Abdevali Edges Kusaka in Nagoya Final
Alireza Abdevali of Iran captured the men's Greco-Roman 77kg gold at the 2026 Asian Games on Thursday, defeating Japan's Nao Kusaka 5-3 in the final at the Nagoya City Inae Sports Center. Abdevali built a 2-0 lead after the opening period and held off a second-period response from Kusaka to secure the victory. The win delivered Abdevali the most significant senior title of his career and prevented Kusaka from adding a second major championship in the weight class.[S1]
Kusaka came into the final as the reigning Olympic champion, having won the 77kg title at the Paris 2024 Olympics, and had previously faced Abdevali at the 2025 World Championships. The Japanese wrestler reached the final after a dramatic 11-9 quarterfinal win over Kazakhstan's Demeu Zhadrayev, the silver medalist behind Kusaka in Paris. Abdevali advanced by shutting out Qatar's Shahin Badaghimofrad 9-0 in the semifinal; Badaghimofrad, an Asian champion at 82kg, had dropped to 77kg for the Games.[S1]
Bali Adds Bronze as Iran Climbs Medal Table
In the men's Greco-Roman 97kg category, Iran's Mehdi Bali claimed bronze on Thursday with a 5-1 win over Kazakhstan's Islam Yevloyev. Japan's Yuri Nakazato took the title after a 4-0 victory against India's Nitesh. The two bronze medals in the 77kg class went to Kyrgyzstan's Akzhol Makhmudov and Qatar's Shahin Badaghimofrad. Abdevali's gold lifted Iran to fifth place in the medals table, with the delegation having earned 12 gold, 16 silver, and 12 bronze medals so far.[S1]
Iran had already celebrated wrestling gold on Wednesday, when Amin Mirzazadeh successfully defended his Asian Games title in the 130kg class by beating Uzbekistan's Rafael Tsitsuashvili 3-1 in the final. Wrestling at the Nagoya Games is being held from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3, with 258 wrestlers entered across men's freestyle, Greco-Roman, and women's wrestling. The Aichi-Nagoya Games run from September 19 to October 4 at venues across Japan, bringing together around 17,000 athletes and officials from 45 countries and regions to compete in 43 sports. Iran's delegation, named the Minab Angels in tribute to those massacred in the US-Israeli attack on Shajareh Tayyebe Elementary School in Minab on February 28, is represented by 305 athletes competing in 38 sports.[S1]
