UWW

Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) gained Olympic spot by winning Asian qualifying tournament in Almaty, beating Gyanender GYANENDER (IND) 6-1 in decisive semifinal and fellow qualifier Sailike WALIHAN (CHN) 4-3 in final....Prepared for Tokyo with runner-up finish to European qualifier Kerim KAMAL (TUR) at Vehbi Emre Tournament in June in Istanbul...World silver medalist at 55kg in 2018, moved up to Olympic weight class the next year. In first outing at 60kg, placed 3rd at Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov Tournament. Lost to Walihan 9-4 in semifinals....Won 2020 Individual World Cup with victory in final over 2018 world champion Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS), rallying from 0-4 deficit to win 4-4 with late gut wrench...Silver medalist to world champion Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) at 2020 Asian Championships...World U-23 silver medalist and Asian U-23 champion in 2019... Was world junior silver medalist in 2017 (lost to Kamal in 55kg final) and 2016 world cadet bronze medalist.