Two-time Olympian Ildar Hafizov (Army/WCAP) added another impressive credential to his expansive resume on Wednesday by earning silver at the 2024 CISM Military World Championships in Yerevan, Armenia.
Hafizov, who is on the USA roster at 63 kilograms, breezed past Rayan Hawsawi (KSA) in the qualification round but then required quite a comeback in order to advance further. Against two-time U23 World bronze Hrachya Poghosyan (ARM) in the quarterfinal, Hafizov was staring at a 5-0 deficit heading into the second period. Eventually, Poghosyan was deemed passive, which made the score 5-1. From top par terre, Hafizov executed two high-gut lifts to pick up four points — thus giving him the lead via criteria. Poghosyan threatened in spurts through the remainder, but Hafizov held his ground and moved on to the semifinal where he defeated Oscar Ramirez Lazzo of Colombia.
The final saw Hafizov square off against ’22 European Championships gold/U23 World medalist Kerim Kamal (TUR), a highlight match-up in this event if there ever were one. But he surrendered an off-balance takedown, did Hafizov, and, instantly, Kamal worked to get a lock. An initial try at a rotation came up empty and Hafizov defended the proceeding lift attempt to gain a reset. Later in the period, Kamal picked up a step-out point and walked into the break leading the American by a score of 3-0.
Just under a minute into the second period, and following Kamal’s pursuit of an attack towards the boundary, Hafizov was cited for passivity. Once again, Kamal did all he could to negotiate a turn — and Hafizov bunched himself up and stepped to his feet. Kamal gestured to the official, wanting a call on the hands. It was to no avail. But although Hafizov defending for a second time from par terre was in and of itself a small victory, he needed points. Badly.
Hafizov sought various angles from the ties in an effort to discern potential opportunities to attack. The issue was Kamal, who with a 4-0 lead deflected and bowed-up when necessary as time raced off the clock. In the end, Hafizov could not generate the offense he needed with the match ebbing towards its conclusion and thus received the silver medal.
Hafizov, 36, earned bronze at the ’19 CISM Military World Games in Wuhan, China where among his vanquished was World medalist Sailike Walihan (CHN). An Olympian in ’08 and multiple-time World Team member for his native Uzbekistan, Hafizov has also made one US Olympic roster (’20) and four World Teams.
Roberts, Johnson, & Scott
In other action, two-time World Team member Dalton Roberts (60 kg, Army/WCAP) had for himself an opponent with whom he shared a touch of familiarity in two-time World bronze Aidos Sultangali (KAZ). Roberts and Sultangali first met in the opening round of the inaugural U23 Worlds, a match that the Kazakh won by decision. Sultangali prevailed on Wednesday, too, but was defeated prior to the finals thereby eliminating Roberts from repechage.
’23 World rep Xavier Johnson (67 kg, Army/WCAP) dominated Faisal Aldossory (KSA) in his first match in Yerevan but was on the wrong end of a 4-2 decision loss to ’19 Cadet World gold Maksim Skuratov (RUS) in the quarterfinal. Johnson was competitive throughout his time with Skuratov — but curious officiating certainly caused its share of frustration. Through much of the second period, and especially down the stretch, Skuratov engaged in “negative wrestling” mechanics by repeatedly holding Johnson’s hands as the American tried to clear. No warning was issued on the part of the official(s) and Johnson was understandably exasperated once the final whistle blew. Skuratov did not advance to the final, which meant that Johnson’s performance in the event had come to an end.
It was a tough draw for two-time U23 World Team member Justus Scott (77 kg, Army/WCAP), who faced off with World/multi-time European Championships medalist Yunus Basar of Turkey. Basar defeated Scott but, keeping with the pattern from Wednesday for the US, Basar was unable to make the final and pull Scott back into the tournament for the repechage round.
Thursday
Wrestling at the CISM Military World Championships continues on Thursday morning with three more Americans taking the mat: Billy Sullivan (55 kg, Army/WCAP), ’20 Olympian Alex Sancho (72 kg, Army/WCAP), and ’24 Olympian Kamal Bey (82 kg, Army/WCAP). The event is streaming live at this link.
NOTE: Results/scores are thus far incomplete. The event, though it does stream live, includes only one mat; also, there is not a dedicated webpage for the tournament in which box score results can be found. All results listed here will be updated appropriately once that information becomes available.
2024 CISM Military World Championships
November 20-22 — Yerevan, ARM
TEAM USA DAY 1 RESULTS
60 kg: Dalton Roberts (Army/WCAP) — 9th
LOSS Aidos Sultangali (KAZ)
63 kg: Ildar Hafizov (Army/WCAP) — SILVER
WON Rayan Hawsawi (KSA)
WON Hrachya Poghosyan (ARM) 5-5 (criteria)
WON Oscar Ramirez Lazzo (COL)
LOSS Kerim Kamal (TUR) 4-0
67 kg: Xavier Johnson (Army/WCAP) — 7th
WON Faisal Aldossory (KSA)
LOSS Maksim Skuratov (RUS) 4-2
77 kg: Justus Scott (Army/WCAP) — 10th
LOSS Yunus Basar (TUR)
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