2017 UWW Senior World ChampionshipsAug 25, 2017 by Wrestling Nomad
World Draws: Snyder And Sadulaev Can Meet In Finals
World Draws: Snyder And Sadulaev Can Meet In Finals
Brackets and draw analysis for Kyle Snyder, Jordan Burroughs, James Green and Zain Retherford at the 2017 World Championships.
The match we all want to see can finally happen: Kyle Snyder vs Abdulrashid Sadulaev for a world title. Below are the draws for America's final four competitors on the last day of the 2017 World Championships in Paris, France.
There is an outside, but still possible, chance that USA and Russia are set up for a situation that mirrors the junior team race earlier this month. Two of tomorrow's athletes have Olympic gold medals, three have senior world medals, and three have world titles, with one coming at the Cadet level. Check out the draw analysis for Zain Retherford, James Green, Jordan Burroughs and Kyle Snyder.
Live updates from the morning session
The second round match for the reigning Hodge Trophy winner should be against former Russian Adam Batirov (BRN), who placed fifth at the 2011 world championships and last year's Asian champ at this weight. He was bronze at the Islamic Solidarity Games in May.
Waiting in the quarterfinals will be one of the two main countries when it comes to freestyle wrestling, Russia or Iran. For the Russian Federation, he would see 2012 Olympian Alan Gogaev, and for Iran it would be last year's Olympian in Meisam Nasiri. American fans can certainly be in a position to believe Retherford could be win all of this matches to this point.
The top quarter is very intriguing. Top seed Zurabi Iakobishvili (GEO) enters ranked fourth at this weight on the strength of his European bronze medal and Waclaw Ziolkowski Memorial title in Poland. This will be his first world championship. His second round opponent should be No. 6 Bajrang (IND), this year's Asian champ who has never won a world medal.
Also up there is unranked Meizhan Ashirov (KAZ), who had age level success with a 2012 junior bronze and 2016 World University title. The final big name is No. 7 Mustafa Kaya (TUR), who American fans may remember by his 7-4 win over Brent Metcalf at the 2014 World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Any of the above mentioned four athletes could be Zain's final roadblock to a world final.
The highest ranked guy on Green's side is No. 3 Mostafa Hosseinkhani, and they have split matches against each other. At the 2016 World Cup in LA, Green won 5-2, and at this year's World Cup in Tehran, Hosseinkhani won 2-0. They could now meet in the semis in neutral territory, with the Iranian facing more difficult matches on paper en route to those semis.
No. 13 Gadjimurad Omarov (AZE) was the U23 European champ this year and could sneak in the semis against Green. Also on Green's side is Yuhi Fujinami, a there-time age level medalist. American fans may recall him as Aaron Pico's opponent in the 2013 cadet world finals.
Green has a win over 2015 world champ Frank Chamizo (ITA), who is on the opposite side. Chamizo's first round match is against his opponent from those 2015 world finals in Las Vegas, Ikhtiyor Navruzov (UZB). There is also 2016 world bronze Elaman Dogdurbek Uulu in their quadrant, as well as 2x world bronze Ganzorig (MGL) waiting in the quarters.
After that, he'll see 2014 world silver medalist Sohsuke Takatani (JPN), who he beat earlier this year 9-2 at Beat the Streets. Once he can clear those couple of hurdles, the quarters will be either Zelimkhan Khadjiev (FRA) or Peyman Yarahmadi (IRI). Burroughs previously beat 2014 junior world champ Khadjiev 14-3 in the finals of the 2016 Yasar Dogu. Burroughs has beaten Yarahmadi twice, 3-2 in this year's World Cup finals, and 11-2 at last year's Beat the Streets. Every year Burroughs has won an Olympic or world title, he had to beat an Iranian along the way.
10 New Weight Classes Revealed
Looking ahead to the semis, there are two main options in four-time medalist Livan Lopez Azcuy of Cuba, or former Clarion All American Bekzod Abdurakhmonov of Uzbekistan. The last time Lopez Azcuy and Burroughs met was in the first round of the 2015 Pan Am Games, a 14-3 tech for JB. I'm sure we all remember the 2014 world medalist Bekzod teching Jordan 11-1 to get into the Olympic bronze medal match last year in Rio.
On the opposite side are guys ranked second, fourth and fifth in the world. Turkey's Soner Demirtas walks in No. 2 in the world and top seed, but with a loss ot Burroughs on his resume. No. 3 Khetik Tsabolov (RUS) was the 2014 world champ down at 70kg, and No. 5 Jabrayil Hasanov continues to be Azerbaijan's rep. The three-time medalist has multiple losses to Burroughs in his career and will likely see Tsabolov in the semis.
Snyder opens with Mamed Ibragimov (KAZ), who he has never met before. A 2016 Olympian, Ibragimov has never wrestled in a world championship. He was bronze at the Islamic Solidarity Games, as well as bronzes from 2015 Yarygin and 2014 Asian Games. None of his three potential quarterfinal opponents are ranked.
Possible semifinal opponents include world No. 9 Riza Yildirim (TUR), this year's Dan Kolov and European champion, or No. 8 Aslanbek Alborov (AZE), who beat Yildirim in the Yasar Dogu finals. Alborov won two junior world silvers and a bronze between 2009 and 2011.
On the other side, Sadulaev's draw is considerably harder. He'll start off with a rematch of his 2014 world final against Reineris Salas Perez (CUB), and then have to go through last year's Olympic bronzes in Elizabar Odikadze (GEO) and Magomed Ibragimov (UZB). Sadulaev teched Odikadze at the Alrosa Cup two years ago.
There is an outside, but still possible, chance that USA and Russia are set up for a situation that mirrors the junior team race earlier this month. Two of tomorrow's athletes have Olympic gold medals, three have senior world medals, and three have world titles, with one coming at the Cadet level. Check out the draw analysis for Zain Retherford, James Green, Jordan Burroughs and Kyle Snyder.
Live updates from the morning session
Zain Retherford, 65kg
His Draw: Retherford is at the bottom of the top half and faces fellow NCAA finalist David Habat (SLO) in the first round. Habat wrestled for Edinboro in college and now trains with the Cliff Keen WC in Michigan. In May of this year, Habat earned his first continental medal with a third place finish at Euros in Novi Sad, Serbia.The second round match for the reigning Hodge Trophy winner should be against former Russian Adam Batirov (BRN), who placed fifth at the 2011 world championships and last year's Asian champ at this weight. He was bronze at the Islamic Solidarity Games in May.
Waiting in the quarterfinals will be one of the two main countries when it comes to freestyle wrestling, Russia or Iran. For the Russian Federation, he would see 2012 Olympian Alan Gogaev, and for Iran it would be last year's Olympian in Meisam Nasiri. American fans can certainly be in a position to believe Retherford could be win all of this matches to this point.
The top quarter is very intriguing. Top seed Zurabi Iakobishvili (GEO) enters ranked fourth at this weight on the strength of his European bronze medal and Waclaw Ziolkowski Memorial title in Poland. This will be his first world championship. His second round opponent should be No. 6 Bajrang (IND), this year's Asian champ who has never won a world medal.
Also up there is unranked Meizhan Ashirov (KAZ), who had age level success with a 2012 junior bronze and 2016 World University title. The final big name is No. 7 Mustafa Kaya (TUR), who American fans may remember by his 7-4 win over Brent Metcalf at the 2014 World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Any of the above mentioned four athletes could be Zain's final roadblock to a world final.
James Green, 70kg
His Draw: The top seed and top ranked guy in the world starts of with Nestor Taffur (COL), who trains at the NYC RTC. Waiting in the quarters is unraked Zurabi Erbotsonashvili (GEO), dropping down from 74kg. Erbotsonashvili and Green have never crossed paths, but were in two different weights at the 2013 World University Games.The highest ranked guy on Green's side is No. 3 Mostafa Hosseinkhani, and they have split matches against each other. At the 2016 World Cup in LA, Green won 5-2, and at this year's World Cup in Tehran, Hosseinkhani won 2-0. They could now meet in the semis in neutral territory, with the Iranian facing more difficult matches on paper en route to those semis.
No. 13 Gadjimurad Omarov (AZE) was the U23 European champ this year and could sneak in the semis against Green. Also on Green's side is Yuhi Fujinami, a there-time age level medalist. American fans may recall him as Aaron Pico's opponent in the 2013 cadet world finals.
Green has a win over 2015 world champ Frank Chamizo (ITA), who is on the opposite side. Chamizo's first round match is against his opponent from those 2015 world finals in Las Vegas, Ikhtiyor Navruzov (UZB). There is also 2016 world bronze Elaman Dogdurbek Uulu in their quadrant, as well as 2x world bronze Ganzorig (MGL) waiting in the quarters.
Jordan Burroughs, 74kg
His Draw: Not a terribly great draw for the four-time World and Olympic champ. To regain his throne, he'll start with Ali Shabanau (BLR), who he had a crazy semifinal with in 2013 in which Shabanau got cautioned out.After that, he'll see 2014 world silver medalist Sohsuke Takatani (JPN), who he beat earlier this year 9-2 at Beat the Streets. Once he can clear those couple of hurdles, the quarters will be either Zelimkhan Khadjiev (FRA) or Peyman Yarahmadi (IRI). Burroughs previously beat 2014 junior world champ Khadjiev 14-3 in the finals of the 2016 Yasar Dogu. Burroughs has beaten Yarahmadi twice, 3-2 in this year's World Cup finals, and 11-2 at last year's Beat the Streets. Every year Burroughs has won an Olympic or world title, he had to beat an Iranian along the way.
10 New Weight Classes Revealed
Looking ahead to the semis, there are two main options in four-time medalist Livan Lopez Azcuy of Cuba, or former Clarion All American Bekzod Abdurakhmonov of Uzbekistan. The last time Lopez Azcuy and Burroughs met was in the first round of the 2015 Pan Am Games, a 14-3 tech for JB. I'm sure we all remember the 2014 world medalist Bekzod teching Jordan 11-1 to get into the Olympic bronze medal match last year in Rio.
On the opposite side are guys ranked second, fourth and fifth in the world. Turkey's Soner Demirtas walks in No. 2 in the world and top seed, but with a loss ot Burroughs on his resume. No. 3 Khetik Tsabolov (RUS) was the 2014 world champ down at 70kg, and No. 5 Jabrayil Hasanov continues to be Azerbaijan's rep. The three-time medalist has multiple losses to Burroughs in his career and will likely see Tsabolov in the semis.
Kyle Snyder, 97kg
His Draw: Most importantly, fellow Olympic gold medalist Sadulaev will be on the opposite side of the bracket. It should be the final match of this year's World Championships, and may ultimately decide the team title between USA and Russia.Snyder opens with Mamed Ibragimov (KAZ), who he has never met before. A 2016 Olympian, Ibragimov has never wrestled in a world championship. He was bronze at the Islamic Solidarity Games, as well as bronzes from 2015 Yarygin and 2014 Asian Games. None of his three potential quarterfinal opponents are ranked.
Possible semifinal opponents include world No. 9 Riza Yildirim (TUR), this year's Dan Kolov and European champion, or No. 8 Aslanbek Alborov (AZE), who beat Yildirim in the Yasar Dogu finals. Alborov won two junior world silvers and a bronze between 2009 and 2011.
On the other side, Sadulaev's draw is considerably harder. He'll start off with a rematch of his 2014 world final against Reineris Salas Perez (CUB), and then have to go through last year's Olympic bronzes in Elizabar Odikadze (GEO) and Magomed Ibragimov (UZB). Sadulaev teched Odikadze at the Alrosa Cup two years ago.
