ISTANBUL, Turkiye (August 5) --- The sixth day of wrestling at the 2023 U17 World Championships continues with freestyle action at 45kg, 51kg, 60kg, 71kg and 92kg.
The morning session, which starts at 11:00 (local time), will run through the quarterfinals before taking our mid-day break. We'll return at 17:00 for the semifinals, then roll directly into the first set of women's wrestling medal bouts at 18:00.
Friday's opening session will feature 25 medalists from this year's continental champions, including 11 wrestlers who reached the top of the podium at the 2023 Asian, European, African or Pan-American Championships.
Everything you need to know:
📍Istanbul, Turkiye 🇹🇷
🗓️: July 31-August 6
Qualification: 11:00
🥇🥈🥉= 18:00
#️⃣: #WrestleIstanbul
🖥️: uww.org
📱: UWW App
Saturday's semifinal matches:
45kg
Ahora Farhad KHATERI (IRI) vs. Ignacio Victor VILLASENOR (USA)
Ebubekir GUR (TUR) vs. Gor BUNIATYAN (ARM)
51kg
Ahora Farhad KHATERI (IRI) vs. Ignacio Victor VILLASENOR (USA)
Ebubekir GUR (TUR) vs. Gor BUNIATYAN (ARM)
60kg
Zandanbat BATSAIKHAN (MGL) vs. Akito MAEHARA (JPN)
Sajad Gholamhassan PIRDAYEH (IRI) vs. Jamal ABBASOV (AZE)
71kg
Seyedabolfazl Seyed Ayyoub HOSSEINI (IRI) vs. Islam Aslanovitch KAZHAROV (AIN)
Narender NARENDER (IND) vs. Ladarion Artez LOCKETT (USA)
92kg
Genki HOKI (JPN) vs. Sandro KURASHVILI (GEO)
Vinay VINAY (IND) vs. Eyyup CETIN (TUR)
Here's a list of the reigning continental champs in action on Saturday:
45kg - Jafar JAFAROV (AZE)
45kg - Ahora Farhad KHATERI (IRI)
51kg - Giorgi MAISURADZE (GEO)
60kg - Omurbek ASAN UULU (KGZ)
60kg - Jamal ABBASOV (AZE)
71kg - Mohamed Elaid CHIBIKH (ALG)
71kg - Narek NIKOGHOSYAN (ARM)
71kg - Seyedabolfazl Seyed Ayyoub HOSSEINI (IRI)
92kg - Toohid Amirali NOORY (IRI)
92kg - Sandro KURASHVILI (GEO)
14:30: That'll do it for the morning session. Tonight's semifinals start at 17:00, followed by the first set of freestyle medal matches at 18:00.
14:17: This session has two matches per mat left. We'll close out the session with a clash of reigning continental champions, as U17 Asian champion Toohid Amirali NOORY (IRI) will square off against U17 European champion Sandro KURASHVILI (GEO). They'll wrestle next on Mat B.
14:08: How about this? Aeoden James SINCLAIR (USA), who is currently wrestling Toohid Amirali NOORY (IRI) on Mat C, is being cornered by former UFC star Ben ASKREN (USA).
13:37: Pieter Lafras UYS (NAM) is next up on Mat A. He'll be the first athlete from Namibia to compete at the U17 World Championships. He's wrestling against Aliaksei KULAKOU (AIN).
13:33: U17 European champion Sandro KURASHVILI (GEO) will make his 2023 world championship debut in two matches on Mat A. The Georgian will take on Isomjon ISLAMOV (UZB) for a spot in the 92kg quarterfinals.
13:26: We have three 1/8-final matches left on each mat before we roll into today's quarterfinals.
13:15: U17 European champion Jamal ABBASOV (AZE) leads Benjamin Adam DAVINO (USA), 3-0, at the break. The Azeri shot a low-level head-inside single to his American opponent's left leg and scored the first two of the mat. He also scored an inactivity point, extending his lead to 3-0.
A second-period takedown while on the shot clock pushed Abbasov to the 5-0 win over Davion.
12:57: Rohit struck when it mattered the most, taking Castillo down with 12 seconds to steal the match, 5-4. He'll meet the winner of Bout 596 between Giorgi MAISURADZE (GEO) and Vladimir ICHIZLI (MDA).
12:40: Castillo leads Rohit after the first period, 3-0. He scored a takedown off one of Rohit's shots and a shot clock point.
12:18: I just confirmed that 2023 U17 European champion Giorgi MAISURADZE (GEO), who is coming up against Vladimir ICHIZLI (MDA) on Mat A, has no relation to 2023 Senior European bronze medalist Mariani MAISURADZE (GEO). Georgia's coach said, "They have the same name, but are not brothers or cousins. There is no relation."
11:58: Reigning U17 world finalist Christian Aaron CASTILLO (USA) will be making his way to Mat C shortly. He'll wrestle Rohit ROHIT (IND), who finished in second place at this year's U17 European Championships.
11:41: What a match! Gur scored eight second-period points to upset Jafarov, 9-8. After the match, he ran over to the Turkish-flag-waving fans and gave the biggest flex. Safe to say after that was one he really wanted--especially after losing to Jafaov earlier this year.
11:32: The first of today's continental champions Jafar JAFAROV (AZE) is up now on Mat C. He's wrestling Ebubekir GUR (TUR) in a rematch from the 2023 U17 European Championships, where Jafarov won 16-7.
11:25: It took exactly 25 minutes to get the early morning repechage rounds out of the way. They are now calling the qualification matches to each mat.
10:44: We're 15 minutes away from starting the final full day of wrestling in Istanbul. There will be four repechage matches to determine tonight's bronze medalists before we get into today's qualification rounds. In the past few days, the repechage matches have taken around 25 minutes.
