2026 Asian Championships Wrestling Preview
57 KG
Yarygin champion Munkh Erdene Batkhuyag of Mongolia comes in as the number one ranked wrestler in the world and as the favorite looks to improve upon his bronze medal finish from last year. On Batkhuyag’s side of the bracket, his greatest test will be against Islamic Solidarity Games Champion #18 Abdymalik Karachov of Kyrgyzstan in the semifinals.
On the bottom half of the bracket, returning silver medalist #8 Milad Valizadeh of Iran is coming off a bronze medal finish at the Zagreb Open where he was beat by #7 Roman Bravo Young. Keep an eye out for Emperor’s Cup runner-up Fuga Sasaki of Japan and Ankush Ankush of India as potential bracket breakers as young talent with high upside.
61 KG
Three of the five World/Olympic medalists in the 61 kilogram weight class will be competing in the top half of the bracket, with the highest ranked athlete being 2021 Senior World bronze medalist #13 Toshihiro Hasegawa of Japan. Other medalists on the top half of the bracket include 2024 57 KG Olympic bronze medalist #14 Aman Aman of India and 2025 61 KG Senior World runner-up #15 Ahmad Javan of Iran. From this top half, Hasegawa should be the favorite to come through the bracket, but faces a difficult path to the final contend with two-time U23 world bronze medalist Assyl Aitakyn (KAZ), #15 Ahmad Javan (IRI), and #14 Aman Aman (IND). If Hasegawa does fall, I would look to Aman Aman to be the one to break through to the finals, given his Olympic pedigree.
On the bottom half of the bracket, 2025 57 KG Senior World runner-up #10 Bekzat Almaz Uulu of Kyrgyzstan is the top ranked wrestler on the bottom bracket, with his biggest match coming in the quarterfinals between the winner of 2024 57 KG Olympian Wanhou Zou of China and 2025 57 KG Senior World bronze medalist #11 Gulomjon Abdullaev of Uzbekistan.
Abdullaev, who was largely shut out by Almaz Uulu, has the talent capable of winning this tournament and could take an advantage of a not fully peaked yet Almaz Uulu and would be my pick to make it out of the bottom half of the bracket and make the finals.
65 KG
2025 U23 World Champion #5 Sujeet Sujeet of India carries tremendous momentum with titles at the Zagreb Open and Muhamet Malo Ranking Series Tournament and is looking to improve upon his seventh place finish from the Asian Championships from 2025. Standing in his way on his side of the bracket is 2025 61 KG Senior Asian Champion #14 Takara Suda of Japan and 2024 70 KG Senior World bronze medalist #7 Abdulmazhid Kudiev of Tajikistan. I expect Kudiev to beat Suda in a high scoring match and challenge Sujeet in the semis but ultimately falter against the pressure and pace of the Indian standout.
On the bottom half of the bracket, 2025 Senior World bronze medalist #6 Umidjon Jalolov of Uzbekistan should be able to rebound from a 12th place finish at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series Tournament to make the finals, with his best match coming in the semis against 2021 61 KG Junior World bronze medalist Alibeg Alibegov of Bahrain.
70 KG
2022 70 KG Senior World Champion #2 Taishi Narikuni (JPN) makes his return to Senior level freestyle competition in Bishkek. Right out of the gate, Narikuni will be tested with returning runner-up #6 Viktor Rassadin of Tajikistan. Rassadin will put Narikuni to the test immediately and if any matchup could lead to an upset, this match is it, as Rassadin’s low shots and speed advantage could lead to early trouble for Narikuni.
Narikuni took fifth earlier this week at the 72 KG greco roman competition as well, but the past World Champion should still be considered a serious contender given his win over reigning 70 KG Senior World Champion #7 (74) Yoshinosuke Aoyagi (JPN) at the National Sports Festival. Going into this, my pick to come out victorious from the top half of the bracket would be 2025 Senior World bronze medalist #3 Ernazar Akmataliev (KGZ).
On the bottom half of the bracket, two world runner-ups are set to collide in the semifinals in a rematch of their bronze medal match from last year’s Asian Championships between #4 Tulga Tumur-Ochir of Mongolia and #7 Sina Khalili of Iran. Given Tumur-Ochir’s upper-body reliant style and Khalili’s past history with Tumur Ochir and that he has a prior dominant win over Tumur-Ochir that was predicated on clearing out of Tumur-Ochir’s tie ups and punishing him when clearing out, I see much of the same from Khalili to make the finals.
74 KG
2025 Islamic Solidarity Games bronze medalist Magomedrasul Asluev of Bahrain should come out victorious on the top half of the bracket, with his toughest match coming in the semis against Begijon Kuldashev of Uzbekistan.
2025 70 KG Senior World Champion #7 Yoshinosuke Aoyagi of Japan is the wildcard of the competition, as Aoyagi is coming off a fifth place finish at the Universal Sports Platform 4 grand prix where he lost to #5 Inalbek Sheriev of Russia and to #14 Orozobek Toktomambetov of Kyrgyzstan and a runner-up finish at the Zagreb Open in February to #6 David Carr of the United States of America.
Aoyagi is the best wrestler in this bracket but suffers from the same early season inconsistencies similar to 65/70KG standout 2023 65 KG Senior World champion #15 (70) Ismail Musukaev of Hungary. With it being up in the air which Aoyagi shows up, I’m going to side with Aoyagi correcting his mistakes and showing up ready and overcoming 2023 70 KG Senior World runner-up Amir Mohammad Yazdani of Iran and #14 Orozobek Toktomambetov of Kyrgyzstan to make the finals. If he doesn’t, I will take Yazdani to make the finals and to win.
79 KG
2024 74 Olympic Champion #1 Razambek Zhamalov of Uzbekistan makes his much anticipated international return, marking his first return to a continental championship since his fifth place finish at the 2021 European Championships at 74 KG.
Zhamalov will be tested right out of the gate, facing the winner of #4 Mehdi Yousefi of Iran and 2024 79 KG U23 World runner-up Feng Lu of China. While Yousefi’s pressure and ability to wear down opponents could pose issues for Zhamalov with the risk of potential ring rust, Zhamalov should see the match through to a semifinal showdown against #5 Suldkhuu Olonbayar of Mongolia, who while positionally solid and holding a win over 2023 World Champion #7 Akhmed Usmanov of Russia last year, does not hold up against Zhamalov. On the bottom half, I’ll take Zhakshylyk Baitashov of Kyrgyzstan to make the finals and lose to Zhamalov.
86KG
2025 Senior World bronze medalist #7 Kamran Ghasempour of Iran makes his way through the top half of the bracket with ease and is the clear favorite to come away with gold if healthy.
On the bottom half, keep an eye out for the opening round match between 2025 79 KG Senior World bronze medalist Khidir Saipudinov of Bahrain and two-time Russian Nationals Champion Malik Shavaev of Kyrgyzstan. I will take Shavaev to make a deep run to the finals, beating Saipudinov and 2025 Asian Championships runner-up Bolat Sakaev of Kazakhstan.
92 KG
Two-time Asian Championships bronze medalist Magomed Sharipov of Bahrain is my pick to come out of the top half of the bracket. Facing him in the finals will be 2025 U23 World Champion #3 Mohammad Azimi of Iran, who I predict will beat two-time 86 KG World Bronze medalist #7 Azamat Dauletbekov of Kazakhstan. I have Azimi taking gold in the finals.
97 KG
2025 Senior World runner-up #4 Amirali Azarpira of Iran is my lock for the finals on the top half of the bracket, while the bottom half of the bracket holds far more depth. 2025 Senior World Bronze medalist #9 Akhmed Tazhudinov of Bahrain is coming off a loss to 2025 Senior World Champion #3 Kyle Snyder and has struggled in the 2025 season due to injuries. Still, with Tazhudinov’s pedigree that includes 2023 World gold and 2024 Olympic gold, he is still a highly dangerous opponent.
2025 Senior World bronze medalist #5 Arash Yoshida is the reigning Asian Champion and should be capable of beating the current version of Tazhudinov to make the finals. In the finals, I expect Yoshida’s great diversity of offense to serve him well to beat Azarpira and avenge his 2024 Olympic Qualifier loss for his third Senior Asian Championships title.
125 KG
Reigning Senior World Champion #1 Amir Zare of Iran will have his toughest match in his side of the bracket against 2025 Junior World Champion #18 Yedige Kessimbek of Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals. Zare should still win with a strong advantage and make the finals opposite Zagreb Open Champion #3 Shamil Sharipov of Bahrain, who Zare beat at the 2025 Senior World Championships and at the Islamic Solidarity Games.