BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (August 16) -- The U20 World Championships kicked off in Bratislava, Slovakia with four Greco-Roman weight classes -- 63kg, 77kg, 87kg and 130kg with two returning champions hoping to defend their titles.
Ali ILIASOV (RUS), the returning champion at 130kg, managed to reach the semifinals after three technical superiority or fall wins.
The defending champion at 87kg Luca KOCHALIDZE (GEO) failed to advance after dropping his bout against senior world bronze medalist Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN).
WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | GRECO-ROMAN PREVIEW
14:00: Mega match-up at 87kg as Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN) clashes with defending champion Luka KOCHALIDZE (GEO). Yoshida with high pace throughout the match and gets both par terre positions and a stepout. He also scores a late takedown to complete a 5-0 win over the Georgian and advance to the semifinals
13:57: U20 African champion Essam HUSSEIN (EGY) with a four-pointer against Amirhossein ABDEVALI (IRI) which gave him a 5-5 criteria lead in the 130kg quarterfinals. Iran loses the challenge as well and Hussein upsets the U20 Asian champion 6-5.
13:45: Saba PURTSELADZE (GEO) drops his quarterfinals to Koppany LASZLO (HUN), who defeated the Georgian at the U20 European Championships as well. Laszlo with a huge four-pointer to change the course of the bout and win 6-2
13:40: Samvel TERTERYAN (ARM) gets both par terre positions in the bout and beats Zalan TOPLAK (HUN), 5-0, to advance to the semifinals at 77kg. The U20 European champion is hoping to win a world title in the same year
13:35: Ali ILIASOV (RUS) with yet another technical superiority victory as he beats Alan DZABIEV (BUL), 9-0, at 130kg. He scores a four-pointer from par terre, then turns Dzabiev for a 7-0 lead. A takedown to finish the bout in 2 minutes and 27 seconds
