Day 2 of the 2022 Asian Championships is complete ahead of tomorrow’s semi-final match-ups. The action got underway at 11 am local time, with the quarter-finals taking place for the senior and junior divisions.
In the strawweight division, Kazakhstan’s Yerulan Kabdulov opened his account for the tournament edging Uzbekistan’s Odil Sayfiddinov on the judges’ scorecards to book a spot in tomorrow’s semi-final against India’s Shabarish Ayyanar, who won a split decision against Tajikistan’s Bakhityor Tolibov.
The Kayyali brothers both secured medal positions after picking up victories in their respective bouts; the pair are the only members on the Jordan team at the tournament. Hazem showed off his grappling prowess early, submitting India’s Ramston Rodriques with kimura in the opening round, while Zaki enjoyed his first win at junior since making the jump from the youth ranks.
Bahrain’s Ramazan Gitinov extended his win streak to twenty-four as he pursues his first Asian Championships gold medal. The pound-for-pound number one was dropped early in the first round by Kazakhstan’s Dmitry Yarkov but composed himself and dominated the remainder of the bout before getting the finish.
The win lines up a highly anticipated rematch with top Tajikistan talent Jovidon Mahmudov, who also scored a finish in his first bout of the competition. Fellow countryman Qosim Sardorov picked up a finish of his own against Uzbekistan’s Mirjalol Yusupov, setting up a middleweight clash with Bahrain’s Sultan Omarov.
Uzbekistan’s Munis Muminjonov outpointed Tajikistan’s Farridun Shonazarov to line up a bout with Kazakhstan’s Doszhan Kenzhebayev.
Toni Bou Rached and Charbel Farah made it a clean sweep for Lebanon, both winning via unanimous decisions.
Mongolia‘s Otgonbaatar Boldbaatar had an impressive IMMAF debut that saw him defeat Tajikistan’s Asomuddin Saidamirzoda guaranteeing the nation’s first-ever IMMAF medal.
Tomorrow sees 2021 World gold medalists Rasul Magomedov and Aieza Ramos enter the fray, and Tajikistan’s Otabek Rajabov returns for his first bout since a disappointing run at the World Championships.
Pakistan’s Eman Khan is the last athlete from the nation left in the competition and could book a slot in the final if she can get past Kazakhstan’s Aigerim Torekhanova.
A complete list of today’s results can be found here.
Tomorrow sees the semi-finals take place, with the bouts starting at 11 am. The full schedule for Day 2 of the 2022 Asian Championships can be found here. Live brackets can be found on Smoothcomp.
The International Mixed Martial Arts Federation will be live streaming its 2022 Asian Championships live and on-demand at immaf.tv, from 27 – 30 October, from 11:00 hrs (UTC+5). All matches from across 4 full days of elite amateur MMA action will be available worldwide from $9.99 for the Championships Pass.
