Shahin Badaghimofrad continued to make history for his adopted homeland, and this time it came at the expense of his real one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iranian-born Badaghimofrad gave Qatar its first-ever gold medal at the Asian Championships, coming from behind for a 4-3 victory over Iranian Amin Hosseini in the Greco 82kg final on Wednesday in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI won a bronze medal at last year’s Asian Championships, and this year I’m very happy that I managed to take a bigger step and win a gold medal,\u201d Badaghimofrad said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On a night when five different countries struck gold to finish up the Greco competition, Alisher Ganiev of Uzbekistan ended a recent run of runner-up finishes with a victory at 60kg, and world and Olympic champion Hadi Saravi of Iran won his third straight title and fourth overall at 97kg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Razzak Beishekeev of Kyrgyzstan, who had settled for the silver medal the past two years, made it to the top step of the podium at 67kg to give the host nation its fourth gold, and Almatbek Amanbek of Kazakhstan handed Iran another defeat in a final to take the 72kg crown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite going two for seven in gold-medal matches, Iran cruised to the team title by medaling in every weight class for the first time since 1983. The wrestling powerhouse finished with 195 points to outdistance host Kyrgyzstan, which had four champions and compiled 153 points. Uzbekistan, with two gold medalists, was third with 136.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Badaghimofrad, who had been a world cadet (U17) silver medalist and world junior (U20) bronze medalist, was competing for Iran when he first appeared at the Asian Championships three years and 15 kilograms ago, placing fifth in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A native of Khuzestan Province in southeast Iran, he changed his allegiance after 2023 and debuted for Qatar in February 2025 at the Tirana Ranking Series, where he could only manage a seventh-place finish. But a month later, he placed third at the Asian Championships in Amman, Jordan, marking Qatar\u2019s first ever medal in Greco and just its second overall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Badaghimofrad\u2019s more recent results were not exactly awe-inspiring \u2013 an 11th place at the World Championships in Zagreb, then back-to-back seventh places at Ranking Series tournaments in February this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the outlook did not appear much better in Wednesday\u2019s final when Hosseini, the winner of this year\u2019s Tirana Ranking Series tournament, opened the scoring with a gut wrench for a 3-0 lead in the first period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the second period, Badaghimofrad got his chance in par terre and, breaking down stiff resistance from Hosseini, managed to roll him over. An Iranian challenge for a potential leg foul was unsuccessful, putting the Qatari up 4-3, which is how it ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI had wrestled my opponent before, so we were both familiar with each other\u2019s styles,\u201d Badaghimofrad said. \u201cKnowing I could apply my move on the ground, I approached the match without any stress. When the referee gave the passivity warning, I was able to execute my move and emerge as the winner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Badaghimofrad knows he still has a way to go if he wants to achieve similar success on the bigger global stages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy wrestling isn\u2019t perfect yet, and I\u2019m gradually trying to improve it \u2026 so I can get thebest result at the World Championships and the Olympics,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ganiev finally got the result he was looking for, escaping from second-place purgatory by avenging a loss in last year\u2019s 60kg final with a victory by fall over world and Olympic bronze medalist Ri Se Ung of North Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ganiev went up 2-1 when he stepped over and gained an exposure on Se Ung\u2019s gut-wrench attempt from par terre. In the second period, he increased the lead with a passivity point and a challenge point, but made the score moot when he pancaked Se Ung to the mat and held on for a fall at 5:06.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe plan was not to rush, to wrestle patiently, wait for the right moment in par terre,\u201d Ganiev said. \u201cHowever, during the match, things changed. I managed to score points [from bottom] in par terre. In the second period, I continued with my approach. We prepared specifically for this opponent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ganiev finished second at the Zagreb Ranking Series in February 2025, and again at this year\u2019s. In between, he lost in last year\u2019s Asian final to Ri and in the final of the World Championships to Aidos Sultangaliu of Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI had been waiting for a long time,\u201d Ganiev said. \u201cThis is my second Asian Championship. In the first one, I finished in second place. Now in 2026 I finally took first place. Today, all the hard work paid off. In the 2025 final, I made mistakes, but this time I corrected them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While a number of Saravi\u2019s teammates faltered at the final hurdle, the two-time Olympic medalist proved to be a rock of stability in claiming the 97kg gold with a solid albeit not overwhelming 7-1 win over India’s Nitesh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI managed to finish the competition with the gold medal,\u201d Saravi said. \u201cAfter the World Championships, I set aside some time for recovery to get my body back in shape. The coaches decided to send me to the Asian Championships. I arrived at this competition with only a relative level of readiness, but thankfully I managed to achieve the best result and claim gold.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saravi, whose long list of laurels also includes four world medals, reeled off two rolls from par terre in the first period to lead 5-0. After being put on the bottom in the second but never budging, Saravi added a pair of stepouts to beat Nitesh for the third time in as many career meetings and clinch his fourth Asian gold over a seven-year span.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe final was tougher [than the previous matches] because I\u2019d suffered a knee injury before arriving, which was bothering me a bit and meant I couldn’t keep up with my training properly or come to the competition fully prepared,\u201d Saravi said. \u201cBecause of that I was a bit unsettled.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At 72kg, Amanbek capped his senior Asian debut with a stunning victory by fall overJavad Rezaei which more than avenged a 3-2 loss to the Iranian in the quarterfinals of the Tirana Ranking Series that Rezaei won.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve taken first place in the 72-kilogram category,\u201d said Amanbek, who moved up from 67kg this year. \u201cIt\u2019s been an incredibly emotional day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019d give myself a ten out of ten. I did really well. Everything went exactly as I\u2019d planned. I can give myself a pat on the back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The quick succession of moments that led to Amanbek\u2019s victory started with him on the bottom of par terre. When Rezaei tried to force a gut wrench, Amanbek stepped over, scooped Rezaei\u2019s head and held him down for a fall in 1:50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI know that Iranian wrestler, we faced each other at a ranking tournament in Albania,\u201d Amanbek said. \u201cI lost there. Today I got my revenge. I was in good spirits. We went out there and stuck to our tactics and our game plan. That\u2019s why we won.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the 67kg category, Beishekeev wrapped up a strong Greco outing for the home team by soundly defeating former world bronze medalist Kensuke Shimuzu of Japan 8-2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI can say that this victory means a lot to me,\u201d Beishekeev said of triumphing in front of the home crowd at Zhastyk Arena. \u201cI truly felt the strong support of my people, it gave me strength and motivation. Thanks to that, everything came together today and I became a champion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beishekeev all but put the match away in the first period, when he not only completed a gut wrench from par terre, but added a 4-pointer by lifting Shimizu and dumping him onto this back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the second period, Beishekeev gave up a passivity point but nothing from the bottom of par terre, and received a point himself when the Japanese side unsuccessfully challenged for a leg foul. A late stepout by Shimizu only changed the margin of victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the three previous Asian Championships, Beishekeev\u2019s results had been: bronze, silver, silver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBehind this success is a lot of hard work,\u201d he said. \u201cI worked patiently, step by step, never forgetting my goal and constantly pushing forward. If we continue working with the same determination, I believe a gold medal at the World Championships is also possible. \u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Entire Iranian team comes away with medals<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the bronze-medal matches, Ali Ahmadi Vafa and Ahmadreza Mohsen Nezhad both picked up their first major senior medals and assured that nobody on the Iranian Greco team would be leaving Bishkek empty-handed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ahmadi Vafa, who won world titles at each of the three age-group levels from 2022 to 2024, secured a bronze medal at 60kg with a 10-0 rout of Yerbol Kamaliyev of Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After a 4-point throw from par terre, Ahmadi Vafa tossed Kamaliyev again, although he didn\u2019t get the necessary exposure and it was ruled a 2-pointer. But the Iranian continued the move and forced Kamaliyev to his back for 2 more to end it at 1:49.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The other bronze at 60kg went to Japan’s Yu Shiotani, who was back on the Asian scene for the first time since winning the 55kg gold in 2022, the same year he won a world bronze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shiotani hit a 4-point throw from par terre, good enough for a 5-1 win over two-time former Asian U23 champion Tan Haodong of China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the 67kg category, Mohsen Nezhad, a 2025 world U23 bronze medalist, gained his bronze without a fight, as he received a victory by default from world silver medalist Chung Hanjae of Korea who had suffered an elbow injury in his quarterfinal loss to Beishekeev on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sachin Sahrawat of India captured his second career 67kg bronze when he fought back from behind three times to eventually come away with a 6-5 win over Abdumalik Aminov of Uzbekistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A drag-by takedown in the final 30 seconds finally put Sahrawat over the top, after he had trailed 1-0, 3-2 and 5-3 during the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the 72kg category, Taishi Narikuni of Japan saw his bid for a place in wrestling history harshly ended by Shakhzod Kuchkorov of Uzbekistan, who needed less than a minute to uncork a pair of 4-point throws in a 9-0 romp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Narikuni, the 2022 champion at Freestyle 70kg, was looking to join the select group of wrestlers with Asian medals in both styles \u2013 a group that compatriot Kaisei Tanabe joined the previous day by taking a bronze at 63kg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ironically, last December, Narikuni had pipped Tanabe in each\u2019s bid to become the first wrestler in 52 years to complete the Freestyle-Greco double at the All-Japan Championships. Narikuni did it by also winning the Freestyle 70kg title, while Tanabe fell short by finishing third at 65kg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Narikuni will be returning to the Bishkek mat on Friday for the Freestyle 70kg qualification rounds as he attempts to bounce back from his Greco disappointment. Narikuni also won the world gold in Freestyle in 2022, but his attempt to repeat that feat in Greco last year in Zagreb ended in the first round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Li Dongyu of China took the other bronze at 72kg on Wednesday with a somewhat odd victory by fall over Amantur Ismailov of Kryrgysztan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After breaking out to a 5-0 lead with two rolls from par terre, Li secured double underhooks and pancaked Ismailov to his back for 4 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having achieved a win by technical superiority, Li stood up and thrust his fists in the air in triumph, only to notice that Ismailov was still lying on his back. Li then hopped on top of his prone opponent for an easy fall in 2:40.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the 82kg class, Kakabay Kakabayev of Turkmenistan became the third wrestler from Turkmenistan to make it to a bronze-medal match in Greco and have a chance to become the country\u2019s first medalist since 2018, and the third to come up short.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kakabayev never really had a chance against India’s Prince, who reeled off four rolls in a row from par terre en route to a 10-1 victory. That gave Prince a senior Asian bronze a year after winning one on the U20 level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The other 82kg match saw veteran and former Asian champion Ibragim Magamadov of Kazakhstan earn his fourth straight Asian medal and second straight bronze with a 5-3 victory over China’s Liu Rui.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Magomadov, the 2023 champion at 72kg and a bronze medalist last year at 77kg, hit a 4-point throw from par terre in the first period, then held on after giving up a 2-point penalty in the second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At 97kg, Zagreb Ranking Series silver medalist Islam Yevloyev of Kazakhstan the 2024 world U20 champion at 82kg, never gave Lee Minho of Korea a chance, spinning behind for a takedown then chalking up a combination of exposures and rolls for a 9-0 victory in 1:27.<\/p>\n\n\n\n China’s Wang Zegang was equally dominant in taking the other 97kg bronze with an 11-1 victory over Melis Aitbekov of Kryrgsztan in his Asian debut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RESULTS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Greco-Roman<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 60kg (10 entries)<\/strong> BRONZE: Yu SHIOTANI (JPN) df. Haodong TAN (CHN), 5-1 67kg (11 entries)<\/strong> BRONZE: Ahmadreza MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI) df. Hanjae CHUNG (KOR) by Inj. Def. 72kg (10 entries)<\/strong> BRONZE: Dongyu LI (CHN) df. Amantur ISMAILOV (KGZ) by Fall, 2:40 (9-0) 82kg (10 entries)<\/strong> BRONZE: Ibragim MAGOMADOV (KAZ) df. Rui LIU (CHN), 5-3 97kg (11 entries)<\/strong> BRONZE: Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ) df. Minho LEE (KOR) by TS, 9-0, 1:27 Women\u2019s Wrestling<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 50kg (11 entries)<\/strong> 55kg (8 entries)<\/strong> 59kg (8 entries)<\/strong> 68kg (10 entries)<\/strong> 76kg (9 entries)<\/strong> Shahin Badaghimofrad continued to make history for his adopted homeland, and this time it came at the expense<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[91],"class_list":["post-11434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-wrestling"],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Shahin-Badaghimofrad.jpg",1300,731,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Shahin-Badaghimofrad-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Shahin-Badaghimofrad-300x169.jpg",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Shahin-Badaghimofrad-768x432.jpg",640,360,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Shahin-Badaghimofrad-1024x576.jpg",640,360,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Shahin-Badaghimofrad.jpg",1300,731,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Shahin-Badaghimofrad.jpg",1300,731,false],"morenews-large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Shahin-Badaghimofrad-825x575.jpg",825,575,true],"morenews-medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Shahin-Badaghimofrad-590x410.jpg",590,410,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Newsbeat<\/a>","tag_info":"Newsbeat","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Shahin-Badaghimofrad.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11434"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11436,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11434\/revisions\/11436"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
GOLD: Alisher GANIEV (UZB) df. Se Ung RI (PRK) by Fall, 5:06 (6-1)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BRONZE: Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) df. Yerbol KAMALIYEV (KAZ) by TS, 10-0, 1:49<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GOLD: Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) df. Kensuke SHIMIZU (JPN), 8-2<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BRONZE: Sachin SAHRAWAT (IND) df. Abdumalik AMINOV (UZB), 6-5<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GOLD: Almatbek AMANBEK (KAZ) df. Javad REZAEI (IRI) by Fall, 1:50 (2-1)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BRONZE: Shakhzod KUCHKOROV (UZB) df. Taishi NARIKUNI (JPN) by TS, 9-0, :48<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GOLD: Shahin BADAGHIMOFRAD (QAT) df. Amin HOSSEINI (IRI), 4-3<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BRONZE: PRINCE (IND) df. Kakabay KAKABAYEV (TKM) by TS, 10-1, 2:06<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GOLD: Hadi SARAVI (IRI) df. NITESH (IND), 7-1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BRONZE: Zegang WANG (CHN) df. Melis AITBEKOV (KGZ) by TS, 11-1, 4:11<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SF 1: Son Hyang KIM (PRK) df. Aktenge KEUNIMJAEVA (UZB), 12-8
SF 2: Yui SUSAKI (JPN) df. Maral TANGIRBERGENOVA (KAZ) by TS, 8-0, 2:00<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SF 1: Sowaka UCHIDA (JPN) df. Ariunzaya ODONCHIMEG (MGL) by TS, 10-0, 1:33
SF 2: Yuxuan LI (CHN) df. Hansika LAMBA (IND) by TS, 11-1, 5:54<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SF 1: Mengyu XIE (CHN) df. NEHA (IND), 12-5
SF 2: Sena NAGAMOTO (JPN) df. Ulmeken ESENBAEVA (UZB) by TS, 10-0, 4:00<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SF 1: Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ) df. Zelu LI (CHN), 1-1
SF 2: Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) df. Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (MGL), 7-0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SF 1: Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ) df. Hui Tsz CHANG (TPE) by TS, 11-0, 1:03
SF 2: Davaanasan ENKH AMAR (MGL) df. Gulmaral YERKEBAYEVA (KAZ), 7-2<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"