An exciting last day of action at the World Cup 2022 On Sunday [18 September] saw men’s freestyle wrestlers kyle snyder, Higuchi Rei, and Rahman Amouzadkhali win gold medals.
It was the third world title in Rio 2016 Olympic champion Snyder’s illustrious career, but for Japan’s Rei it marked a huge step forward in his return from the wrestling wild.
Meanwhile, we may have witnessed the birth of a new superstar in 20-year-old Iranian Amouzadkhali.
Snyder’s victory secured USA the top spot in the men’s freestyle total rankings in Belgrade with four golds, four silvers and a total of 188 points.
In a great final day for Iran, the Asian powerhouse came close with 150 points from two gold, three silver and two bronze medals.
Kyle Snyder wins third world title
A controlled display from the Rio 2016 Olympic champion Kyle Snyder saw him secure a 6-0 win Batyrbek Tsakulov in the 97kg final.
The Slovak was in great form this year with notable Grand Prix victories in Rome and Almaty but had no answer to his opponent’s heavy hands and lightning quick kicks in Belgrade.
Despite looking the fresher of the two in the second round, Tsakulov could do little to break the American’s rock-solid defense.
European Champion Magomedkhan Magomedov sealed a memorable comeback to win the first 97kg bronze medal match of the fall.
The Azerbaijani went down early Mohammadhossein Mohammadianbut after several bloody stoppages for the Iranian, Magomedov was able to fight his way back into the match before winning it with a great flip.
The second bronze game in the division was won by Georgia in dramatic fashion Givi Matcharashvili, who was trailing 0-2 for most of the game before securing the tie on death with a chest lock Vladislav Baitsaev by Hungary worth 4 points to win 5-3.
Japanese veteran Higuchi Rei wins the 61 kg crown
Higuchi Rei secured Japan’s second men’s freestyle title in Belgrade with a 10-0 win in the dominant tech fall Reza Atri of Iran in the 61 kg final which ended before the end of the first round.
The Japanese smothered his opponent with a variety of ground attacks, closing space at every opportunity.
It’s been a long road back to form for Rio 2016 silver medalist Rei, who slipped off his national team’s radar before coming back to win this year’s Asian Championships and now his first World Championship.
The reigning European champion won the first match for the bronze medal with 61 kg Arsen Harutyunyan.
United States Seth Gross had no response to the typically aggressive play of the Armenians, who went 3-0 in under 20 seconds before clinching a comfortable 12-0 win.
The second bronze went to a Mongolian veteran Narankhuu Narmandakh which resulted in a 9-0 win Georgi Wangelow from Bulgaria.
Rahman Amouzadkhali wins the first world wrestling title
Rahman Amouzadkhali of Iran showed an attitude that could never be beaten John Diakomihalis 13-8 in a breathless but brilliant 65kg final.
An early series of ground attacks by both men and a subsequent successful USA Challenge resulted in an 8–6 score for her man.
But cheered on by a sizeable contingent of Iranian team-mates and fans, Asian champions Amouzadkhali took the lead with five unanswered points before eventually claiming his first world title.
The opening match for the 65 kg bronze medal saw European champions Hungary Iszmail Muszukayev defeating the three-time world champion and Tokyo 2020 silver medalist Haji Aliyev 4-2
After a cautious opening, the Azerbaijani grappler went down 2-0 after sustaining an early cut to his head following an accidental head collision, but he refused any major medical treatment to keep up the pace of the fight.
After another 2-point result, Muszukajev then demonstrated his lesser-known defensive skills to win the match.
The second bronze was a more exciting affair, with Sebastian Rivera of Puerto Rico, who initially took a 6-0 lead early on Bayrang Punia from India.
But the Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist demonstrated his vast experience to level the score at 6-6 before overtaking his opponent in an exciting 10-9 win.
