#BeachWrestling

Azerbaijan, Romania crown 4 beach wrestling world champs

Friday, September 2, 2022 - 09:52 By Vinay Siwach

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CONSTANTA, Romania (September 1) -- When Huseyn SEVDIMOV (AZE) was introduced to beach wrestling, he was unsure if he wants to pursue a career in the sport.

But that was a year ago. Just five months since his first practice, Sevdimov won the European Championships in July. He added a World Championships gold medal on Thursday to his resume and continued his exponential rise in beach wrestling.

"I am extremely happy about winning the gold medal at the World Championships," Sevdimov said. "I have been training for one year in the sand just for this competition."

It worked well for him as he won the five bouts with superiority [winning 3-0] or fall [a 3-0 win in], including one over Gaspard CHEYNOUX (FRA) in the gold medal bouts. 

"I did not want to give any chance to my opponents to score on me," he said. "Now that I have won, I hope the other guys can win the gold medal as well."

After Sevdimov, three other Azerbaijan wrestlers won gold medals to sweep all the titles at the U17 World Championships at the Mamaia beach in Constanta, Romania.

At 60kg, Ziya GOYUSHOV (AZE) won the gold medal after beating Ionut TRIBOI (MDA), 3-0, in the final. He was as dominant as Sevdimov if not more than his compatriot.

Over the six bouts, Goyushov outscored his opponents 17-0 including a victory by fall.

It appeared Ilias KARNAVAS (GRE) will break the Azerbaijan streak as he the lead in the 70kg final against Vusal ALIYEV (AZE). But as the bout progressed, Aliyev composed him and scored a 3-1 win to win the gold.

At 80kg, Anar JAFARLI (AZE) won the gold medal after a tough final against Ion MARCU (MDA). Jafarli conceded a point and found it difficult to score but Marcu began losing steam which allowed Jafarli to get on the scoreboard. His continued pressure helped him win 3-1.

Earlier in the day, he had a thrilling Round 2 bout against Lars MICHAELSON (USA), winning 3-2. Michaelson took a 2-1 lead with a minute remaining but Jafarli used snap downs to win the bout.

Part of Azerbaijan's domination at the age-group level can be credited to its coach Oyan NAZARIANI (AZE), a former world champion in beach wrestling.

Nazariani runs the national training center in Baku and has built an indoor center as well to train wrestlers in the winter.

"I am happy to see our wrestlers win," Nazariani said. "We  trained in beach wrestling and to be world number one means it's the feedback of our good training."

Nazariani has been the leader of the sport in Azerbaijan, winning the gold at the 2018 and 2019 World Series and a bronze medal at the World Beach Games in Qatar in 2019. A hand injury has kept him out this season but he continued to train the young wrestlers.

"We train on the Caspian sea beach in summers and the indoor ring in winters," he said. "I tell them to focus on not touching knees and elbows and we hosted the national championships for the first time as well.

"If you ask them, they will say they are beach wrestlers and not just wrestlers."

Romania

Perfect Romania

In the women's category, Romania won all four gold medals, claiming the team title as well. Such was its domination that Romania had seven finalists out of the eight.

At 40kg, Diana VOICULESCU (ROU) defeated Bianca IANCAU (ROU) even after giving up the first point. She used a three-point move to finish the final via fall.

Alexandra VOICULESCU (ROU) was the second gold medal as she defeated Ana ROTARU (ROU) in the 50kg final. In the full three-minute bout, Voiculescu won 2-0.

In the only final which did not have both Romanian wrestlers, Alessandra ELLIOTT (USA) tried stopping Florentina MANTOG (ROU) from winning the gold but the latter proved too strong and won the 60kg gold medal 3-1.

The final gold medal was won by Maria PANTIRU (ROU) as she defeated Ionela COJOCARU (ROU), 3-1, winning the 70kg gold medal 3-1.

#UnitedWorldWrestling

Paris Olympics: Wrestling breaks new barriers, expands reach across continents

Thursday, August 22, 2024 - 14:05 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (August 22): More than half a million new fans in the digital community. An astounding 100 million engagements. And a remarkable 134 percent increase in social media impressions compared to Tokyo 2020.

At the Paris Olympics, it was a gold medal for wrestling.

UWW

On the mat, legends were born, records were set, and some moments would be remembered for ages. Off it, the sport broke new barriers, expanded its reach and engaged with a diverse audience as the United World Wrestling digital channels witnessed unprecedented growth during the Games.

The UWW’s online platforms recorded an impressive 11.2 percent increase in followers, adding over 508,000 new fans to its digital community. Compared to the growth in followers during the Tokyo Olympics, this figure represents a staggering 125 percent increase.

A large part of this surge was seen on Instagram, where the UWW gained 217,000 new followers. Facebook was a close second, adding 183,000 new followers while TikTok, the platform known for its short, engaging content, added 61,400 new followers. The growth across all platforms highlights the effectiveness of the UWW’s content strategy.

The inspiring clip of Greco-Roman star Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI), who won Iran’s first gold medal in the Paris Olympics drove the maximum engagement on Instagram. Saravi, who won a bronze medal in Tokyo, beat Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) 4-1 in the 97kg final.

Another Iranian, Rahman AMOUZAD, one of the most feared wrestlers in the 65 kg freestyle, went viral with a video in which he proclaimed himself the ‘king’. This post had the second-highest engagement while a slick clip of Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) was the third-most viewed, captivating the viewers and leading engagements as well as interactions.

These videos – and many others shared across UWW’s social media channels – resonated strongly with audiences, garnering record-breaking views. Overall, there were 330 million impressions, a remarkable rise of 134 percent compared to the Tokyo Olympics.

Moreover, the content also achieved 100 million engagements, and a 71 percent increase in reach compared to the previous Olympic Games. This surge in interaction underscores the high level of interest and excitement generated by UWW’s coverage of the Olympic wrestling events.

The video content drove UWW’s social media success. Across all platforms, UWW’s video content garnered over 156 million views, an extraordinary 205 percent increase compared to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

YouTube, in particular, saw significant traction with over 21 million views. This success was fueled by a mix of short and long-form videos apart from live streaming, with shorts emerging as the most popular content format.

With more than one million views, the YouTube video of AMAN (IND) getting his revenge over Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB) with a win in the preliminary round. Aman, who won a bronze medal, had lost to Abakarov at the 2023 World Championships.

Chamizo’s video, Don't play with fire #WrestleParis, which went viral on Instagram was also a huge hit on YouTube with hundreds of thousands of viewers, making it the second-most watched video on the platform.

The Day Three highlights show which revisited one of the biggest upsets of the competition – Vinesh PHOGAT (IND) defeating Yui SUSAKI (JPN) in the women’s 50 kg first round – got the third-highest views on YouTube.

The UWW’s vibrant social media strategy was complemented by a robust email marketing campaign, which ran daily throughout the Olympic Games. The ongoing CRM campaigns helped boost engagement across Web, App and UWW+.