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Posted (edited)

Watched Zare vs Kasimbek in full.

First period: 1-0 Zare

- Zare controls centre for the entire 3 minutes.

- Kasimbek does not attack at all.

- Kasimbek gets on the shot clock and doesn't score. 1-0 Zare.

- Zare gets close to a step out but Kasimbek escapes near the edge. 

- Zare somehow gets a first passivity warning, despite controlling centre and pushing Kasimbek back consistently.

- With 5 seconds left, Zare launches a good leg attack and pushes Kasimbek out of bounds 1-2 seconds after the first period ends, just out of time.

Second period: 3-2 Kasimbek

- Kasimbek immediately more aggressive and holds centre better.

- Zare gets close to a go behind but Kasimbek defends well.

- Zare gets put on the shot clock 30 seconds into the second period. 

- Kasimbek is very fast and grabs the ankle, Zare tries a chest wrap to defend, but Kasimbek gets the exposure (plus passivity point as the 30 seconds expires). 3-1 Kasimbek. Zare largely defends well and gets back up with 90 seconds remaining. 

- With 60 seconds left, Pejman gets angry and swaps places with Taghavi.

- Zare starts to reassert himself and push Kasimbek back. He tries a snap down go behind, but it doesn't work. Kasimbek's length is a problem. Zare shoots but can't reach the leg.

- With 15 seconds to go, Zare shoots again and grabs the ankle, stands, and gets the takedown. 3-3 Zare.

Zare wins 3*-3 on criteria. Kasimbek is exhausted and takes a long time to get back up. 

Zare was unfortunate not to get the step out at the end of the first period, but needs to hold centre better next time they wrestle. Good to see Zare taking more shots but I prefer him controlling the match and pushing guys around for 6 minutes. Zare wasn't as intense as usual with his forward pressure (like when he beat Masoumi 5-0 in the ranking series). With more intensity and forward pressure, I think he could avoid the passivity point and make Kasimbek tired quicker. Hopefully he will be in better condition in 3 weeks time for worlds and can make these small adjustments. 

Edited by Bulldozer Without Brakes
  • Wrestle +1 1
Posted

In all honesty I did not expect Iran to dominate freestyle like this given how stacked certain weight classes are. Emami had the tournament of his life, I still don't know how he pulled that off just unbelievable from him. Does that mean Amir Mohammad Yazdani might have a chance of medalling at worlds and even winning it? A shame that Momeni and Ebrahimzadeh couldn't medal but good experience for the both of them. It will be interesting to see how the guys who competed here will perform at senior worlds in a couple weeks time. I like how we sent some of the guys who didn't make the world team to Nagoya as it gives them an incentive to keep wrestling. I think from now on we should send the second best guys to Asian champs and keep our main guys for worlds. No point in injuring our senior team members for tournaments that don't really matter. 

Posted (edited)

Greco entries have come out and there are some interesting additions/omissions

55 (Payam Ahmadi): Apparently Azizli is still wrestling and Lolua has come back down from 60

60 (Ali Ahmadi Vafa): No Sharshenbekov which is surprising and as expected no Fumita but everyone else you would expect is here

63 (Mohammad Mehdi Keshtkar): Not much of note except that Kaisei Tanabe is competing here which I think isn't new since he did this at the Meiji cup I think.

67 (Saeid Esmaeili): Khalmakhanov has decided to move up from 63 permanently it seems and will join a loaded weight class featuring Esmaeili, Jafarov, Orta, Beishkeev, Agaev, Galstyan etc

72 (Danial Sohrabi): Parviz Nasibov is competing here which I think he normally does at worlds and Ibrahim Ghanem has moved up to 77 alongside Ali Arsalan

77 (Ali Oskou): No Akzhol at 77 he has moved up to 82 which will be interesting to see him potentially wrestle Farokhi. Kusaka as expected isn't here either.

82 (Gholamreza Farokhi): Aside from Akzhol moving up so has Bey whilst Berdimuratov has gone down from 87

87 (Alireza Mohmedi): No Beleniuk, no Novikov and no Zhanysov but everyone else is here including Taizo Yoshida

97 (Hadi Saravi): No Alexanyan but Rosillo is back which is good to see. Sargsian and Maskevitch are also here too

130 (Fardin Hedayati): Kayaalp and Semenov are back alongside Vitek, Vyshnyvetskyi (Ukrainian junior level champ who has beaten Hedayati). 

Interested to see what happens at worlds this year particularly with the reintroduction and absence of certain guys at some weight classes. Although this is still provisional and I reckon this is a pretty stacked line up. Certain guys are preparing for the Olympics whilst for others this might be one of their last tournaments.

Edited by Lucho
Posted
7 hours ago, Lucho said:

Greco entries have come out and there are some interesting additions/omissions

55 (Payam Ahmadi): Apparently Azizli is still wrestling and Lolua has come back down from 60

60 (Ali Ahmadi Vafa): No Sharshenbekov which is surprising and as expected no Fumita but everyone else you would expect is here

63 (Mohammad Mehdi Keshtkar): Not much of note except that Kaisei Tanabe is competing here which I think isn't new since he did this at the Meiji cup I think.

67 (Saeid Esmaeili): Khalmakhanov has decided to move up from 63 permanently it seems and will join a loaded weight class featuring Esmaeili, Jafarov, Orta, Beishkeev, Agaev, Galstyan etc

72 (Danial Sohrabi): Parviz Nasibov is competing here which I think he normally does at worlds and Ibrahim Ghanem has moved up to 77 alongside Ali Arsalan

77 (Ali Oskou): No Akzhol at 77 he has moved up to 82 which will be interesting to see him potentially wrestle Farokhi. Kusaka as expected isn't here either.

82 (Gholamreza Farokhi): Aside from Akzhol moving up so has Bey whilst Berdimuratov has gone down from 87

87 (Alireza Mohmedi): No Beleniuk, no Novikov and no Zhanysov but everyone else is here including Taizo Yoshida

97 (Hadi Saravi): No Alexanyan but Rosillo is back which is good to see. Sargsian and Maskevitch are also here too

130 (Fardin Hedayati): Kayaalp and Semenov are back alongside Vitek, Vyshnyvetskyi (Ukrainian junior level champ who has beaten Hedayati). 

Interested to see what happens at worlds this year particularly with the reintroduction and absence of certain guys at some weight classes. Although this is still provisional and I reckon this is a pretty stacked line up. Certain guys are preparing for the Olympics whilst for others this might be one of their last tournaments.

That Ukrainian beat Hedayati 5-4 many years ago and Hedayati teched him the last time they met. He’s not a threat 

Posted

obviously, 67kg has personal interest for me...

did a deep dive last night and the medal count of that bracket is absolutely ridiculous...

giddy up...

Posted
14 hours ago, Bulldozer Without Brakes said:

That Ukrainian beat Hedayati 5-4 many years ago and Hedayati teched him the last time they met. He’s not a threat 

Still potentially a medal threat I don't think anyone here is beating Hedayati personally but that guy could medal and upset some of the other more notable guys. I think Iran's going to dominate the tournament tbh especially with how good our first team guys are. I don't see many countries fielding guys who can medal in 10 weights let alone have guys who are second best in their country beating olympic champions. It's really only Azerbaijan and maybe Russia who can compete team wise.

Posted
6 hours ago, LJB said:

obviously, 67kg has personal interest for me...

did a deep dive last night and the medal count of that bracket is absolutely ridiculous...

giddy up...

67 is insane its actually wild how many elite guys there are. If your son can medal that would be a phenomenal achievement. I'm hoping the US can build a strong greco team at least for LA to bring more eyes and money to the sport overall. 

Posted
1 minute ago, Lucho said:

67 is insane its actually wild how many elite guys there are. If your son can medal that would be a phenomenal achievement. I'm hoping the US can build a strong greco team at least for LA to bring more eyes and money to the sport overall. 

dude...

it was extremely sobering just walking the list at that weight last night...

but, it is not the Owasso Open...

  • Wrestle +1 1
Posted
25 minutes ago, Lucho said:

Still potentially a medal threat I don't think anyone here is beating Hedayati personally but that guy could medal and upset some of the other more notable guys. I think Iran's going to dominate the tournament tbh especially with how good our first team guys are. I don't see many countries fielding guys who can medal in 10 weights let alone have guys who are second best in their country beating olympic champions. It's really only Azerbaijan and maybe Russia who can compete team wise.

I think only Riza can be a threat to Hedayati, we have to see what kind of shape he is in 

Posted

Iran thanks US wrestling federation for cooperation in visa issuance

The federation had applied for entry visas for 39 members of the national freestyle and Greco-Roman squads to participate in the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in the United States, 38 of which have been approved.

The visa for one assistant coach has been delayed due to incomplete documentation and late submission. However, a representative of the Iranian federation in Turkey is actively following up on the matter, expressing hope that the issue will be resolved shortly.

India wasn't so lucky:

Indian wrestlers’ U23 World Championships participation in doubt after US visa refusals

Several Indian wrestlers, including 2024 U17 World Champion Neha Sangwan, have been refused US visas, putting their participation in the upcoming U23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas from October 12 to 18 under a cloud.

The wrestlers were verbally informed about the refusal on the grounds that they were below 20 years of age and unemployed. Their passports were returned to them when they visited the embassy for interviews on Wednesday.

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has now urged the US Embassy in New Delhi to reconsider the cases and has also requested it to grant visas to the wrestlers who are scheduled to appear for their appointments on Thursday.

According to a letter written by the WFI to the US Embassy, nine wrestlers were refused visas on Wednesday.

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Posted
3 hours ago, Bulldozer Without Brakes said:

I think only Riza can be a threat to Hedayati, we have to see what kind of shape he is in 

The Riza that Hedayati beat before he got caught doping? He is a couple years older now and Hedayati is more filled out and experienced. Hedayati gasses Riza out by the middle of the second period. I'm more interested to see whether him and Semenov still medal at worlds this year.

Posted
2 hours ago, RAFWiki said:

Iran thanks US wrestling federation for cooperation in visa issuance

The federation had applied for entry visas for 39 members of the national freestyle and Greco-Roman squads to participate in the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in the United States, 38 of which have been approved.

The visa for one assistant coach has been delayed due to incomplete documentation and late submission. However, a representative of the Iranian federation in Turkey is actively following up on the matter, expressing hope that the issue will be resolved shortly.

India wasn't so lucky:

Indian wrestlers’ U23 World Championships participation in doubt after US visa refusals

Several Indian wrestlers, including 2024 U17 World Champion Neha Sangwan, have been refused US visas, putting their participation in the upcoming U23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas from October 12 to 18 under a cloud.

The wrestlers were verbally informed about the refusal on the grounds that they were below 20 years of age and unemployed. Their passports were returned to them when they visited the embassy for interviews on Wednesday.

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has now urged the US Embassy in New Delhi to reconsider the cases and has also requested it to grant visas to the wrestlers who are scheduled to appear for their appointments on Thursday.

According to a letter written by the WFI to the US Embassy, nine wrestlers were refused visas on Wednesday.

From my understanding the US government essentially are saying that these wrestlers are committing age fraud. Which is not uncommon at junior levels in India. If they can't make it surely they have second and third wrestlers they can send to u23 worlds or are they also too old to compete?

Posted
9 hours ago, Lucho said:

From my understanding the US government essentially are saying that these wrestlers are committing age fraud.

I'm not sure how you can read any of the articles yesterday and come to that conclusion - the US government doesn't regulate age groups in wrestling.

It's just the American government being shitty:

USA Denies Indian Wrestlers Visa For U23 World Championships In Las Vegas - Unemployment Cited As Reason

The Wrestling Federation of India has now written to the US Embassy in New Delhi and requested that the cases be reconsidered and that players be handed visas, so they can participate in the mega event. The governing body pointed out that the athletes are young and hence do not have formal employment.

"Today, 24 participants appeared at the Embassy for their visa appointments, out of which 16 were wrestlers. Unfortunately, 09 wrestlers were refused visas, reportedly due to their employment status and are below 20 years of age. Accordingly, many of these young athletes are understandably still pursuing their sporting careers and are not formally employed. We are deeply concerned about the remaining wrestlers who are scheduled to appear for their visa appointments tomorrow, as most of them are also currently unemployed and below 20 years of age," the WFI said in their letter to the Embassy as per PTI. 

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Posted
5 hours ago, RAFWiki said:

I'm not sure how you can read any of the articles yesterday and come to that conclusion - the US government doesn't regulate age groups in wrestling.

It's just the American government being shitty:

USA Denies Indian Wrestlers Visa For U23 World Championships In Las Vegas - Unemployment Cited As Reason

The Wrestling Federation of India has now written to the US Embassy in New Delhi and requested that the cases be reconsidered and that players be handed visas, so they can participate in the mega event. The governing body pointed out that the athletes are young and hence do not have formal employment.

"Today, 24 participants appeared at the Embassy for their visa appointments, out of which 16 were wrestlers. Unfortunately, 09 wrestlers were refused visas, reportedly due to their employment status and are below 20 years of age. Accordingly, many of these young athletes are understandably still pursuing their sporting careers and are not formally employed. We are deeply concerned about the remaining wrestlers who are scheduled to appear for their visa appointments tomorrow, as most of them are also currently unemployed and below 20 years of age," the WFI said in their letter to the Embassy as per PTI. 

If that were the case the Iranian team wouldn't get their visas. I don't really understand what the link between employment and age unless it is indicating that they are actually being portrayed as too young compared to their actual age. Again junior level in India is rampant with age cheating they literally had like a couple hundred wrestlers disqualified at their national level tournament for it.

Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Lucho said:

If that were the case the Iranian team wouldn't get their visas. I don't really understand what the link between employment and age unless it is indicating that they are actually being portrayed as too young compared to their actual age. Again junior level in India is rampant with age cheating they literally had like a couple hundred wrestlers disqualified at their national level tournament for it.

You're just ignoring everything the article is saying to push the age cheating thing

The Indian wrestlers who were denied didn't have any current employer listed

Are you saying the Iranian wrestlers all have side-jobs outside of wrestling? Or did they list BS jobs on their visa applications?

Edited by RAFWiki

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Posted
24 minutes ago, RAFWiki said:

You're just ignoring everything the article is saying to push the age cheating thing

The Indian wrestlers who were denied didn't have any current employer listed

Are you saying the Iranian wrestlers all have side-jobs outside of wrestling? Or did they list BS jobs on their visa applications?

No my point is why is that a relevant aspect. Not a lot of people 20 and under have jobs as a lot of them would be in school or university. My point is why is that the reason they are getting denied over? Some of the Iranian guys worked alongside wrestling as street vendors (Payam Ahmadi, Saeid Esmaeili etc) no doubt some of the Indian athletes as well. But it seems like a really strange reason to reject a visa. India doesn't have as much geopolitical issues with the US as Iran so it seems very weird for their reason. I hope the Indian athletes can compete as they deserve to represent their country I just don't understand the reasoning and relationship between employment and age unless they don't agree with the age listed by the wrestlers/federation. What else could the reason be? 

Posted
20 hours ago, RAFWiki said:

Iran thanks US wrestling federation for cooperation in visa issuance

The federation had applied for entry visas for 39 members of the national freestyle and Greco-Roman squads to participate in the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in the United States, 38 of which have been approved.

The visa for one assistant coach has been delayed due to incomplete documentation and late submission. However, a representative of the Iranian federation in Turkey is actively following up on the matter, expressing hope that the issue will be resolved shortly.

India wasn't so lucky:

Indian wrestlers’ U23 World Championships participation in doubt after US visa refusals

Several Indian wrestlers, including 2024 U17 World Champion Neha Sangwan, have been refused US visas, putting their participation in the upcoming U23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas from October 12 to 18 under a cloud.

The wrestlers were verbally informed about the refusal on the grounds that they were below 20 years of age and unemployed. Their passports were returned to them when they visited the embassy for interviews on Wednesday.

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has now urged the US Embassy in New Delhi to reconsider the cases and has also requested it to grant visas to the wrestlers who are scheduled to appear for their appointments on Thursday.

According to a letter written by the WFI to the US Embassy, nine wrestlers were refused visas on Wednesday.

Good news for the Iranians, competitors and fans.

Posted

The visa issues are still unresolved and, 5 members of India's Greco team won't be making the trip:

Visa row: Greco-Roman wrestlers give up hope with team scheduled to depart in hours

Nikhil Malik (GR 97kg) has taken shelter in his akhara in Sonepat. He travelled 70km every day to Delhi for the past three days. Unfortunately he is the only GR wrestler, who is above 23 but was not given a visa. "I am 23 and this was my last opportunity to compete at the U23 Worlds. I am the only GR wrestler from the lot who was declined the visa despite being above 20. During the interview, the lady at the counter asked me about my job status. When I told her that I am jobless, my visa was rejected," Nikhil said.

 

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Posted
On 10/6/2026 at 9:41 PM, Lucho said:

Greco entries have come out and there are some interesting additions/omissions

55 (Payam Ahmadi): Apparently Azizli is still wrestling and Lolua has come back down from 60

60 (Ali Ahmadi Vafa): No Sharshenbekov which is surprising and as expected no Fumita but everyone else you would expect is here

63 (Mohammad Mehdi Keshtkar): Not much of note except that Kaisei Tanabe is competing here which I think isn't new since he did this at the Meiji cup I think.

67 (Saeid Esmaeili): Khalmakhanov has decided to move up from 63 permanently it seems and will join a loaded weight class featuring Esmaeili, Jafarov, Orta, Beishkeev, Agaev, Galstyan etc

72 (Danial Sohrabi): Parviz Nasibov is competing here which I think he normally does at worlds and Ibrahim Ghanem has moved up to 77 alongside Ali Arsalan

77 (Ali Oskou): No Akzhol at 77 he has moved up to 82 which will be interesting to see him potentially wrestle Farokhi. Kusaka as expected isn't here either.

82 (Gholamreza Farokhi): Aside from Akzhol moving up so has Bey whilst Berdimuratov has gone down from 87

87 (Alireza Mohmedi): No Beleniuk, no Novikov and no Zhanysov but everyone else is here including Taizo Yoshida

97 (Hadi Saravi): No Alexanyan but Rosillo is back which is good to see. Sargsian and Maskevitch are also here too

130 (Fardin Hedayati): Kayaalp and Semenov are back alongside Vitek, Vyshnyvetskyi (Ukrainian junior level champ who has beaten Hedayati). 

Interested to see what happens at worlds this year particularly with the reintroduction and absence of certain guys at some weight classes. Although this is still provisional and I reckon this is a pretty stacked line up. Certain guys are preparing for the Olympics whilst for others this might be one of their last tournaments.

55: I think of this weight as the shadow of 130 kg in that very few men optimally weight this much (malnourished 20th century farmers used to make up these classes). When a unicorn appears, like Azizli or Lopez, you see long medal counts and careers. 

60: I still think of this weight class as Fumita's and Emelin's, even thought they may never wrestle at 60 kg again. It's a weight in flux to me, no one stands out.

67: 67 is a meat grinder of a weight. It churned and spat out Reza. Let's see how Esmaeili does. 

77: Feels like a weight in flux. Nao pinned Akzhol at the asian games and both of these figures are more interesting to me than the actual field. 

87: No Bisultanov? I thought he'd be the closest thing that this weight would have to a Beleniuk like figure.  Mohmedi, Aliraaev, Komarov (terrible posture),  Levai (who has a second in Hungary).... there is just no separation. All of them can beat each other on a given day. I don't mean that in some generic sportive sense, I mean 87 is unique in that so many wrestlers are on the same level as each other. 

97: Where is KIRIL MILOV??? His career is wonky. Boycotts the 25 worlds after beating Aleksanjan. Burns an Olympics wrestling no hope at 130 kg.  Sargsian is undersized, he struggles to produce ofence against the top wrestlers. Sargsian looks like he's 40 even thought he's apparently in his mid 20s. 

130: Heydati should crush all these people. The field is bad. Old man Riza and "who knows what shape I'll be in" Semenov are about it. Hlinchuk and that ukranian wrestler still looked like they had some body maturation to do, idk maybe they rose levels. No Oscar?  I don't think he was going to win this one but he had become a good gatekeeper at the weight. 

No Stekenburg bros? Did the dutch federation finally tell them no after not medaling by their mid 20s? They were pretty good wrestlers, long shots to medal but I think one of them even managed beat Sargsian somehow (lol). I just know the dutch federation is stingy. They had a middle of the pack weightlifter who disappeared after not medaling around the Stekenburg bro's ages. Also what happened to Nazaryan's son? He's in his mid 20s and they don't have lightweight reps. Is that political battle they are having over foreign wrestlers playing out? 

Posted
On 10/7/2026 at 11:14 PM, Lucho said:

The Riza that Hedayati beat before he got caught doping? He is a couple years older now and Hedayati is more filled out and experienced. Hedayati gasses Riza out by the middle of the second period. I'm more interested to see whether him and Semenov still medal at worlds this year.

All of that is true and yet Riza still walked his way to another 130 kg European gold coronation. No one new has emerged. 

Posted
On 10/8/2026 at 4:03 PM, RAFWiki said:

You're just ignoring everything the article is saying to push the age cheating thing

The Indian wrestlers who were denied didn't have any current employer listed

Are you saying the Iranian wrestlers all have side-jobs outside of wrestling? Or did they list BS jobs on their visa applications?

One of my best friends is an Indian immigrant who owns a dozen or so gas stations and other businesses (tobacco and kratom… they know their customers). He has another cousin or nephew showing up every week to work 18-hour shifts. If you really care about people, you’d be against this exploitative immigration. 

Posted
2 hours ago, JMill said:

One of my best friends is an Indian immigrant who owns a dozen or so gas stations and other businesses (tobacco and kratom… they know their customers). He has another cousin or nephew showing up every week to work 18-hour shifts. If you really care about people, you’d be against this exploitative immigration. 

Based on your statement, sounds like you need a better best friend...

Posted

Mixed results for Iran's greco team here are my thoughts for the weights:

Shamsipour 55: repechage, this one is very disappointing as I was expecting gold from him. He got a shoulder injury during the semifinals so he might not even wrestler for bronze. But he is very young (18) and I think he is one to keep an eye out for in the future.

Ashiri 60: DNP, can't really critique him as he has been struggling with a skin infection for the last month and because of the way visas are issued they couldn't send anyone else to replace him.

Jarkani 63: Final, he impressed me a lot by beating Eriomenco and making it to the final so he has exceeded my expectations.

Kamali 67: Bronze, he wrestled really well until the semifinals against Zakriev. This guy is going to be a problem by 2028. He got beat by a guy better than him no real issues about that.

Mohsennejad 72: DNP, this one is bizarre to me. He wrestled quite poorly and honestly just didn't look up for it. Very disappointed in him.

Bouveiri 77: Repechage, honestly can't be too upset the Egyptian guy is amazing and beat everyone to get to the final so if he gets bronze here he has done great. If he was on the other side maybe he could have gotten to the final.

Mohmedi 82: Gold, can't be mad at all beat everyone and didn't look under threat at all. Very interested to see him enter the senior team circuit very soon. He might be competing with his cousin for the 87 kg spot for LA. 

Yazdi 87: Final, very good performance from him so far he looks to be developing nicely. Interested to see him in the senior circuit from next year competing with Mohmedi for the world team.

Seydi 97: Bronze, honestly this was a really strong performance by him. Yakushenko and Khaslakhanau are two of the best wrestlers in the entire tournament so beating either of them was going to be a big ask. 

Fathitazangi 130: DNP, I genuinely can't believe his performance. I'm very happy we have Hedayati or else this would be a very worrying outlook for our future super heavyweight replacement.

Overall if we can finish with 3 golds and 4 bronzes I would be pretty happy. This year Kazakhstan, Armenia and Russia brought very strong teams so it was never going to be easy to win any of these weights.

  • Wrestle +1 1
Posted
On 10/12/2026 at 6:14 AM, JMill said:

One of my best friends is an Indian immigrant who owns a dozen or so gas stations and other businesses (tobacco and kratom… they know their customers). He has another cousin or nephew showing up every week to work 18-hour shifts. If you really care about people, you’d be against this exploitative immigration. 

What does this have to do with Iranian wrestling?

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