Saeid Esmaeili defeats Aytjan Khalmakhanov (Photo UWW)
Paris Olympic champion Saeid Esmaeili of Iran delivered a clear message to Aytjan Khalmakhanov of Uzbekistan when his fellow 2025 world champion tried an assault on his domain. Not on my watch.
Esmaeli completed a successful defense of his 67kg crown with a crushing victory by fall over Khalmakhanov on Tuesday, giving Iran its fourth champion as the Greco-Roman competition wrapped up at the World Wrestling Championships in Astana.
“This is the World Championships, which is different from other tournaments,” Esmaeili said. “It gets tougher year after year. My opponents study and analyze me, making it very difficult to win medals consistently, especially in the 67kg weight class, which is one of the most competitive in the world.”
In earlier finals, Semen Novikov of Bulgaria handed Iran a rare loss with a 4-0 victory over Alireza Mohmadi in a repeat of the 2024 Paris Olympics final, while Karen Aslanyan of Armenia defeated Nihat Mammadli of Azerbaijan 8-4 at 63kg to become a first-time champion.
Esmaeili’s victory over 2025 world 63kg champion Khalmakhanov capped one the most dominant team performances in modern World Championships history.
Not only did Iran easily top the team standings with 192 points, the powerhouse took home medals in nine of the 10 weight classes for the first time, and its seven finalists were its most ever in either men’s style.
“Before a match, we face a lot of pressure because expectations have risen,” Esmaeili said. “For many people, we are a primary source of joy. They rejoice in our victories and weep over our defeats. Hopefully, we can always keep all happy.”
Azerbaijan, with two champions, finished second with 104 points, while Uzbekistan placed third with 80 points.
The highly anticipated 67kg final turned into a one-sided display of Esmaeili’s incredible talent and determination, as he completely shut down the 20-year-old Khalmakhanov, who was coming off a victory at the recent Asian Games in Japan.
After an early stepout, Esmaeili added a two-point throw. He then got the first chance on top in par terre, and made the most of it with a lift-and-dump for four that he followed up by securing the fall in 2:22.
It was Esmaeili’s second win in two career meetings with Khalmakhanov, having previously notched a 9-0 win in the semifinals at the Islamic Solidarity Games in November 2025.
Esmaeili’s victory in Astana also marks his latest triumph in a remarkable run of success that includes back-to-back Asian golds in 2024 and 2025.
Dating back to 2022, the 23-year-old has suffered just a single defeat — a 9-7 semifinal loss at the 2024 Budapest Ranking Series to former Olympic and world champion Luis Orta of Cuba.
Esmaeili said he stepped up his preparations for Astana knowing the tough path to victory that awaited him.
“It gets harder every year,” he said. “This time, we started our training earlier than last year and spent 10 months in a full-time, residential training camp. Thankfully, our hard work paid off — nothing less than gold would have been a fitting reward, and truly, nothing else could make us happy.”
Looking ahead, Esmaeili pledged to put in the work that will keep him on top of the stacked weight class.
“There are about seven or eight contenders, world and Olympic champions, in this division, and the challenge grows greater for me with each passing year,” Esmaeili said. “I hope to win the gold medal every year and bring joy to everyone.”
At 87kg, Novikov added the world gold to his bronze from 2023 with a staid but solid victory over Mohmadi, who was relegated to his third career world silver and second in a row.
“It’s hard to describe this feeling,” Novikov said. “I was a two-time world champion at U23 and very, very wanted to be senior world champion. Today I completed all big medals, because I was European champion, Olympic champion and today, world champion. I am very, very happy.”
After the first period ended with a lone passivity point for Novikov, the Bulgarian gained a stepout and a 2-0 lead when Mohmadi lost his balance for a moment.
Novikov then clinched the victory with a spin-behind takedown as the Iranian side was left wondering about the lack of a passivity call against the Bulgarian that seemed to be warranted.
“The Iranian guy is very, very strong and a good wrestler,” Novikov said. “For four years in a row, he fought only in final matches and every year a silver medalist, but he’s strong and very difficult to wrestle.”
Following the Olympic final, Novikov and Mohmadi met again in February 2025 in the quarterfinals of the Tirana Ranking Series, where the Iranian came away with a 5-0 win — a loss that the Bulgarian discounts as irrelevant in the bigger scheme of things.
“Everyone can beat me at a Ranking Series tournament, but it doesn’t matter to me,” Novikov said. “For me, the only [thing that] matters is big competitions like European, Olympic and World championships. And for this competition, I was ready 100 percent.”
The final at 63kg became a display of the explosive excitement of Greco, as Aslanyan and Mammadli each had a four-point move in a flashy opening 30 seconds.
Mammadli swooped in for a bear hug and sent Aslanyan straight to his back for four. But the Armenian bridged out the predicament and turned his opponent over for two, then gained a stepout as he attempted a throw at the edge.
Aslanyan then hit a textbook-perfect four-point arm throw to take the lead at 7-4. As both competitors tried to maneuver for points in the second period, in the end, the lone score came on a stepout by Aslanyan.
Orta Claims Bronze, Jafarov Falls
In the bronze-medal matches, Orta added a second world medal to his pair from the Olympics, while fellow Paris Olympic bronze medalist Hasrat Jafarov was dealt a stunning defeat by local favorite Bagdat Sabaz.
Orta came away with a 10-6 win in a wild free-for-all with lanky Slavik Galstyan of Armenia that featured a number of scrambles and was extraordinarily stretched out by challenges and bleeding timeouts.
Orta, the 2021 Tokyo Olympic gold medalist at 60kg and 2023 world champion, took a 6-5 lead into the second period, where he put the match away with a takedown and stepout to deny Galstyan a second straight world bronze and third overall.
Sabaz’s shocking win over returning silver medalist Jafarov sent the crowd into a frenzy, particularly when he responded to giving up a four-point throw by using a
headlock for a four-pointer of his own, then adding a takedown for an 8-5 win.
By knocking off the well-decorated Jafarov, whose resume includes four consecutive European golds and three world medals, Sabaz picked up his first major senior medal.
Up to now, his top accomplishments were limited to an Asian U23 gold in 2025 and Asian U20 bronze in 2020.
At 63kg, Sergey Emelin of Russia earned his third career world medal and first since 2019 when the Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist overwhelmed Aref Mohammadi of Qatar 9-0.
The 31-year-old Emelin used a twisting arm lock to fling Mohammadi to the mat for four. Then, put on top in par terre, he cranked out a pair of gut wrenches to end it at 2:05.
Emelin, who this year won his first European title in five years and third overall, captured his lone world gold in 2018 at 60kg. He then took a silver in Astana the following year.
The other 63kg bronze went to Asian U23 silver medalist Ozodbek Khalimboev of Uzbekistan, who scored all of his points in the first period and held on for a 7-3 win over 2022 world silver medalist Edmond Nazaryan of Bulgaria.
Khalimboev shrugged Nazaryan by for a pair of takedowns, adding an unsuccessful challenge point to the first one and a gut wrench to the second to lead 7-0 at the break.
Nazaryan picked up a takedown and a stepout in the second period but could close the gap no further.
At 87kg, Lasha Gibadze of Georgia picked up his fourth world medal over an 11-year span with a 5-1 victory over two-time Asian bronze medalist Mukhammadkodir Rasulov of Uzbekistan.
The 32-year-old Gobadze, who won his lone title in Astana seven years ago at 82kg, used a front chest lift for a 4-point throw from par terre in the first period, then held out on bottom in the second period.
The other 87kg bronze went to Gevorg Tadevosyan of Armenia, who denied Yaroslav Filchakov of Ukraien a third world bronze with a 4-1 win in a match with a wild and contentious conclusion.
Tadevosyan looked well on the way to victory when he scored a gut wrench from par terre for a 3-1 lead in the second period. But with time running out, Filchakov reached over and clamped on the chest, then hit a four-point roll with :02 left on the clock.
The Armenian side challenged and it was shown that Filchakov had used his leg to block Tadevosyan’s in executing the move, wiping out the four-pointer.
But it didn’t end there, as Filchakov also sought a challenge, contending that Tadevosyan had grabbed his singlet. But the mat chairman disallowed the challenge, as a second challenge cannot be accepted after the first one.
After several minutes of arguing and a penalty point assessed against him, Filchakov relented and finished up the final three seconds of the match, albeit by standing in place with his hands on his hips.
India, Searching for First Women’s World Champion, Gets Two Chances
India, searching for its first-ever world champion in Women’s Wrestling, will get two chances to create history on Wednesday after Neelam and Kajal reached the World Championships finals in Women’s Wrestling at 50kg and 76kg, respectively in Astana on Tuesday.
U20 world champion Kajal, 18, defeated returning silver medalist Aiperi Medet Kyzy of Kyrgyzstan, mounting a comeback after being 7-1 down. Medet Kyzy hit a four-point headlock throw before two for exposure. India challenged the two but lost it to give one more point to the Kyrgyzstan wrestler.
But it was all Kajal in the second period as she scored takedowns against a tiring Medet Kyzy. She eventually beat her 10-7.
She will face European champion Anatasiya Alpyeyeva of Ukraine for the gold medal after she blanked Kadriye Kocak Aksoy of Turkiye, 11-0, in the other 76kg semifinals. After building a 6-0 lead, Alpyeyeva hit a double-leg attack to score four points and finish the bout 10-0. Turkiye challenged the call but four points were confirmed on the review and it lost the challenge, giving one more point to Alpyeyeva.
At 50kg, Neelam controlled her semifinal against Zenep Bayanova of Kazakhstan, winning 7-3. She got a double-leg attack and brought Bayanova down for two points which India challenged asking for four points. However, the challenge was lost and Bayanova got a point for that. Leading 2-1, Neelam hit a toss for four points to lead 6-1 before a stepout extended her lead to 7-1. Bayanova scored a takedown at the end but that was too little too late.
Neelam became just the second Indian woman to reach the World Championships final, five years after Anshu did it in Oslo. Kajal became the third a little later at the Barys Arena.
But she has a huge task ahead of her in the final to win the gold medal. She will face four-time world champion Yui Susaki of Japan in the final as the Japanese returned to the World Championships final after three years.
Susaki defeated Feng Ziqi of China, 9-0, in the semifinals in typical Susaki fashion, working on single-leg takedown. She did not give Feng any chance during the bout, notching up her fourth win without giving a point in Astana.
Sena Nagamoto was the second Japanese wrestler to reach the final on Tuesday after beating Nilufar Raimova of Kazakhstan, 11-0, in a one-sided semifinal. But it was her win in the quarterfinals over defending world champion Helen Maroulis of the USA that caused a bigger upset.
Nagamoto opened the match by taking the attack to Maroulis and tried to control but the American sneaked out, forcing Nagamoto to land outside the zone. A point was awarded to Maroulis but Japan challenged the call. The lost challenge added one more point to Maroulis’ score and she tried holding the 2-0 lead till the end.
Nagamoto kept trying to find an opening and with a minute left in the match, cut the lead to 2-1 with a stepout. She then hit a double-leg attack, Maroulis went over her and tried to flee but Nagamoto got the takedown with 10 seconds left. The United States challenged late asking for a Maroulis point for unknown reasons but the challenge was lost, giving Nagamoto a 4-2 win.
“I am finally able to stand on a big stage like this, and to be able to get the experience of facing an Olympic champion is something I am thankful for and an honor,” Nagamoto said. “Whether I won or lost, I thought to just give it everything I had. At the end, I was able to finish off my tackle and I think that was the biggest factor in my win.”
Nagamoto will face recent Asian Games champion Hong Kexin of China for the gold medal after the Chinese wrestler used her brutal gut-wrench to beat Iryna Kurachkina of Belarus 10-0.
“She’s a strong competitor. But I will go in without fear and give everything I have to the fight,” she said.
Former world champion and returning bronze medalist Irina Ringaci of Moldova returned to the final at 65kg after a victory via fall over Enkhjin Tuvshinjargal of Mongolia. She got Tuvshinjargal in double arm locks and held her on the mat to get the fall.
She will face returning silver medalist Alina Kasabieva of Russia for the gold medal after the Russian pulled off a thrilling 8-4 win over Solomiia Vynnyk of Ukraine.
RESULTS
Greco-Roman
63kg (26 entries)
GOLD: Karen ASLANYAN (ARM) df. Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE), 8-4
BRONZE: Sergey EMELIN (RUS) df. Aref MOHAMMADI (QAT) by TS, 9-0, 2:05
BRONZE: Ozodbek KHALIMBOEV (UZB) df. Edmond NAZARYAN (BUL), 7-3
67kg (31 entries)
GOLD: Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) df. Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) by Fall, 2:22 (8-0)
BRONZE: Bagdat SABAZ (KAZ) df. Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE), 8-5
BRONZE: Luis ORTA (CUB) df. Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM), 10-6
87kg (32 entries)
GOLD: Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) df. Alireza MOHMADI (IRI), 4-0
BRONZE: Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) df. Mukhammadkodir RASULOV (UZB), 5-1
BRONZE: Gevorg TADEVOSYAN (ARM) df. Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR), 4-1
Women’s Wrestling
50kg (20 entries)
SF1: NEELAM (IND) df. Zeinep BAYANOVA (KAZ), 7-3
SF2: Yui SUSAKI (JPN) df. Ziqi FENG (CHN), 9-0
57kg (24 entries)
SF1: Kexin HONG (CHN) df. Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) by TS, 10-0, 2:29
SF2: Sena NAGAMOTO (JPN) df. Nilufar RAIMOVA (KAZ) by TS, 11-0, 5:37
65kg (24 entries)
SF1: Alina KASABIEVA (RUS) df. Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR), 8-4
SF2: Irina RINGACI (MDA) df. Enkhjin TUVSHINJARGAL (MGL) by Fall, 1:53 (6-2)
76kg (20 entries)
SF1: KAJAL (IND) df. Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ), 10-7
SF2: Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) df. Kadriye KOCAK AKSOY (TUR) by TS, 11-0, 2:46
