ISTANBUL (May 8) – Taimuraz FRIEV NASKIDAEVA (ESP) picked up Spain’s first and only ticket for the wrestling competition at Rio 2016 on Sunday, the last day of the “last chance” Olympic Games qualifying tournament in Istanbul.

Friev Naskidaeva capped a run of three technical falls at Bagcilar Sports Complex with a victory by fall over Krystian BRZOZOWSKI (POL) in the freestyle semifinals at 74kg to secure his first trip to the Olympic Games.

“It feels great to win and I’m so happy that I have a chance to go the Olympics,” Friev Naskidaeva said after his victory. “But I know I need to get better for Rio and now I want to use my time to improve.”

“I wrestled with confidence today” he added. Citing his second-round victory against Grigor GRIGORYAN (ARM), “Even when I let an eight-point lead slip away, I knew I could come back. And, I did for an 18-8 win.”

And while Friev Naskidaeva was reeling in a ticket for Spain, Suleyman ATLI (TUR) and DORJKHAND Khuderbulga (MGL) presented their countries with a complete set of six freestyle berths for Rio with semifinal wins at 57kg and 97kg, respectively.

Atli wrapped up his ticket with four turns of a gut wrench in the 57kg semifinal against Hikmatullo VOKHIDOV (TJK) to the delight of the local fans as he filled out the Turkish Olympic Games freestyle squad.

The 2013 junior world champion, then, came from behind in the 57kg final for a 18-12 victory over 2015 Asia cadet runner-up Abbas RAKHMONOV (UZB).

Dorjkhand, who narrowly missed qualifying in Ulaanbaatar two weeks ago, squandered a 6-2 lead in his semifinal bout with Mausam KHATRI (IND).  The Incheon 2014 bronze medalist, however, came back a takedown at 5:15 and made it stand for an 8-6 win.

In the other half of the 97kg bracket, 2011 world bronze medalist for Russia Albert SARITOV (ROU) made his international debut for Romania by racking up a technical fall over European silver medalist Ivan YANKOUSKI (BLR) for his first trip to the Olympic Games.

Asian Games champion Bekzod ABDURAKHMANOV (UZB) earned a second berth for Uzbekistan with three falls and a technical fall at 74kg, then receiving an injury default from Friev Naskidaeva in the final.

BI Shengfeng (CHN) stunned two-time world champion Ibragim ALDATOV (UKR) with a technical fall in the semifinals at 86kg to become the third member of China’s freestyle squad at Rio 2016.

Bi also turned away Asian Games bronze medalist KIM Gwan-Uk (KOR) by fall in the final. Kim becomes the second member of the Korean freestyle squad at the summer games.

At 65kg, Haislan GARCIA VERANES (CAN) shook off a dislocated shoulder suffered in the quarterfinals to score a second-period takedown and hang on for a 2-2 win over George BUCUR (ROU) in the semifinal, before forfeiting the final to Borislav NOVACHKOV (BUL).

Results

Freestyle

57kg (21 entries)

Gold – Suleyman ATLI (TUR) df. Abbos RAKHMONOV (UZB), 18-12
Bronze – Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL) df. Hikmatullo VOHIDOV (TJK), 4-2
Bronze – Muhammad BILAL (PAK) df. Samat NADYRBEK UULU (KGZ) by Withdrawal, 1:50

Semifinals – Suleyman ATLI (TUR) df. Hikmatullo VOHIDOV (TJK) by TF, 16-6, 1:34
Semifinals – Abbos RAKHMONOV (UZB) df. Samat NADYRBEK UULU (KGZ), 2-1

65kg (32 entries)

Gold – Borislav NOVACHKOV (BUL) df. Haislan GARCIA VERANES (CAN) by Injury Default, 0:00 
Bronze – David HABAT (SLO) df. George BUCUR (ROU), 11-7 
Bronze – Frank MOLINARO (USA) df. Azamat NURIKOV (BLR), 5-2

Semifinals – Haislan GARCIA VERANES (CAN) df. George BUCUR (ROU), 2-2 
Semifinals – Borislav NOVACHKOV (BUL) df. Azamat NURIKOV (BLR), 8-4 

74kg (27 entries)

Gold – Bekzod ABDURAKHMANOV (UZB) v Taimuraz FRIEV NASKIDAEVA (ESP)
Bronze – Amirkhan VISALIMOV (AUT) df. Saiakbai USUPOV (KGZ) by Injury Default, 0:36
Bronze – Krystian BRZOZOWSKI (POL) df. Dylan PALACIO PINTADO (URU), 2-2

Semifinals – Bekzod ABDURAKHMANOV (UZB) df. Saiakbai USUPOV (KGZ) by Fall, 1:16 (12-2) 
Semifinals – Taimuraz FRIEV NASKIDAEVA (ESP) df. Krystian BRZOZOWSKI (POL) by Fall, 5:27 (8-3)

86kg (26 entries)

Gold – BI Shengfeng (CHN) df. KIM Gwan-Uk (KOR) by Fall, 2:27 (7-1)
Bronze – Piotr IANULOV (MDA) df. Ibragim ALDATOV (UKR) by Injury Default, 0:50
Bronze – Armands ZVIRBULIS (LAT) df. Pool AMBROCIO GREIFO (PER), 4-2

Semifinals – BI Shengfeng (CHN) df. Ibragim ALDATOV (UKR) by TF, 10-0, 1:15
Semifinals – KIM Gwan-Uk (KOR) df. Pool AMBROCIO GREIFO (PER), 8-1 

97kg (25 entries)

Gold – Albert SARITOV (ROU) df. DORJKHAND Khuderbulga (MGL), 4-0 
Bronze – Rustam ISKANDARI (TJK) df. Mausam KHATRI (IND), 8-8
Bronze – Ivan YANKOUSKI (BLR) df. Dragomir STOYCHEV (BUL) by TF, 11-0, 2:18

Semifinals – DORJKHAND Khuderbulga (MGL) df. Mausam KHATRI (IND), 8-6 
Semifinals – Albert SARITOV (ROU) df. Ivan YANKOUSKI (BLR) by TF, 10-0, 4:13 

125kg (19 entries)

Gold – Aleksander KHOTSIANIVSKI (UKR) df. Ibragim SAIDOV (BLR) by Injury Default, 2:11 (5-0) 
Bronze – Rares CHINTOAN (ROU) df. Alexey KRUPNIAKOV (KGZ) by Fall, 0:51 (4-0)
Bronze – Hitender HITENDER (IND) df. Jere HEINO (FIN) by Fall, 1:47 (4-0)

Semifinals – Ibragim SAIDOV (BLR) df. Alexey KRUPNIAKOV (KGZ), 10-6
Semifinals – Aleksander KHOTSIANIVSKI (UKR) df. Jere HEINO (FIN) by TF, 10-0, 2:07