MMA – BAHRAIN’S mixed martial arts (MMA) stars Diana Pogosian and Mukhammad Nabiev were both triumphant yesterday at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan – advancing to their respective semi-finals and assuring themselves of at least a bronze medal.
Pogosian marched through to the final four of the women’s modern MMA under-54kg after defeating Tomoe Katayama of Japan by unanimous decision in the quarters.
The 24-year-old will next face off with Bomi Lee from South Korea, who won by split decision against Thi Phung Lo of Vietnam in their quarters match-up.
Both competitors had byes in the preliminary phase.
The other semi-final is between Vallensia Fahira Hotmauli from Indonesia and Kanjutha Phattaraboonsorn of Thailand.
Hotmauli defeated Adelina Murzagalieva from Kyrgyzstan by majority decision, while Phattaraboonsorn claimed a submission victory against Gina Araos from the Philippines.
Pogosian’s bout with Lee is set for a 5.20am start, Bahrain time. The final, should she qualify, will be tomorrow on the concluding day of MMA at Nagoya City Inae Sports Centre.
On the distaff, Nabiev secured his place in the semis of the men’s traditional MMA under-77kg division after winning both his scheduled bouts yesterday.
Nabiev first triumphed against Van Minh Quang of Vietnam by unanimous decision in the preliminary stage, and was then slated to take on Varun Aryamaan Sanyal from India, who had a bye in the opening round. But the contest did not take place as Sanyal was ruled out from competing after suffering complications during his weight cut, according to reports.
Nabiev was therefore awarded a direct ticket to the last four.
There, the 31-year-old will face off with Syimyk Zhanybek Uulu from Kyrgyzstan, who beat Ra’ad Alnajjar from Jordan by unanimous decision in another quarter-final yesterday.
The other semis bout will be between Carlos Alvarez of the Philippines and Yerkingali Burkutalin of Kazakhstan.
Alvarez was a technical knockout winner against Ananda Wahyu Setyo Prabowo from Indonesia, while Burkutalin triumphed against Taeyoung Yoon from South Korea by unanimous decision.
Nabiev will be locking horns with Zhanybek Uulu at 6.20am, Bahrain time.
Their title-decider is also scheduled for tomorrow.
Elsewhere yesterday for Bahrain in MMA at Nagoya City Inae Sports Centre, Mohamed Alsameea lost in the men’s traditional MMA under-65kg preliminaries against Afshin Salimi Toupghara from Iran by unanimous decision, and Kurban Idrisov bowed out of medal contention in the men’s modern MMA under-70kg quarter-finals after losing to Kadyrbek Shinbayev from Kazakhstan in overtime by majority decision.
MMA is one of seven combat sports Bahrain’s delegation are participating in at this year’s Asian Games.
The others are boxing, jiu-jitsu, judo, kurash, taekwondo, and wrestling.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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