 8-0, 0:54
 
85kg (11 entries)
Gold – Zhanarbek KENZHEEV (KGZ) df. Muhammadali SHAMSIDDINOV (UZB), 3-2
Bronze – PARK Jinsung (KOR) df. Yousef GHADERIAN (IRI), 8-2
Bronze – KONG Liang (CHN) df. Shobhit KUMAR (IND), 6-6

Final Team Rankings:

1. Iran, 71 points (4 gold medals, 1 silver, 2 bronze)
2. Kazakhstan, 58 (1-1-4)
3. Kyrgyzstan, 49 (2-1-2)
4. Uzbekistan, 47 (0-3-1)
5. Korea, 44 (1-0-1)
t6. India, 42 (0-1-3)
t6. China, 42 (0-1-2)

Women’s wrestling

63kg (10 entries)
Gold – Risako KAWAI (JPN) df. RIM Jong-Sim (PRK) by Fall, 2:46 (6-0)
Bronze – XU Rui (CHN) df. SEO Heejeong (KOR) by Fall, 0:53 (4-0)
Bronze – Anita ANITA (IND) df. Nilufar GADAEVA (UZB) by Fall, 2:35 (11-0)

75kg (8 entries)
Gold – OCHIRBAT Burmaa (MGL) df. Rino ABE (JPN), 2-0
Bronze – QIANDEGEN Chagan (CHN) df. Kiran KIRAN (IND) by Fall, 0:28 (2-0)
Bronze – Gulmaral YERKEBAYEVA (KAZ) df. Lalakhan ORINBAEVA (UZB) by TF, 10-0, 5:01