The Comeback That Never Came: Abdevali Denies Olympic Champion Kusaka Asian Games Gold
ASIAN GAMES 2026 · GRECO-ROMAN 77 KG
Two years after winning Olympic gold in Paris, Japan's Nao Kusaka stepped onto the mat in Nagoya with another major title within reach. He had already survived a world champion and staged a dramatic comeback against his Olympic final opponent. With the home crowd behind him, he was one victory away from Asian Games gold.
But Iran's Alireza Abdevali had a different ending in mind.
Abdevali took an early lead in the 77 kg final and held off Kusaka's attempts to recover, securing the Asian Games title and one of the most significant senior victories of his career.
An Olympic champion's difficult road to the final
Kusaka's day had already produced two remarkable encounters:
He first faced Kyrgyzstan's Akzhol Makhmudov, a two-time world champion and defending Asian Games champion. Kusaka controlled much of the opening period before pinning Makhmudov as the Kyrgyz wrestler attempted a counterattack near the edge of the mat.
Next came Demeu Zhadrayev of Kazakhstan, the man Kusaka defeated in the Paris 2024 Olympic final. This time, Zhadrayev came remarkably close to reversing that result.
Kusaka had demonstrated that he could recover even when a match appeared to be slipping away. That made the final against Abdevali particularly interesting.
Abdevali refused to give him another opening
Abdevali arrived in the final after two dominant victories, including a 9–0 semifinal win against Qatar's Shahin Badaghimofrad, the Asian champion at 82 kg who had moved down to 77 kg for these Games. UWW's account highlighted Abdevali's forward pressure and his ability to force his opponent out of bounds.
Against Kusaka, Abdevali established an early advantage. Unlike Zhadrayev in the quarterfinal, he did not allow the Olympic champion to turn a deficit into another dramatic victory. Kusaka pushed for a comeback in the second period, but Abdevali protected his lead and finished the match ahead.
The result raises an interesting technical question for a closer video breakdown: how did Abdevali manage the pressure and control the exchanges against a wrestler who had already demonstrated such an effective late comeback earlier that day?
Kusaka: “I Was Simply Weak”
For Kusaka, the disappointment was about more than losing an Asian Games final on home soil. He had arrived in Nagoya determined to demonstrate that his Olympic victory in Paris was not the limit of what he could achieve.
Speaking after the final, the Japanese wrestler acknowledged that conceding points early against Abdevali had disrupted his rhythm. He had managed to recover from a five-point deficit against Kazakhstan’s Demeu Zhadrayev earlier that day, but could not find the same response when the gold medal was at stake.
According to Japanese newspaper Nikkan Sports, Kusaka fought back to level the final at 3–3 following an unsuccessful challenge by Abdevali’s corner. With 1:23 remaining, however, he conceded a step-out point. Just eight seconds later, an attempt to turn the match around with an upper-body throw was countered by Abdevali.
Kusaka was visibly devastated after the defeat. He described his performance as his worst and admitted that he had lost the exchanges when it mattered most.
In comments reported by Reuters, he explained that winning the Asian Games had been an opportunity to demonstrate his strength. Instead, he felt he had failed to maintain his concentration through the final.
His assessment was harsh, but it also offered an insight into the expectations he had placed on himself. Earlier in the day, he had found a way back against the opponent he defeated for Olympic gold. Against Abdevali, he briefly erased the deficit, only to see the match slip away again.
For Abdevali, those final exchanges proved decisive. For Kusaka, they became the moments he would revisit after leaving the mat.
The contrast between the two matches tells a larger story: a comeback is not simply about the ability to score when trailing. It is also about what happens in the exchanges that follow and whether a wrestler can hold on to the momentum he has worked so hard to regain.