The United World of Wrestling Asia has made an announcement on the best Asian wrestlers of the year 2019. UWW Asia has announced that the “Best Wrestler of the Year” in freestyle wrestling will be given to a young wrestler from Kazakhstan Nurkozhe Kaipanov. The second place went to Alireza Karimi from Iran, and India’s Bajrang Punia who won the bronze medal at the world championship to score 80 points for third position. The points to select the best Asian wrestlers were dependent on the results of the performance and points scored at the World Championships, Asia and in the ranking tournaments of the United World of Wrestling.
Best Freestyle wrestler from Asia – The winner in the nomination “Best Wrestler of the Year” in freestyle wrestling was very difficult to determine. Two applicants for this nomination scored an equal number (90) points. These are silver medalists of the planet and Asian champions Nurkozha Kaipanov (70 kg) from Kazakhstan and Alirez Karimimachiani (92 kg) from the Islamic Republic of Iran. Both wrestlers also won the ranking tournament in Sassari (Italy). To objectively identify the best fighter, the following criteria were taken into account: victory in other important starts and the number of participants in the weight category at the World Cup. If Alireza Karimimachiani won the club world championship this year, then Nurkozha Kaipanov won the silver award of the World War Games in Xi’an (China). 18 athletes participated in the licensed world championship in Nur Sultan in the weight category up to 92 kg, and 30 wrestlers participated in up to 70 kg. This factor has become key in identifying the best freestyle wrestler.
As a result, “Best Wrestler of the Year” in freestyle wrestling went to a young wrestler from Kazakhstan Nurkozhe Kaipanov. The second place to Alireza Karimi, and the third place to Bajrang Punia, who scored 80 points.
Best Greco-Roman wrestler from Asia – In the nomination “Best Wrestler of the Year” in Greco-Roman wrestling, the silver medalist of the Olympic Games in Rio Shinobu Ota (Japan) won easily. At the end of the year, Shinobu Ota scored 90 points. He won the world championship in Nur Sultan, became the champion in rating tournaments in Zagreb (Croatia) and in Minsk (Belarus) in the weight category up to 63 kg. South Korea Ryu Han Su and Kim Hyun Woo were named at number 2 and number 3 position.
Best Women wrestler from Asia – The winner in the”Best Women Wrestler of the Year” was Ningning Rong from China (90 points). This year she won the silver medal of the World Cup, won the Asian Championship and the ranking tournament in Bulgaria. The second and 3rd places went to the world champions in Nur-Sultan – Aisulu Tynybekova from Kyrgyzstan (85 points) and Yong Mi Pak (80 points) from North Korea.
Best coach of the year in Greco-Roman wrestling – The head coach of the Iranian national team, the legendary Mohammed Bana, won.
Best coach of the year in freestyle wrestling – Head coach of the Iranian Freestyle team Mohammadi Gholamreza. This year, the Iranian national freestyle wrestling team dominated the Asian Championships, winning seven gold and three bronze medals.
Best Women Coach of the Year in women’s wrestling – The head coach of the Japanese national team Tomiyama Takada won. At the World Championships in Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan), the Japanese women’s wrestling team won one gold, three silver and two bronze medals.
